US Govt Allows Spouses Of H1B Visa Holders To Work; 1 Lakh Indian Families In US Will Get Relief, Can Work!

Providing relief to one lakh Indians and their families is the Trump administration, which has asked a federal district court not to block the work permits of the spouses of the H-1b visa holders.

However, this is applicable only to certain categories of the said spouses.

If this request is approved, this will come as a great news to all the Indians working abroad. Find out more details right here!

Trump Administration Asks US Court Not To Block Work Permits Of Spouses Of H-1B Visa Holders

The Trump administration has requested a federal district court to allow a certain category of spouses of the H-1b visa holders to work in the United States. This rule was set up by the previous reigning president, Barack Obama.

Back in 2017, the Trump administration had announced its plans to retrieve this rule and ban the spouses of H-1b visa holders from working, but seems like they have had a change of heart.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) argued in a submission before the U.S. District Court, District Washington that American technology workers have not been irreparably harmed by such work authorization. These workers were the ones who initially challenged the 2015 ruling on giving work permits to H-4 visa holders.

More Than One Lakh Indian Families To Benefit If Law Is Approved

Indian Nationals make up for more than two-thirds of the H-1B visa holders in the US. If this request is approved, about 100,000 Indian families will benefit from it.

As per reports, ‘Save Jobs USA’ had filed a lawsuit in 2015, wherein they argued that the regulation imposed by the Obama Government to offer employment authorization for certain H4 dependent spouses harms their own members, which are American technology workers.

The DHS opinionated that the argument presented by ‘Save Jobs USA’ on the behalf of American technology workers “only speculates about potential economic harm to its members, based on five-year-old affidavits.”

As we all know, the H-4 visa is issued to the immediate family members (spouse and children under 21 years of age) of the H-1B visa-holders by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This is usually issued to the people who already have initiated the process of seeking employment-based permanent resident status, and most of these are Indian IT professionals.