IBM is ending US visa and green card sponsorship for most roles in IBM Consulting, its largest division with more than 150,000 employees. For the visa holders in that unit, the choice is now a hard one. They can keep working for IBM from a country outside the US, or they can leave the company by the end of the year. IBM has not said how many people this affects. It has also not said which roles, if any, will still qualify for sponsorship.The details come from a document shared with managers in the division this week. Bloomberg saw the document and reported the move first on Tuesday. IBM later confirmed the decision to Reuters, saying its use of high-skilled visa programmes had been falling for years. The move puts one of America’s oldest tech companies in the middle of the Trump administration’s push against foreign tech hiring. Last month, that push saw Microsoft, Infosys and TCS suspended from a key step in the green card process.IBM shares dipped about 1% in morning trade after the report.
IBM says it needs fewer foreign hires than it once did
The company says the move is a business decision, not a sudden reversal. “IBM Consulting participates in U.S. high-skilled visa programs to address skill shortages,” an IBM spokesperson said in a statement. “That participation has been declining for a number of years and as skill availability and client need have evolved, we have opted to discontinue visa and green card sponsorship for the majority of such roles in IBM Consulting.”Federal records support that trend. IBM had just over 1,600 H-1B petitions approved in fiscal year 2026, down from more than 2,000 in FY2025 and nearly 3,000 in FY2024. These figures cover IBM as a whole rather than consulting alone. They also include amended or extended applications for existing staff.IBM had 264,300 employees worldwide, including its wholly owned subsidiaries, according to its 2025 annual report.
Trump’s H-1B crackdown has already hit Microsoft, Infosys and TCS
The move comes as Washington takes a harder line on foreign tech hiring. Since Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, his administration has pushed tech companies to train and hire more American workers.In September 2025, the White House announced a one-time $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions, a measure that is now tied up in the courts. The administration has also proposed changes to the annual H-1B lottery that would give priority to employers offering the highest salaries.Last month, it went a step further. As Reuters reported, the administration suspended Microsoft, Adobe and several major outsourcing firms from the Permanent Labor Certification process. These included Cognizant, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services. Known as PERM, this process is a key step for companies sponsoring foreign workers for green cards. Infosys and TCS are India’s two largest IT services companies.
IBM Consulting’s growth has been largely flat since 2024
The decision also comes as IBM’s consulting business struggles to keep up with the rest of the company. Over the past few years, IBM has rebuilt itself as a software-led business by buying Red Hat, HashiCorp and Confluent.Consulting has not grown at the same pace. According to Bloomberg, the division’s growth has been largely flat since 2024. Consulting revenue stood at $5.3 billion in the third quarter, unchanged from a year earlier and up 2% at constant currency.For the employees caught in the middle, there isn’t much time to decide. The year-end deadline is less than two months away. Visa holders in IBM Consulting will have to choose between moving abroad with the company and finding a new sponsor in the US before their time at IBM runs out.
