U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will continue issuing work permits to eligible H-4 visa holders at least through next spring, according to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS indicated that further delays could occur, describing the spring timeframe as “aspirational.” DHS made the revelation last week in a letter dated Sept. 16, 2019, to…
Eliminating work permits for H-4 visa holders would result in an annual loss of $1.9 billion in federal tax revenue and $530 million in state and local tax revenue, according to a recent study. Researchers Ike Brannon, a senior fellow at the Jack Kemp Foundation, and M. Kevin McGee, Professor Emeritus at the University of…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has submitted its long-anticipated proposal to eliminate work permits for H-4 visa holders to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. That move marks the first step in the process of rescinding the H-4 EAD (Employment Authorization Document) program. Details of the proposal, including whether…
Reps. Anna Eshoo of Palo Alto and Zoe Lofgren of San Jose introduced legislation last week that retains work authorization for H-4 visa holders. Called the H-4 Employment Protection Act, the bill prohibits the Trump administration from revoking the 2015 rule that enabled H-4 visas holders waiting for green cards to obtain employment authorization documents…
Two U.S. Senators have sent a letter urging the federal government to allow the H-4 EAD (Employment Authorization Document) program to continue. Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) sent the letter last month to Kristjen Nielsen, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and L. Francis Cissna, Director of U.S. Citizenship…
Since late last year when the Trump administration first announced its intention to eliminate the regulation that allows some H-4 visa holders to obtain a work permit, Farha and her husband Rajiv* have been nervous and stressed. Farha and Rajiv came to the U.S. on student visas from their native India. Both of them earned…
The Trump administration announced last fall its intention to eliminate work permits for some spouses of H-1B visa holders. Since then, these spouses, who hold H-4 visas, and their families have lived under the threat that their careers and second income will end. Since 2015, the spouses of H-1B specialty occupation visa holders who are waiting…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) plans to impose new restrictions making it more difficult to attract and retain highly-skilled foreign nationals and international students who attend a U.S. university. In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley last month, USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna outlined a series of measures that the agency…
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently notified a federal court of appeals that it will delay issuing a formal notice to rescind the rule allowing H-4 visa holders to obtain work permits. Previously, DHS, which oversees U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), indicated it would issue a formal notice to rescind the rule in…
The spouses of H-1B visa holders face losing their work permits. If you’re one of the nearly 180,000 individuals in this situation or have an employee in this situation, what should you do? The Alcorn Immigration Law team has been fielding this question from both the working spouses of H-1B visa holders, who are given…