The US government under the administration of President of Donald Trump had confirmed in a court filing, the administration’s intention to put in action a proposed rule that aims to revoke the work permits of H1B spouses. These work permits allowed the spouses and dependents of H1B visa holders who came to USA on the H4 visa to work under certain conditions. The visas which were popularly known as H4 EAD, short for H4 Employment Authorization Document, were under intense scrutiny by the Trump administration, with the President himself taking a personal interest in its revokal. The DHS or Department of Homeland Security was working out the fine print and the proposal was in the stages of final review.

Legislation for protecting H4 EAD rights raises new hopes for H4 workers

The midterm elections, which concluded recently in USA, have seen a power shift in favor of the Democrat party, who have reclaimed the majority in the House of Representatives have put forward a new legislation that seeks to prevent the US government under, Donald Trump’s Presidency from removing the authorisation to work of spouses and dependent partners of H1-B visa holders. The new legislation, if passed will be helpful to many H4 visa holders, including many Indians. The legislation was introduced in the Congress by two American lawmakers - Anna G Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren, who opined that discontinuing the work benefit would be counterproductive to US interests as eliminating it would force immigrant workers to compete against US business.

What are H-4 Visas

H-4 visas are visas that are issued to the spouses and dependent partners of foreign workers who arrived in USA on a H-1B visa, which is a non-immigrant visa that is used by workers to work in US companies. The visa allows US companies to employ worker, who are in specialty occupations and that cannot be filled by US citizens or residents on account of technical expertise that is required. The H-4 visas are issued only to immediate family members of persons who arrive in USA on the H-1B visa

Impact of the legislation on USA Immigration for H4 visa holders

The proposed legislation to introduce the H-4 Employment Protection Act has come in a time of speculation around the Trump administration’s intention to revoke the H4 EAD rule passed by the former President, Barack Obama to extend work authorisation to spouses and dependent partners of H-1B visa holders.

The Obama era rule saw more than 100,000 immigrant workers, most of whom were women, especially from countries like India, China and Bangladesh receive employment authorisation, thereby improving the economic competitiveness of USA and reducing the financial burden of scores of H-1B workers and their families

The new bill which has been dubbed as the H-4 Employment Protection Act, seeks to prohibit the Trump administration from revoking the H4- EAD rule. According to Congresswoman Eshoo, it is imperative to protect work authorisation for H-4 visa holders from the point of view of both family unity and economic fairness

Congressman Lofgren also added that the Trump administration’s agenda to prohibit H-1B dependent spouses from working would actually harm the country’s economy if allowed as many of the families who are currently living in USA and contributing to the US economy would choose to move to other countries that were more welcoming. The proposed bill intends to block the Trump administration from taking steps that would harm the Immigration to USA policy.

For more Information about USA Immigration contact Global Tree, The Best Immigration Consultants In India.

Read more about:

How much time does it take to process Germany Job seeker visa?

Immigration to Canada, Is it still a good option?

Germany immigration – Major options from India

Check the below videos: