All about H-4 Visa EAD – 2024 Updates

Overview:

Issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an H-4 visa is a dependent visa for the immediate family members, i.e., spouse and children under 21 years of age, of H-1B visa holders. It allows the family to lawfully come and stay in the U.S. with the H-1B visa holders.

However, the H4 visa dependent spouses do not get the same rights as the H-1B visa holders, mostly because they may not get any work authorization on H-4 visa. As until May 26, 2015, H-4 visa holders did not have any work authorization in the U.S.

But, on February 24, 2015, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that effective May 26, 2015, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is extending eligibility for employment authorization to certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who are seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident (LPR) status. DHS amended the regulations to allow these H-4 dependent spouses to accept employment in the United States. These H-4 dependent spouses are also eligible to receive social security numbers. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-4_visa)

This meant certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants can file for Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, provided the H-1B spouse is the principal beneficiary of an approved Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker; or has H1B visa status extended beyond 6 years under AC21 Act, which allows H1B holders seeking Green Card to work and stay in the USA beyond 6 years, if their Green Card or Permanent Residency Application is Pending.

However, other H-4 visa spouses are not eligible to get a social security number and cannot be employed in the U.S. But they can hold a driver’s license, open bank accounts, and get an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number for U.S. tax purposes.

Now, due to the enactment of H-4 visa EAD Rule after years of restraint, a large number of H-4 spouses jumped at the opportunity to work in the U.S., threatening the jobs of the native U.S. workers.

This attracted a lawsuit against the H-4 EAD by an organization called ‘Save Jobs USA’. They filed a lawsuit against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on April 23, 2015, just before the H-4 EAD rule was to be enacted.

The Lawsuit:

They claimed the H-4 EAD rule has no protections for U.S. workers and increases the pool of workers looking for jobs, stating that DHS never had the authority to grant EADs to H-4 visa holders in the first place.

Now, after various filings between the ‘Save Jobs USA’ and the current U.S. government, between February 2017 and December 2017, DHS and administration have aligned their entire approach to implementing Trump Executive Order 13788 on Buy American Hire American to consider how to handle the H-4 EAD rule as part of the overall view.

This has led DHS to publish “Removing H-4 Dependent Spouses from the Class of Aliens Eligible for Employment Authorization” as a new agenda item, on December 14, 2017, which means they intend to amend the original rule published for H-4 EAD Rule in 2015 and potentially remove it as per the Buy American, Hire American EO by Trump Administration.

Now, the next scheduled hearing for the case was in January 2018, but there hasn’t been an update yet. Therefore, no judgment so far.

For now, both DHS and SAVE Jobs have filed their respective motions, one to hold the case in abeyance, and the other to not hold the case in abeyance and have DHS remove H4 EAD rule altogether.

Even though there is nothing conclusive as of now, people on H-4 EAD must have a backup plan as the general sentiment is against H-4 EAD rule. It is being assumed that the court has given DHS until July 2018 to file a motion.

About Stilt:

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Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

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