

DHS Extends Eligibility for Employment to Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses - thrwy10
http://www.uscis.gov/news/dhs-extends-eligibility-employment-authorization-certain-h-4-dependent-spouses-h-1b-nonimmigrants-seeking-employment-based-lawful-permanent-residence

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solutionyogi
Good news but won't apply to a lot of H4 visa holders.

It's only applicable to those folks who have been on H1B over 6 years OR have
an approved I-140.

For those who don't know, employment based green card has three stages

1\. Labor Certification (PERM)

2\. Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker - I-140 - This stage checks whether
the company filing your petition is legitimate and there is no fraud.

3\. Application to register permanent residence - I-485. This stage checks
whether the person applying has a good character, is not criminal etc. etc.

Getting through 1st and 2nd stage takes 1 to 3 years. It's the 3rd stage which
has a long wait, mainly for people from India or China.

See: [http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/law-and-
policy...](http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/law-and-
policy/bulletin/2015/visa-bulletin-for-march-2015.html)

As per that link, USCIS is processing cases of folks who applied in 2007 (for
EB2) and 2004 (for EB3).

This is definitely a huge relief for those folks who have decided to apply for
permanent residency and have been stuck in stage 3 for many years.

P.S.: I know about this because I am from India and went through a grueling 10
year immigration process to get my green card.

~~~
vbcr
Its not that bad in the recent years. I applied for my labor in aug 2012 (step
1), it was approved in less than 3 months. later applied for I140 (step 2), it
was too approved in less than 4 months. Since I have an approved I140, my wife
(an H4 holder) can apply for EAD under this new rule. Also the rule states
that its either approved I140 OR H1B over 6 years.

~~~
jakozaur
You got lucky.

Right now the average processing time for PERM is 8 months (235 days):
[http://dolstats.com/](http://dolstats.com/) and it used to be worse
(government shutdown). Also preparing PERM takes some time and it can't be
speeded up. So it can take well over a year just to get PERM and it doesn't
take it account risk that you will have to start over for any reason (e.g.
change jobs, change in company legal or organizational structure, HR got busy,
someone involved in the process like manager change jobs).

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micheljansen
This is huge. I have considered the H1b route in the past, but ended up
deciding against it, as I didn't want my wife (who would not have been
eligible for an H1b herself at the time) to become an "H4 housewife" (look
that up if you don't know what that means).

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jakozaur
Good step, but still majority of H4 holders will have to wait at least 1-3
years to get PERM and I-140 approved.

Unfortunately, immigration situation for foreign ambitious married couple is
really harsh in recent years. Even if both qualified for H1B than you still
have 50% chance in lottery just to process your application... 25% chance that
both of them can work.

While there, getting job visa sponsorship on H4 can also be hard. Even junior
software engineers in Bay Area who can get job easily, get mysterious
rejections at very end of process or honest reply "sorry we would hire you,
but waiting several months to apply in April and get you work in October with
50% chance and lot of fees is not a good deal. You're good, but not that
great. We can't afford to wait".

I know several stories of people who left USA for good, b/c of that reasons.
Their offers/positions where quite generous at top tech companies/startups.

Bay Area is the best ecosystem, but maybe with immigration and property market
situation it just reached the peak and it wouldn't get any better?

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houshuang
I'm currently doing my PhD in Canada, and here, spouses of the above
categories automatically get open work permits for as long as the student/work
permit of the principal applicant. Heading towards the job market, there are
lot's of opportunities in the US, both within academia and industry, but the
fact that my wife would not be able to work is a huge deterrent for us. Add to
that, my wife is not in an industry where she would be likely to get a company
sponsoring her for an independent work permit.

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ashwinigursale
I have H1B visa 7th year now got ext. beyond 6 years based on AC 21, but my
previous employer withdraw my I-140 . Can I still file H4EAD for my wife as I
extended my H1B beyond 6 years based on AC21?

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chocks
This is really good news for a lot of folks who were unable to work previously
due to the H4 restriction even with years of experience behind them.

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rad123
I am on H4 and my husband is here in USA for 6.8 years.But we are in of our
first stage of Labor certification. So can I still apply for H1B?

~~~
nyrulez
Once his I140 gets approved, you should be. You should talk to his GC lawyer.

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ropiku
*Only those with an I-140 approved (already in the green card process) or other conditions. That's still a good step.

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spiked55
Wonder how long it's going to take for the application to be approved once
it's submitted. Also, what restrictions are going to be present with working
on the EAD? Is it unrestricted? STEM only? Will the same rules apply as if the
EAD was received by the spouse after an approved I-485?

~~~
deepicasso
I'd really like to know this. I've been working under the STEM (plus
extension) for over two years now -- my work permit expires in July. I believe
that after "using up" my STEM, I wont be eligible for another STEM-associated
EAD card, per my university's international students office. I wonder if that
will affect my eligibility for this H1B-dependant work permit.

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san86
This is good news indeed. I moved back to India 1.5 years ago because my wife
could not work there. Not sad I moved back, but yes, a lot of people would be
really really happy today.

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milnade
Does this apply even if the spouse has their own independent H1? And they are
the primary beneficiary of their husbands I 140?

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swethasam
Does this law also permit H1B employees with i140 Approval to apply for EAD or
is it just the spouse?

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georgehm
This thought has been lingering since this ruling was sent to the OMB for
approval. How will it affect existing H1/other wages? As the OP says, DHS is
expecting 180k ead applications this year. Thats a large pool of qualified
folks with potentially prior work experience. Thoughts?

~~~
raincom
Well, this helps Indian offshoring gaints like Infosys, TCS as they are
struggling to find H1s to fill spots onsite. And the thing about Infosys, TCS,
Wipro, Cognizant, etc is this: they just need warm bodies onsite for billable
hours.

Yes, wages will be depressed in big corp software and IT. To what extent, I
don't know.

Top tier talent won't be affected that much: but how many companies need top
tier talent? Or how much the top tier talent constitutes US IT/Software
market? Maybe, less than 10 percent.

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achanda358
Is there a chance that a later president might revoke this?

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veryluckyxyz
The title here is misleading. It should say "DHS extends Eligibility for EAD
of certain H4 Visa Holders."

~~~
sctb
Thanks, we updated the title.

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smoothpooper
Don't want to hurt all the folks whom this will immensely help. But isn't this
going to kill a lot of low cost permanent jobs here in US.

So currently we are still debating on whether we want to raise the H1 cap
because that will encourage body shops and more cheap labour but isn't this
going to take away the low paying US jobs as well.

So say there are 65,000 ppl coming into US on H1 every year, 40,000 of these
say apply for green card and on an average say it takes 8 years to get green
card and 2 years to get I-140. So every year now well be making 40,000 more
ppl eligible and when we start we already will have a surplus of 40,000 * 6

Plus if I am not wrong with H1 you atleast have to prove that you cannot find
someone who can do this job and that's why you are bringing someone from
outside. But with this you are basically making ppl with any qualification
eligible for a job.

I personally would have liked the govt to hike the H1 to ensure that the
students who study here won't have to leave because of the lack of enough
number of visa's.

~~~
foobar2020
The fact that H1B spouses cannot be legally employed is just stupid.

The US needs to get its immigration together. Fix the law, decrease or
increase the cap, stop the H1B program - but please be reasonable. Quality
immigrants are more likely to have quality spouses. On the other hand, a
mediocre programmer with his housewife will happily jump on the H1B train even
if it means she will be unemployed, because that is already a huge quality of
life boost for both them.

I would never take the H1B route if I were married, unless I was sure that my
wife is OK with that. And I would have to be really, really sure - because
that's locking into a situation for years.

~~~
uisiu
"Quality immigrants are more likely to have quality spouses"

This is just utter nonsense or you are out of your mind. Why quality immigrant
would have quality spouse ?

Technical ( & Business) abilities differ for each individual.

I frankly admit that people from my country just want to get here and live
good life

PS - I am from India.

Work hours are less in US, commute is short, quality life, beautiful country.
By very nature Indians spend less and save more. So even with exorbitant
lifestyle you still save money.

I have seen extremely medeocre people from AndraPradesh, Maharashtra, Chennai,
Indore, Delhi working on H1B here. I will tell you something additional.
Lately, there is trend going that beside programmers, engineers Business
system analysts, production support are also going to h1b people.

My prior employer had 100+ BSA on h1b. Why in the world you need BSA on H1b ?
What is special occupation and ability? Nobody knows. It is honestly massive
scam and everyone is milking the cow while they can.

