Microsoft President Criticises US Visa Crackdown Amid Satya Nadella Medal Ceremony

WASHINGTON, US: Microsoft President Brad Smith has criticised the United States administration's suspension of the company's Green Card applications, calling it ironic that the White House targeted the tech giant's foreign workers on the same day it honoured Indian-origin Chief Executive Satya Nadella with a national medal. The remarks come amid a broader crackdown on skilled immigration that has sparked concern across the American technology sector.

The Trump administration recently suspended the PERM, or programme electronic review management, process for Microsoft and seven other major technology firms, including Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini. During an October 8 press conference, Vice President JD Vance alleged widespread visa fraud, claiming that Microsoft had laid off thousands of American workers while simultaneously benefiting from thousands of H-1B visas and Green Cards.

Speaking in an exclusive interview in Dublin, Smith dismissed the Vice President's allegations as completely off base. He clarified that the vast majority of the visa and Green Card applications were not for new employees, but for individuals who had already been working at the company for years. According to a statement released by Microsoft, of the approximately 6,000 H-1B visa applications submitted in the last fiscal year, 80 per cent were filed to extend or change the status of existing employees.

The company further noted that filings for new employees accounted for only 1 per cent of its United States workforce. Pushing back against the narrative that foreign workers were replacing domestic staff, Smith highlighted that Microsoft hired 9,200 American workers in its last fiscal year, a figure he said was omitted from the administration's claims. He also emphasised that the company pays its H-1B employees the same as any other workers doing comparable work, with wages among the highest of all H-1B filings.

The policy shift has raised significant concerns regarding the long-term competitiveness of the American technology industry. Smith warned that discouraging skilled immigration could cripple the sector for over a generation and inadvertently send the next wave of artificial intelligence and software engineering talent to competitor nations. Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, echoed these concerns, noting that the primary impact of the ban would likely be encouraging companies to expand their research and development investments outside the US.

The data underscores the heavy reliance of the US innovation ecosystem on global talent. International students comprise up to 80 per cent of full-time graduate students in AI-related fields at American universities, and 59 per cent of US billion-dollar startup companies have at least one immigrant founder.

As the administration launches investigations into the Green Card processes of the implicated firms, the tech industry faces a critical juncture. The contrasting treatment of immigrant tech leaders and the restriction of their workforce highlights a growing policy contradiction that could fundamentally reshape the global landscape for technological innovation and talent mobility in the coming years.