Washington DC: The Trump administration is moving to end employment authorisation for certain H-4 visa holders, potentially affecting thousands of spouses of H-1B visa workers who have been allowed to work legally in the United States for more than a decade.
The proposal, listed on the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs’ Reginfo.gov website, seeks to remove H-4 dependent spouses from the categories of noncitizens eligible to obtain employment authorisation. The measure has been included in the Department of Homeland Security’s long-term regulatory agenda, although no date has been announced for its formal release.
Under the proposed rule, DHS would reverse changes introduced through a 2015 regulation that allowed certain H-4 spouses to apply for Employment Authorisation Documents, commonly known as EADs.
“DHS is proposing to remove from its regulations certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B non-immigrant workers as a class of aliens eligible to request employment authorisation under the (c)(26) category,” the agency said in its regulatory notice.
The proposal would restore the government’s previous policy of not allowing H-4 dependent spouses to seek employment authorisation, DHS said.
The move could have a disproportionate impact on Indian families. Data on H-4 EAD applications between 2014 and 2017 showed that about 93% of approved applications were for Indian nationals, while 94% of those beneficiaries were women.
Indian nationals accounted for about 71% of approved H-1B petitions in fiscal year 2024, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services data, making changes to H-1B-dependent immigration rules particularly significant for Indian professionals and their families.
An H-4 visa itself does not provide employment rights. The visa allows spouses and children of H-1B workers to live in the US, while eligible spouses must separately obtain an EAD before taking up employment.
Under the existing system, H-4 spouses generally qualify for an EAD when their H-1B spouse is at an advanced stage of the employment-based green card process. Without an EAD, H-4 holders can continue to live in the US and access services such as driving licences and bank accounts, but cannot legally work.
The latest proposal, however, does not immediately cancel existing work permits. It is still at the regulatory proposal stage. DHS would first have to publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register, open the measure to public comments and subsequently issue a final rule before the policy could take effect.
Until then, H-4 spouses with valid EADs can continue working under current rules.
This is also not the administration’s first attempt to end the H-4 EAD programme. During President Donald Trump’s first term, DHS proposed withdrawing employment authorisation for certain H-4 spouses in 2017. The proposal was never finalised and was eventually withdrawn in 2021.
The latest move comes amid a broader push by the Trump administration to tighten rules governing the H-1B visa programme.
The administration has also proposed a $103,265 fee for certain new H-1B hires, while the White House has sought to eliminate the existing 60-day grace period that allows H-1B workers who lose their jobs to find another employer.
For many H-4 families, the proposed rollback could therefore have significant financial consequences, particularly for households where both spouses are employed. If finalised, the change could force affected spouses to leave jobs or rely solely on the income of their H-1B partners while they remain in the US.
