IBM Consulting halts most visa sponsorships

1,611 H-1B petitions were approved for IBM in fiscal year 2026, a decline that preceded a new decision to stop sponsoring most foreign worker visas in its consulting division. The company’s largest unit employs more than 150,000 of its 264,300 global employees.

A company spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday that IBM Consulting opted to end sponsorship for most roles. The company stated its participation in US high-skilled visa programs had been declining for years. Officials said the decision came as skill availability and client needs have evolved.

The move aligns with increased pressure from the Trump administration to reduce the number of highly skilled foreign workers in the United States. President Donald Trump has claimed the visa program is often subject to fraud and takes jobs from skilled Americans.

Last year, the administration announced a one-time $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions. In October, officials suspended several tech companies from a program that allows H-1B workers to apply for green cards. The suspension aimed to crack down on fraud and ensure American workers were not replaced by immigrants.

The suspended companies included Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, and Microsoft. The announcement came within hours of President Trump honoring Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Nadella, who is India-born, was one of six business leaders honored by the president. Five of the six recipients were foreign-born US citizens. The group included Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who immigrated from Russia as a child.