Amazon resumes new US green card applications for foreign workers, leaked memo shows

• Amazon has restarted the green card application process for foreign workers.
• Amazon paused PERM filings in 2023-2024 due to "labor market conditions."
• The change may signal an improving job market, analysts say.

Amazon has resumed the green card application process for foreign workers, a sign of an improving job market.

In an internal note from late 2024, obtained by Business Insider, Amazon told employees that it planned to reopen PERM processing on January 6, 2025. Amazon had suspended all new PERM filings in 2023 and throughout 2024, BI previously reported.

PERM is part of the US Labor Department's permanent labor certification process and is typically the first step towards getting a green card for a foreign worker. The goal is to prove hiring foreign workers won't impact US job seekers's opportunities, wages, or working conditions.

The note didn't explain why Amazon is resuming the PERM process. But, the change potentially reflects Amazon's outlook for a more competitive job market. It also follows Trump's campaign vow to give green cards to every foreign graduate of US colleges.

"We evaluate our PERM program based on market analysis and have been planning to reopen it for the last 9 months," Amazon's spokesperson said in an email to BI.

'Rebound' from the layoffs

Amazon has been making major job cuts since late 2022, laying off at least 27,000 employees. Just last week, Amazon let go about 200 people from its Fashion and Fitness group, BI reported.

Resuming PERM filings indicate Amazon sees a possible "rebound" in the job market, according to Richard Herman, a Cleveland-based immigration lawyer and founder of the Herman Legal Group.

Herman said some companies previously suspended green card filings due to widespread layoffs and the high cost and time of processing PERMs with the Labor Department.

With PERM, companies have to demonstrate that laid-off employees are not qualified for the jobs intended for foreign workers while also notifying US workers laid off within the past 6 months about the anticipated PERM filing. That costs a lot of money and time.

"If employers are reconsidering getting back into the PERM game, it's because their cost/benefit analysis suggests labor market changes favor a more competitive market in some occupations, justifying the costs/time invested in PERM," Herman said.

Tech companies are still laying off employees and applying more stringent performance reviews. But the hiring trend may improve.

HR software maker Karat said in a 2024 report that average hiring targets for software engineer roles among US tech companies were up 12% year-over-year. Stripe laid off 300 employees earlier this week but said it plans to grow its total head count by roughly 1,000 this year, BI previously reported.

"Tech in the Bay Area is definitely hiring more, and so they have a positive view of what's ahead," Bill Hing, an immigration law professor at the University of San Francisco told BI.

Trump effect

President Donald Trump may be another factor.

During his presidential campaign, Trump mentioned that he would like to give green cards to every foreign graduate of US colleges as part of a plan to attract more skilled immigrants.

That has led to a clash between the Elon Musk-led pro-Trump tech leaders and the hardcore MAGA base over the legal immigration of skilled workers.

While it's possible Trump will commit to his proposal, he hasn't publicly addressed it since then, and some believe he could change his mind. Trump's campaign, in fact, clarified last year that his proposal would only apply to the "most thoroughly" vetted foreign students.

Jennifer Gordon, a labor and immigration law professor at Fordham University, told BI that companies may be trying to anticipate Trump's unpredictable behavior in advance.

Given Trump's past hard-line stance against immigration, Gordon said it's possible the new administration could issue a policy pausing skilled labor immigration applications in the future.

"If I was a tech company, I wouldn't be fully confident that he will follow through," Gordon said.

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