Google to ramp up green card applications in 2026, but not for remote workers: report

Google has informed employees that it will be "ramping up" PERM applications in 2026 for eligible employees

Published on: Dec 23, 2025, 08:22:35 IST

By Sanya Jain

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Google has informed employees that it will be "ramping up" PERM applications in 2026 for eligible employees. PERM, which stands for Program Electronic Review Management, is also known as “Labor Certification”. It is the crucial first step to securing a green card which allows foreigners to live and work permanently in the United States.

Google plans to ramp up green card applications for eligible employees in 2026. (Reuters)

Google to ramp up green card applications

Google told employees in its December newsletter that those eligible for PERM would hear from its outside lawyers in Q1, according to a report in Business Insider.

The PERM process enables foreign employees to shift from temporary work visas to permanent residency. In the tech sector, companies frequently use it to move workers from H-1B status to a green card, allowing them to live and work in the United States on a permanent basis.

This development comes at a sensitive moment, as the H-1B visa programme faces growing scrutiny and backlash in parts of the US, driven by concerns that foreign workers are displacing American jobseekers.

Google employees eligible for green card

In its memo, Google said that employees must work from office to be considered for PERM. This means that visa employees working remotely will not be eligible.

"Remote Googlers must agree to transfer to an office to be PERM eligible," the memo read.

Business Insider had earlier reported that Google had paused PERM applications in January 2023. That was the same month it laid off 12,000 people. However, Google did apply for PERM for a small handful of employees in 2025, according to a person familiar with the matter.

(Also read: Indians on H-1B remain ‘stranded’, Google warns employees against international travel)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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