New Delhi: Indian billionaire, and Founder and Chief Scientist of Zoho Corporation, Sridhar Vembu responded to America’s controversial visa crackdown against foreign workers looking to gain permanent residency in the US.
In a post on X, Vembu wrote, “Indians have made a major contribution to America’s technological prowess. Yet, a big part of America no longer wants us…Indians who are on a visa in the US face the painful prospect of uprooting the life you have built with hard work.”
He urged affected Indians to return to the country, and wrote, “Let this be the birth pains of a bold new future.”
Indians have made a major contribution to America's technological prowess. Yet, a big part of America no longer wants us.
Indians who are on a visa in the US face the painful prospect of uprooting the life you have built with hard work.
Let this be the birth pains of a bold…
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) October 9, 2026
Vembu also pointed to countries that saw a simultaneous out-migration of its workforce, along with internal national development.
“The Chinese migrated in large numbers even as China developed…Taiwanese migrated in large numbers as Taiwan developed. Same with South Korea and before that Japan…My point is that development at a national level accompanies out migration of talent seeking better opportunities faster”, he said.
Vembu’s post comes after the US suspended several large Indian IT firms from a key programme that allows foreign workers to gain permanent residency in the country.
PERM suspension
Companies affected by the suspension from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme, or PERM, include Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini, and American firms Microsoft, Adobe and Cognizant.
The announcement came on Thursday in the presence of a number of senior American officials, including Vice president J D Vance, and US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling. The Trump administration accused the eight Indian and American IT firms of fraudulent hiring processes, and of taking jobs from American workers.
“I am hereby suspending from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme some of the largest IT outsourcing firms in the world, Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini,” Sonderling announced.
Vance added, “The H-1B visa programme is meant to allow companies to bring the best of the best from outside the United States of America for positions that are completely impossible to fill with American workers. Unfortunately, the programme has become rife with fraud.”
(Edited by Aakriti Handa)