Work Permission to come for certain H-4 nonimmigrants (Spouses of H-1b nonimmigrants)??

DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is proposing to grant employment authorization to certain H-4 dependent spouses of principal H-1B nonimmigrants. The extension would only apply to H-4 dependent spouses of principal H-1B nonimmigrants who are in the process of seeking lawful permanent resident status through employment. Specifically, H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who are the beneficiaries of an approved Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Form I-140) or who have been granted an extension of their authorized period of H-1b admission because they are beneficiaries of a Labor Certification that was filed before the end of their 5^th year of H-1b eligibility (Pursuant to the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (AC21). This new rule would be enormously beneficial to spouses of H-1b nonimmigrants and their families. Often, the spouses are as highly educated and talented as their H-1b wives or husbands but are unable to work because they were unable to secure H-1b status for themselves. Consequently, this new proposed rule not only benefits the H-4 spouses, but also the American economy by putting to use a highly skilled, unused talent pool. A recent article in the Palo Alto Weekly, titled “Immigrant Valley” discussed this problem as well as many other problems that talented foreign nationals face with our current employment immigration system.

This rule is only proposed at this point in time. Stay tuned for updates regarding the formal adoption of this rule and other legal changes to our immigration system.