IBM Ends H-1B Visa Sponsorship for Most Consulting Roles

IBM will stop sponsoring United States work visas and green cards for most roles in IBM Consulting, its largest division, the company confirmed on Tuesday, November 10. The move was first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed to Reuters.

An IBM spokesperson told Reuters the decision was made as "skill availability and client needs have evolved." The company did not say which roles stay eligible for sponsorship, how many employees the change touches, or what happens to applications already in progress.

The division affected

IBM Consulting employs more than 150,000 people, well over half of IBM's global workforce of 264,300. The division advises clients on cloud projects, artificial intelligence work and other technology services, and it has long hired engineers and consultants from outside the United States on sponsored visas.

Reports based on an internal document seen by Bloomberg said affected employees could keep working for IBM from outside the United States or leave the company by the end of 2026. IBM has not publicly confirmed those options, and it has not said when the new policy takes effect.

IBM was already sponsoring fewer workers

Federal records show IBM's use of the H-1B program had been falling before this week's announcement. The company had 1,611 H-1B petitions approved in fiscal year 2026, down from more than 2,000 in fiscal year 2025 and around 3,000 in fiscal year 2024.

The H-1B program is capped by law at 85,000 new visas a year, including 20,000 reserved for people with advanced degrees, and demand regularly runs well above the cap.

The policy backdrop

The announcement lands while the Trump administration is raising the cost and the risk of sponsored hiring. A one-time fee of $100,000 on new H-1B petitions took effect on September 21, 2025, up from earlier fees of $2,000 to $5,000, and that fee is being fought in court. The administration has also proposed replacing the random H-1B lottery with a system based on wages, and changing the 60-day grace period that lets a laid-off sponsored worker stay in the country while looking for a new job.

"H-1B visa" was the top trending Google search in the United States on Thursday morning, according to trend trackers that mirror the Google Trends feed, as workers and employers searched for what the IBM decision and the pending rule changes mean for them.

IBM Consulting brought in about $5.3 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2026, about the same as a year earlier. For workers inside the division, the open questions are practical ones: whether existing cases will be finished, whether transfers to other IBM divisions are possible, and whether other large consulting firms will copy the move. IBM declined to add detail beyond its statement.