No Decision About H-4 Visa Final Until Rule-Making Process Is Completed, U.S. Says
The move to end the Obama-era rule could have an impact on more than 70,000 H-4 visas holders.
No decision about H-4 visa, which grants work authorisation to dependent spouses of H-1B visa holders working in America, will be final until the rule-making process is completed, according to a senior U.S. official. The comment comes days after over 100 lawmakers urged the Trump administration to continue granting the visa to certain dependent spouses of non-immigrant workers holding H-1B visas, the most sought-after among Indian information technology professionals.
The Trump administration is planning to revoke a rule that makes spouses of thousands of immigrant workers eligible to work while in the U.S., a move that could have a devastating impact on tens of thousands of Indians.
H-4 is issued to the spouse of H-1B visa holders, a significantly large number of whom are high-skilled professionals from India. They had obtained work permits under a special order issued by the previous Obama administration.
The move to end the Obama-era rule could have an impact on more than 70,000 H-4 visas holders, who have work permits.
“No decision about H-4 visas is final until the rulemaking process is completed,” Philip Smith, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson, told news agency PTI.
This comes days after more than 130 influential lawmakers wrote a letter to the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary not to rescind the Obama administration’s decision to provide work authorisation to certain categories of H-4 visas, which are mainly spouses of H-1B visas.
