The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) argued that the American technology workers, who had challenged the 2015 ruling on giving work permits to H-4 visa-holders, have not been irreparably harmed by such work authorisation.

WASHINGTON: The US government has made a U-turn in its plan to review and possibly revoke what is known as the H-4 employment authorisation document (EAD), which allowed spouses of H-1B visa holders to legally work in the country. Indian nationals account for over two-thirds of H-1B visa holders in the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security has appealed to a US district court not to do away with an earlier Obama-era law that allowed spouses of H1-B visa holders to be employed locally. It argued that this did not take away jobs from American nationals.

The Department’s latest submission is in response to a 2015 lawsuit filed by Save Jobs USA, an advocacy group, which had argued that the H4 EAD harmed their members who are American technology workers. The DHS, however, countered saying that Save Jobs USA members had not been ‘irreparably harmed’ by giving work permits to H-4 visa holders.

“Save Jobs’s claim of irreparable harm relies on the H-4 Rule eliminating or significantly reducing employment opportunities, meaning that the number of available information-technology jobs would significantly decline due to the H-4 Rule. But, this relationship has not been shown to be “certain” and “actual,” rather than merely “theoretical”,” the Department said.

Save Jobs USA was set up by former employees of Southern California Edison, who claim that they lost their jobs to H-1B visa holders.

On  24 May, 2015, Judge Tanya Chutkan of the Federal District Court in the District of Columbia denied the plaintfiff's motion for preliminary injunction against H-4 EAD rule. The USCIS can comfortably implement the H-4 EAD program beginning from May 26, 2015.  

Read Judge's Denial Opinion

Technology workers who say they lost their jobs to immigrant workers lost their bid to halt President Obama’s latest guest-worker program after a court ruled Sunday evening that they couldn’t prove the new workers would specifically compete with them.

Federal District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan’s ruling means Mr. Obama’s controversial program can go into effect Tuesday as planned. 

Under the program, legal guest-workers’ spouses, who now are generally barred from working, will be allowed to apply for work permits, giving them the chance to win jobs.

Judge Chutkan wrote in the 12-page ruling that the damage to the technology workers, organized as Save Jobs USA, was “highly speculative.” 

“Save Jobs does not explain how many IT jobs may be taken by H-4 visa holders, how many of those jobs its members may have sought themselves, what pay or benefits its members risk losing while the case is pending, or what other harm its members may face,” the judge wrote. “The court is left to speculate as to the magnitude of the injury, and speculation is not enough to turn economic loss into irreparable harm.”

The H-4 visa is given to dependents of H-1B visa holders, who are sought-after high-skilled workers. Immigrant rights advocates have long sought the change, arguing that it’s unfair to restrict legal workers’ spouses from also getting jobs.

The Obama administration said allowing the spouses to work will help entice the best H-1B applicants from around the world. Officials expect about 179,000 people to be eligible the first year, and 55,000 a year after that.

Read Judge's Denial Opinion

We reported last year that Department of Homeland Security proposed to extend work authorization to H-4 Visa holders. It is estimated that approximately 97,000 H-1B spouses will be eligible under this new rule within the first year and then over 30,000 annually after that. 

On February 13, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved on emergency bases the revised I-765 form(Application for Employment Authorization), adding H-4 applicants. Once the Final Rule becomes effective, H-4 visa holders could use this form to apply for work authorization. view final rule. 

There are 9 steps in the rule making process, and we have finally reached step 8: 

Step 1: Initiating Events 
Step 2: Determination whether a Rule is Needed 
Step 3: Preparation of Proposed Rule 
Step 4: OMB Review of Proposed Rule (completed on 05/07/2014) 
Step 5: Publication of Proposed Rule (completed on 05/12/2014) 
Step 6: Public Comments-(completed on 07/11/2014) 
Step 7: Preparation of Final Rule, Interim Final Rule or Direct Final Rule (completed on 02/05/2015) 
Step 8: OMB Review of Final Rule, Interim Final Rule or Direct Final Rule (In Process) 
Step 9: Publication of Final Rule, Interim Final Rule or Direct Final Rule 

If you want to know more about H-1B visa and H-4 visa work authorization, please visit Work Visa section of myvisajobs.com