Plan spells end of road for spouses working in US

The fall agenda unveiled by US President Donald Trump drove home the point that the freedom to work, which is currently available to spouses of a certain category of H-1B workers, will soon come to an end. This will adversely impact nearly a lakh Indian spouses, a majority of whom are women.


The proposal to undo the existing policy, which enables spouses of H-1B workers who are on track for a green card to obtain employment authorisation documents (EADs) and find gainful employment or set up their own business, has been on the cards for quite some time. The fall agenda adds: “Some US workers would benefit from this proposed rule by having a better chance at obtaining jobs that some of the population of the H-4 workers currently hold.” A group of US workers whose jobs were taken away by H-1B workers have filed a lawsuit seeking that EADs be rescinded.

Experts expect the new rule for rescinding the EAD policy to be announced in November. The entire process up to issuance of the final rules could take several months. Attorneys state that technically, spouses can still file for EADs, but admit that authorities are going very slow in processing these applications.

Legal challenges to the new rule, once it is introduced, are likely as several US politicians and companies are supporting the right of the spouse to work.

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