Spouses of H-1B visa holders can work in the United States, judge rules

Foreign workers in the US technology industry have received significant relief after a judge ruled that the spouses of H-1B visa holders can now work in the United States.

The decision comes after a lawsuit filed by Save Jobs USA, which sought to dismiss an Obama-era regulation granting employment authorization cards to spouses of certain categories of H-1B visa holders.

Tech giants, including Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft, opposed the lawsuit. The US has issued nearly 100,000 work authorizations to spouses of H-1B workers, with a large number being Indians.

Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed the lawsuit, noting that the primary contention of Save Jobs USA was that Congress had not granted the Department of Homeland Security authority to allow foreign nationals, like H-4 visa-holders, to work during their stay in the United States.

However, the judge wrote that Congress has expressly and knowingly empowered the US Government to authorize employment as a permissible condition of an H-4 spouse’s stay in the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security and its predecessors have authorized employment not just for students, but also for their spouses and dependents, Judge Chutkan wrote in the ruling.

While Save Jobs USA plans to appeal the decision, Ajay Bhutoria, a prominent community leader and advocate for immigrant rights, has applauded the ruling.

He believes that allowing H-1B spouses to work is not only a matter of economic fairness but also a matter of family unity and stability.

The H1B visa programme is designed to allow skilled foreign workers to come to the United States and work for American companies. However, until recently, H1B spouses were not allowed to work, which often placed a significant financial burden on families, he said.

”With the court’s decision to allow H1B visa holders’ spouses to work, thousands of families across the country will be able to breathe a little easier. This decision will provide much-needed relief to families who have been struggling to make ends meet and it will help to ensure that these families can stay together and thrive,” Bhutoria said.

”Allowing H1B spouses to work is not just a matter of economic fairness, but it is also a matter of family unity and stability. I applaud the court’s decision, and I hope that this is just the first step towards a more compassionate and equitable immigration system,” he said.