President Biden Withdraws Trump’s H-4 EAD Proposal

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri

Among the many changes to Trump’s hardline immigration policies pursued by the Biden administration during his first two weeks in office, President Biden’s latest action has been to withdraw a proposed rule of the Trump administration concerning H-4 EAD holders.[1] Under the proposed rule (which was introduced in 2019[2]), the H-4 EAD program would have been rescinded, preventing spouses of H-1B visa holders from getting paid employment in the U.S.[3]

Nevertheless, this has brought great relief to spouses of H-1B visa holders who lived with the fear that their work authorization would be terminated by the Trump administration at any time.[4] Not to mention easing the fears of employers worrying about business disruptions due to potentially losing valuable employees due to this proposal.[5]

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) H-4 program issues visas to the immediate family members of H-1B workers, such as spouses and children under the age of 21.[6] Under the H-4 program, H-4 visa holders can get an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) that allows them to legally work in the United States.[7] Since 2017, the Trump administration has been pursuing the termination of employment authorization for H-4 visa holders, claiming that it supplanted US workers and drove down wages, particularly at IT outsourcing companies.[1] Currently, there are about 100,000 H-4 EAD holders, most of whom are women from India.[2]

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