US plans ending the work permits to spouses of H-1B visa holders

The spouses of a few visa holders in the USA, receiving permission to work, in a past rule, are very close for seeing the removal of their authorization.

Regulation for review was presented officially to the Office of Management and Budget as per the government database. Moreover, this shows that the Homeland Security Department has finished the work on this policy.  The proposed rule also aims to remove employment authorization of the spouses of H-1B visa holders who are due to get a green card for working in the USA. The H-1B program serves as a source to attract overseas specialized workers to arrive in the US for employment. Many of these are Indians and Chinese. Also, this rule is finally moving ahead as a formal proposal. A USCIS spokesperson said that the agency reviews visa programs based on employment, and the employment authorization documents for H-4 visas are also a part of this exercise. The decision regarding the regulation of the employment eligibility of H-4 spouses will only be final when the process of rule-making is complete.

Moreover after the Office of Management and Budget reviews it completely, the regulation will go back to the Homeland Security Department or would get clearance for publishing in the Federal Register in the capacity of the Proposed Rule. Following that, there will be a 30-to-90 day period for the public comment. Additionally, there will be a review of the comments and the next stage is making the final rule. Also, the USCIS stated that there were 91,000 applications were initially approved for H-4 work authorization when the original rule was created in 2015 by President Obama. Its advocates also argue that the rule helps to lessen the financial pressure of H-1B families.  Otherwise, they have to manage life on a single income. It helps in retaining overseas talent.

It was criticized by Save Jobs USA that is a group of computer workers without a job in California. They claim that their jobs were filled up by Indian programmers on H-1B visas. This organization had filed a federal lawsuit in 2015 for blocking the H-4 rule soon after its announcement. The case is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia Circuit. Finally, owing to the court deadline, this case is moving forward, with all these developments.