On February 25, 2015, under the Obama Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a final rule extending employment authorization to certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who were seeking lawful permanent resident status based on their employment in the United States. Currently, it is estimated that approximately 91,000 foreign nationals are employed in the United States with H-4 Employment Authorization Documents (“EADs”).
On February 20, 2019, DHS moved forward with its efforts to revoke employment authorization for such H-4 dependent spouses by sending a proposed rule to eliminate eligibility for H-4 dependent spouse employment to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) for review. It should be noted that the details of the proposed rule have not yet been published so we do not yet know the specifics relating to several key provisions, including the effective date of the rule and whether there will be a grandfathering clause (that will prohibit first time H-4 EAD applications, but will continue to grant extensions of work authorization to H-4 spouses who already have EADs). Read more:
If you have questions in connection with any of the foregoing, please contact Anthony F. Siliato and Scott R. Malyk of our firm’s Immigration Law Group.
Recent Comments