Under the EAD rule, spouses holding an H-4 visa can seek employment authorization if the H-1B visa recipient is on a path to obtaining a green card or has received an extension beyond the standard six years.
About a hundred thousand Indian spouses, predominantly women, possess an EAD, granting them the ability to work or be self-employed. Official data from December 2017 indicates that 84,360 Indian spouses held an EAD, constituting 93% of all EADs issued.
The EAD rule was introduced in 2015 during the Obama administration to address the challenges faced by certain immigrant groups, particularly the Indian diaspora, who were confronted with extensive backlogs in obtaining employment-based green cards, sometimes spanning decades.
A recent study by the Cato Institute revealed that approximately 1.07 million Indians are ensnared in the employment green card backlog, encompassing EB-2 and EB-3 categories. The processing time for these cases is estimated at 134 years. When considering factors like death and aging out, which would reduce the backlog, the wait for a green card still stands at a significant 54 years.
The legal challenge against the EAD rule was initiated in 2015 by an advocacy group representing tech workers, Save Jobs USA, who had lost their jobs to H-1B visa holders. Save Jobs USA argued that the Department of Homeland Security lacked the legal authority to implement the rule. They also contended that allowing spouses to work took away American jobs and made the H-1B program more appealing. In May 2021, several major US technology companies jointly filed an amicus brief to support the right of H-1B visa holders’ spouses to work.With the US Supreme Court’s decision to not revive this lawsuit, which claimed that the EAD policy lacked Congressional authorization, the Indian diaspora can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that the EAD rule remains in place, allowing their spouses to work without fear of legal challenges.
