Countdown begins for H-4 visa users

Donald Trump's administration to revoke permits for dependents in 3 months

Countdown begins for H-4 visa users

Rep pic

The Trump administration in the United States has told a federal court that its decision to revoke work permits to H-4 visa users, a significant majority of whom are Indian-Americans, is expected within the next three months. The move is expected to have a major impact on Indian women as they are the major beneficiary of the Obama-era rule.

H-4 visas are issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to immediate family members (spouse and children under 21 years of age) of the holders of H-1B visa, the most sought-after among Indian IT professionals. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in its latest court filing on Friday told the US District Court in District of Columbia that it was "making a solid and swift progress in proposing to remove from its regulations on certain H-4 spouses of H-1B non-immigrants as a class of aliens eligible for employment authorisation".

Donald Trump

The DHS said the new rule would be submitted to the Office of Management of Budget (OMB), White House, within three months. This is for the third time that the Department of Homeland has informed the court about the delay in issue of Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). The next status report is due on November 19. However, 'Save Jobs USA' has sought an early decision from the court, arguing that the longer the case remains in abeyance, the greater the possible harm to the US workers.

19
The date in Nov when next report is due

Status update
As of December 25, 2017, the USCIS had approved 1,26,853 applications for employment authorisation for H-4 visa holders. This number includes 90,946 initial approvals, 35,219 renewals, and 688 replacements for lost cards.

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