Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses

Validated finding · five-country-2010-20260922-v118-evidence-presentation-fix

Operative dateMay 26, 2015

CategoryWork authorization

Policy toolEligibility

Affected groupAn h-4 nonimmigrant spouse of an h-1b nonimmigrant may be eligible for employment authorization only if the h-1b nonimmigrant is the beneficiary of an approved immigrant petition for alien worker, or successor form, or the h-1b nonimmigrant's period of stay in h-1b status is authorized in the united states under sections 106(a) and (b) of the american competitiveness in the twenty-first century act of 2000 (ac21)

Policy effect

DHS extended eligibility for employment authorization to certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who are seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident status.

Conditions and exceptions

Validated condition or limit: DHS extended eligibility for employment authorization to certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who are seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident status.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

This final rule amends Department of Homeland Security (“DHS” or “Department”) regulations by extending eligibility for employment authorization to certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who are seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident (“LPR”) status. … An H-4 nonimmigrant spouse of an H-1B nonimmigrant may be eligible for employment authorization only if the H-1B nonimmigrant is the beneficiary of an approved Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, or successor form, or the H-1B nonimmigrant's period of stay in H-1B status is authorized in the United States under sections 106(a) and (b) of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (AC21), Public Law 106-313, as amended by the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, Public Law 107-273 (2002). … To request employment authorization, an eligible H-4 nonimmigrant spouse must file an Application for Employment Authorization, or a successor form, in accordance with 8 CFR 274a.13 and the form instructions. … An Application for Employment Authorization must be accompanied by documentary evidence establishing eligibility, including evidence of the spousal relationship and that the principal H-1B is the beneficiary of an approved Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker or has been provided H-1B status under sections 106(a) and (b) of AC21, as amended by the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, the H-1B beneficiary is currently in H-1B status, and the H-4 nonimmigrant spouse is currently in H-4 status.

Federal RegisterOpen official source

Retrieved from https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/02/25/2015-04042/employment-authorization-for-certain-h-4-dependent-spouses

Review method

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite extraction with independent Gemini 3.8 Flash verification

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Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses

Policy effect

Conditions and exceptions

Official source excerpt

Review method

Other United States changes operative in 2015