IBM Ends H-1B and Green Card Sponsorship for Most Consulting Roles
IBM said on Tuesday, November 10, that it will stop sponsoring United States work visas and green cards for most roles in IBM Consulting, its largest business division, in the latest sign of how tighter scrutiny of foreign hiring is reshaping employment at major American technology companies.
The decision applies to IBM Consulting, which employs more than 150,000 people worldwide. An IBM spokesperson confirmed the change to Reuters, saying the company had “opted to discontinue visa and green card sponsorship for the majority of such roles in IBM Consulting.” Searches for “h-1b visa” topped Google’s trending searches in the United States on Thursday, underlining how closely the public is watching the issue.
What IBM announced
IBM Consulting has long used American high-skilled visa programs, including the H-1B program for temporary specialty-occupation workers and employment-based green cards, to fill roles it could not fill domestically. According to the company, that reliance had been declining for several years.
“IBM Consulting participates in US high-skilled visa programmes to address skill shortages. 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,” the spokesperson told Reuters.
The announcement covers the majority of roles in the consulting division, but IBM has not published a list of which roles fall outside that majority, and it has not said how many employees will be affected. The change applies to IBM Consulting only. It is not a company-wide withdrawal of visa sponsorship across IBM.
What happens to affected workers
According to Bloomberg News, citing an internal company document shared with managers in the division, employees affected by the decision have been given two options: continue working for IBM outside the United States, or leave the company by the end of 2026.
The announcement does not by itself cancel an existing H-1B approval, an approved I-140 immigrant petition, or a pending green card application. Sponsorship is a business decision, not a legal obligation: no immigration rule requires an employer to sponsor a worker for an H-1B visa or an employment-based green card. But for foreign professionals whose future status depends on a pending petition, the practical effect is the same — they must find another sponsor, transfer abroad, or leave.
IBM has not disclosed a nationality breakdown of the affected workers, a total headcount, or a full role-by-role exemption list. That leaves many employees waiting for their managers to confirm whether their own positions are covered.
Why IBM says it is making the change
IBM framed the decision as a response to changing conditions rather than a reaction to politics. The spokesperson linked it to evolving skill availability and shifting client requirements, saying the consulting business had relied less and less on high-skilled visa programs over time.
The business context is mixed. IBM reported third-quarter consulting revenue of $5.3 billion, flat year over year in reported currency and up 2 percent at constant currency. The division remains IBM’s largest by headcount, and consulting work depends heavily on staffing large client projects quickly — the exact kind of work for which employers have traditionally turned to visa holders.
The wider crackdown on skilled-worker hiring
IBM’s move lands as the Trump administration keeps tightening its scrutiny of foreign hiring in the technology sector, after a year of H-1B fee, form, and processing changes. Last year, the White House announced a one-time $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions, a step that made employers reconsider how freely they use the program.
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IBM is not the only large American employer reshaping its workforce this autumn. Boeing announced a 5% cut to its commercial airplane workforce earlier this month, and Anthropic withdrew IPO pricing details from banks after a draft filing circulated, a reminder that even the hottest companies in tech are under pressure. US stocks staged their best day since April on Monday as oil prices plunged, but the rally has not erased the uncertainty hanging over hiring.
Why this matters
IBM has historically been one of the largest users of the H-1B program, so its decision carries weight beyond its own workforce. When a company of IBM’s size narrows one of the biggest employer-sponsored pipelines for foreign professionals, it signals to the rest of the industry that the era of routine visa sponsorship in consulting may be ending.
For workers, the stakes are immediate. A consulting employee on an H-1B visa who loses sponsorship faces a narrow set of choices: find a new sponsoring employer, accept a transfer abroad, or leave the United States. For American workers, the company says the change reflects improving domestic skill availability — a claim that will be tested by whether IBM can staff its consulting projects without the visa pipeline it has relied on for years.
What to watch next
The key questions are whether other large technology and consulting firms follow IBM’s lead, and how many IBM Consulting employees are ultimately affected. Watch for any response from worker groups and immigration attorneys, for details on which roles remain eligible for sponsorship, and for how the year-end deadline plays out for employees who must choose between an overseas transfer and departure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does IBM’s decision cancel existing H-1B visas?
No. The announcement changes IBM’s sponsorship policy going forward. It does not by itself cancel an existing H-1B approval, an approved I-140 petition, or a pending green card application. Affected workers will still need another sponsor, a transfer abroad, or a different immigration path.
How many IBM workers are affected?
IBM has not disclosed a number. The change covers the majority of roles in IBM Consulting, a division with more than 150,000 employees worldwide, but that workforce figure is not a count of affected employees.
Can affected workers stay with IBM?
According to Bloomberg, citing an internal company document, affected employees can continue working for IBM outside the United States or leave the company by the end of 2026. That is a reported option, not a guarantee of a suitable overseas role for every worker.
Does the change apply to all of IBM?
No. It applies to IBM Consulting only. IBM has not announced a company-wide withdrawal of visa sponsorship, and other IBM business units are not covered by the announcement.
IBM’s decision closes one of the technology industry’s largest visa pipelines at a moment when Washington is watching foreign hiring more closely than ever. The coming weeks will show whether it is an outlier — or the start of a broader shift.
Sources: Reuters, via The Hindu BusinessLine (https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/ibm-to-stop-us-visa-green-card-sponsorship-for-majority-of-consulting-jobs/article71687532.ece); Bloomberg, via People Matters (https://www.peoplematters.in/news/economy-policy/ibm-consulting-ends-h-1b-visa-sponsorship-citing-availability-of-us-talent-53265); Law Firm for Immigrants (https://www.lawfirm4immigrants.com/ibm-ends-visa-green-card-sponsorship-consulting-2026/); Google Trends United States (https://www.trendingsoup.com/gwtrends/us).
