Biden administration withdraws Trump – proposed rule to scrap work authorization for H-1B spouses

The Biden administration has formally withdrawn Trump administration proposal to scrap the functioning of H4 EAD (Employment Authorization Document) that allows the spouses of H-1B visa holders to work.

Hours after getting sworn in as president, Biden had postponed some of the decisions taken by Trump for 60 days, including the proposal to rescind the employment authorization program.

Now, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has formally withdrawn this proposed rule, a report by Times of India said.

According to the report, the proposed rule – ‘Removing H-4 dependent spouses from the class of aliens eligible for employment authorization’ was under review by the Office of Management and Business (OMB). In other words, it was in its final stages of a roll-out.

H4 EAD was introduced by the Barack Obama administration in 2015.

As of December 2017, USCIS had approved 1,26,853 applications for employment authorization for H-4 visa holders. According to a 2018 report by Congressional Research Service (CRS), 93 per cent of approved applications for H-4 employment authorization were issued to individuals born in India, and five per cent were issued to individuals born in China.

According to PTI, an H-4 visa is issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to immediate family members (spouse and children under 21 years of age) of the H-1B visa holders, most of whom are Indian IT professionals.

It is normally issued to those who have already started the process of seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident status.

These women on H-4 visas work in a variety of fields like essential healthcare workers, including in research and development roles at pharmaceutical companies; these women play tremendously important roles as we continue to battle the Covid-19 pandemic, a letter sent by a group of 60 US lawmakers to Biden said.