The long awaited H-4 EAD Rule will soon come to fruition. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is now in the final stages of the rule making process and has submitted the Final Rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The H-4 EAD rule would make certain H-4 spouses eligible to obtain employment authorization. We are expecting that the OMB will complete its review of the Final Rule in approximately 30 to 60 days. Thereafter, the rule will be sent to the Federal Register for publication.

Currently, an H-4 dependent spouse of an H-1B holder is not authorized to work in the U.S. Once this rule is implemented, an H-4 dependent spouse of a certain H-1B holder will be allowed to apply for employment authorization. Those eligible will include an H-4 dependent spouse of a principle H-1B worker who:

1. Is the beneficiary of an approved I-140 Immigrant Petition; or
2. Has obtained an H-1B extension beyond the 6th year limit based on a PERM Labor Certification or I-140 Immigrant Petition that has been pending for at least 365 days.

We are almost at the finish line! So keep looking forward, the end is in sight!

I will continue to post updates as they come in. For a quick review of the rule making process, please visit The Reg Map.

Please also visit a related post: Say YES to PERM, Part Deux!