Thousands of immigrant workers’ spouses will no longer be required to seek for work permit in the United States.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration reached an agreement in a class-action lawsuit that will allow spouses of L-1 visa holders to acquire job permit as part of their status without having to file for a separate document (EAD).
The government will also automatically extend the work permits of H-4 spouses of H-1B visa holders whose EADs expire before their status and file their renewal EAD applications before their existing EADs expire under the terms of the settlement.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, these spouses are eligible for H-4 and L-2 derivative work visas (INA). US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is obligated by law to complete these visa applications within 30 days, but a major processing backlog has resulted in months-long delays, leading to the loss of jobs for too many H-4 and L-2 spouses.
The coronavirus pandemic worsened an already large visa processing backlog, which was exacerbated by a Trump-era policy forcing these spouses to have their fingerprints taken while renewing their work permits.
In March, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and lawyers from several other firms filed a federal class action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to force USCIS to reverse the policy and provide automatic employment authorization extensions to L-2 and H-4 visa holders where regulations require it.
