U.S. Govt Sticks to its Plan of Revoking H-4 Visa Rule

Signalling further confirmation of the U.S. government’s intention to revoke the H-4 visa rule which grants employment authorization to spouses of H-1B visa holders, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) mentioned the proposal in its Unified Agenda notification in the Federal Register on June 11.

“Removing H-4 dependent spouses from the class of aliens eligible for employment authorization,” the DHS stated in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda), PTI reported.

H-4 visa holders, the spouses of H-1B visa holders, received work authorization in 2015 during the Barack Obama era. Indian and Chinese women mostly benefit from the work permit.

In the Unified Agenda, agencies report regulatory actions upcoming in the next year and the Agenda helps agencies fulfill these requirements, the Federal Register, which is a daily journal of the U.S. government, stated.

The Federal Register added that the activities included in the Unified Agenda are, in general, those that will have a regulatory action within the next 12 months. Agencies may choose to include activities that will have a longer time frame than 12 months.

“The agency is considering a number of policy and regulatory changes to carry out the President’s Buy American, Hire American Executive Order, including a thorough review of employment-based visa programs,” USCIS spokesperson Michael Bars was quoted as saying by PTI.

According to the notification, the Notice of Proposed Rule Making  (NPRM) would be published in June, PTI reported. The DHS, which had earlier sought an extension from DC Circuit Court of Appeals to gain more time to review the economic impact of revoking the program in February 2018, set the ball rolling for the rule: “Removing H4 Visa EAD Dependent Spouses from the Class of Aliens Eligible for Employment Authorization.” The NRPM will seek public comments on the policy change.

The USCIS will inform the public when the NPRM has been posted for public comments. “USCIS is focused on safeguarding the integrity of our immigration system and ensuring its faithful execution so that the wages and working conditions of US workers are protected,” Bars added, as per the report. He also said that USCIS is committed to reforming employment-based immigration programs so they benefit the American people to the greatest extent possible.

The DHS had said in a court filing in February that it was reviewing the economic impact of terminating work authorization for H4 visa holders and has pushed back terminating the permit till June.