US to take decision on work permits to H-4 visa holders within 3 Months
On Friday, September 21, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of US told a federal court about its decision to revoke work permit to H-4 visa holder and to announce new rules within next three months.
H-4 visa are issued by the US citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Work permit for H-4 visa holders allows the spouses of H1-B visa guest workers whose green cards are being processed to enter US. Most of the 1,27,000 H-4 visa beneficiaries are Indian women.
Department of Homeland Security told the federal court in Columbia; “It was making a solid and swift progress in proposing to remove from its regulations on certain H-4 spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants as a class of aliens eligible for employment authorization”. DHS said this in the latest court filing in response to a suit filed by ‘Save Jobs USA’, a group that represents US workers affected by previous administration’s expensive immigrant worker ruling.
The US attorney said, explaining the delay in decision, “Senior leadership review and the request for revisions is standard practice within the DHS. When the necessary revisions are incorporated, the USCIS will return the proposed rule to the DHS for final clearance and submission to OMB”.
As of December 2017, US Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) had approved 1,26,853 work permits, among them 93 % are Indians.
The Congressional Research Service said in a report based on the information obtained from US Customs and Immigration Services, “Ninety-three per cent of approved applications for H-4 employment authorization were issued to individuals born in India, and five per cent were issued to individuals born in China. Individuals born in all other countries combined make up the remaining two per cent of approved applications”.
Trump Administration previously had mentioned that H-1B and H-4 visa holders are a threat to the jobs of Americans, whereas the US tech companies including Google, Facebook and Microsoft consider that H-1B and H-4 visa holders are important for the US economy.
