Big Relief for Spouses of H1B Workers as Joe Biden Withdraws Trump-era Plan to Kill H4 Work Permits

A single word 'Withdrawn' on a thick bureaucratic file on the seventh day of the Biden administration delivered a huge win for spouses of workers on H1B visas in the US who spent the last four years worried sick that their work authorizations would be killed off.

The latest development brings to end years of effort by the Donald Trump administration to rescind an Obama era regulation that allowed a certain subset of spouses of H1B visa holders to work in the US. Up until the summer of 2015, H4 visa holders could not legally hold paid employment in the United States. Almost as soon as Obama changed the



game, the lawsuits followed, and then the Trump presidency took the attack on the H4 work permit to a whole new level.

On text messages, chat groups, and online threads, the outpouring of relief played out online on Tuesday evening. "Great news! Hopefully, H4EAD delays will be ending soon which is leading to a long wait for dependent spouses," tweeted Rashi Bhatnagar.

Sharmistha Mohapatra posted, "Huge win for H4 EAD holders today. Former Pres Trump's EO to rescind H4 EAD is now withdrawn by POTUS. Let's hope excruciating long wait times often resulting in job loss is taken away too!"