US:automatic authorisation to spouses of H-1B visas holders

The Biden administration has agreed to provide automatic work authorisation permits to spouses of H-1B visas holders, a step that would benefit thousands of Indian-American women. The settlement in this regard was reached by the Department of Homeland Security in a class-action lawsuit, which was filed by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) on behalf of immigrant spouses this summer. "This (H-4 visa holders) is a group that always met the regulatory test for automatic extension of EADs (employment authorisation documents), but the agency previously prohibited them from that benefit and forced them to wait for reauthorisation. People were suffering. They were losing their high-paying jobs for absolutely no legitimate reason causing harm to them and US businesses," Jon Wasden from the association said.

Spouses of H-1B and L-2 visa holders will no longer have to apply for work authorisation and need an employment authorisation document as proof in order to work in the United States. For H-4 spouses who have lawful status and merely need to renew their employment authorisation, they will now enjoy an automatic extension of their authorisation for 180 days after expiration should the agency fail to process their timely-filed applications, the settlement says. Dependents of H-1B visa holders are issued H-4 visas. The Obama administration had given work authorisation to certain categories of spouses of H-1B visa holders. So far, more than 90,000 H-4 visa holders, a significant majority of whom are Indian-American women, have received work authorisation.