US court’s big decision, spouses of H-1B visa holders can work in US
In a welcome news for foreign workers working in America. The US court has made it clear that if someone has an H-1B visa, then their spouse is allowed to work in the country. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed a lawsuit filed by Save Jobs USA. The petition approached the court to strike down Obama-era rules that granted employment authorization cards to spouses of certain categories of H-1B visa holders.
The petition was opposed by tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft. The US has so far issued work rights to the spouses of nearly 100,000 H-1B workers, a sizeable number of whom are Indians.
In her order, Justice Chutkan noted that Save Jobs USA’s primary argument is that Congress has not granted Department of Homeland Security authority to allow foreign nationals, such as H-4 visa holders, to work while in the United States. But that controversy runs long in the text of the Immigration and Nationality Act, decades of executive-branch practice, and both explicit and implicit congressional ratification of that practice.
The judge explained in her order that Congress has expressly and intentionally authorized the US government to authorize employment as a permissible condition of the H-4 spouse’s stay in the United States. She said the fact is that the federal government has a longstanding and open responsibility for authorizing employment for the same visa classes. Congress has approved the exercise of that authority. The Department of Homeland Security and its predecessors authorized employment not only for students, but also for their spouses and dependents.
Bill in US Senate to change H-1B and L-1 visas
A group of influential lawmakers has introduced a bipartisan bill in the US Senate to overhaul the H-1B and L-1 visa programs and bring in more transparency in the recruitment of foreign workers. The H-1B visa is a visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialized occupations requiring theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire thousands of employees every year from countries like India and China.
