H4 work permits accepted under Biden

The seventh day of the Biden administration brought relief for the spouses of H1 B visa holders. Trump’s plan to reject the H4 work permits (aka H4 EAD) has been withdrawn by Biden. H4 permits are work authorizations for the spouses of H1 B visa skilled workers in the US. Trump had issued an Executive Order (EO) to end the trend of allowing them to work in the US that was started under Obama. He justified it under the ‘Buy American, and Hire American’ agenda to keep foreign workers out of America.

Biden however, withdrew it the same day he signed the EO establishing racial equity in the US. The data from the US government indicates that Indian and Chinese workers form the major chunk of H1 B visas and H4 visas. In 2019, 74% of visa petitions were filed by Indians and 11.8% by Chinese. This as a result is a big relief for Indians working in the US with their families.

The chats, Twitter, and online threads got outpoured with cheer messages. Sharmistha Mohapatra posted, “Big 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 Former Pres Trump’s EO to rescind H4 EAD is now withdrawn by POTUS.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!”