USCIS Publishes Rule To Permit Employment Authorization For Some H-4 Spouses

The rule creates employment eligibility for H-4 spouses where the H-1B principal is subject to I-140 backlogs or is AC-21 eligible.

In a release issued earlier today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that after three years of agency consideration and vetting, it will permit the H-4 spouses of certain H-1B principal nonimmigrants to receive employment authorization in the United States.

The H-1B visa is available to individuals in a specialty occupation, typically highly skilled individuals who are working in a field that requires a bachelor's degree or the equivalent. H-1B status allows the principal H-1B individual to work for a sponsoring employer, however, until now, an accompanying foreign spouse in H-4 status was not eligible for employment authorization.