IBM stops sponsoring US visas and green cards for most of its consultants, and the question now is what happens to those already there

One of the oldest names in American technology is walking away from the visa system that brought much of the industry’s talent to the United States.

IBM confirmed on Tuesday, 10 November US time, that it will stop sponsoring US work visas and green cards for most roles in IBM Consulting, its services arm and largest division.

“IBM Consulting participates in U.S. high-skilled visa programs to address skill shortages,” a company spokesperson said. The spokesperson said that participation had been declining for a number of years and that, as skills and client needs had changed, the company had opted to discontinue visa and green card sponsorship “for the majority of such roles”.

Who is affected?

The change covers H-1B visa sponsorship and PERM labour certification, the first step in the most common employer-sponsored green card route, for most US jobs in IBM Consulting. IBM has not said whether any other part of the company is affected.

Affected workers have reportedly been told they can continue working for IBM outside the United States or leave the company at the end of the year. IBM has not publicly answered what happens to people already on H-1B visas who were counting on the company to sponsor them for permanent residence.

How big is this?

On paper, small. IBM had 1,611 H-1B petitions approved for the 2026 financial year, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services data, a fraction of a global workforce of 264,300. Its consulting division alone employs more than 150,000 people.

The weight is in the message. For decades the H-1B and the green card behind it were the standard deal for skilled engineers moving to America: come on a work visa, and your employer backs your permanent residence. A company of IBM’s size saying that deal no longer makes business sense for most of its consultants is a marker of how far the ground has shifted.

Why now?

The Trump administration has been tightening skilled migration on several fronts. It announced a one-time US$100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions last year. On 8 October it suspended a number of companies, including Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, from the program that lets H-1B workers apply for green cards, citing fraud and the protection of American workers.

Trump has said the H-1B program is often abused and takes work from skilled Americans. IBM did not link its decision to government policy, pointing instead to declining use and changing client needs.

What does it mean outside America?

For skilled workers in India, Australia and elsewhere weighing a move to the US, the employer-sponsored green card pathway is narrowing, and it is the big established firms that are pulling back. And with affected staff reportedly offered work for IBM outside the US, some of that consulting work may simply be done from somewhere else.