A new US government proposal could strip thousands of H-4 visa holders of their right to work legally in America, reversing a policy that has been in place for more than a decade.
Trump Administration Moves to Eliminate H-4 Work Permits
The Trump administration is seeking to eliminate work permits for spouses of H-1B visa holders. This potential policy change would reverse a decade-long rule allowing eligible H-4 visa holders to work legally in the United States. Indian professionals may be disproportionately affected, as a significant number of H-4 permit holders are from India.
Before it can take effect, the DHS must publish a formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register, allow the public to comment, and then issue a final rule. It is one of several moves by the administration targeting H-1B visas. The DHS proposal states, “This proposal would reverse the changes made in the 2015 final rule, ‘Employment Authorisation for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses,’ and restore DHS’s long-standing policy of not extending eligibility to request employment authorisation to H-4 dependent spouses. However, this is only a proposal, not a final rule, and it does not end H-4 work authorisation immediately. Until that happens, H-4 spouses with valid EADs can keep working under the current rules. The DHS has also proposed a $103,265 fee on new H-1B hires, and the White House wants to remove the 60-day window H-1B workers currently get to find a new employer after losing their job. The impact could fall heavily on Indian H-1B families, since Indian nationals made up about 71 per cent of approved H-1B petitions in FY2024, according to USCIS data.
