by Jennifer Stevens

Exciting news in the world of immigration!

On February 24th, 2015, a law was passed that would allow H-4 visa holders to finally go to work! In the realm of specialty occupations, such as IT fields, the job positions are out there. However, as we all know too well, often times the talent can be hard to find due to niche skillsets. There are hundreds of thousands of qualified individuals who are in the U.S., sitting at home bored, solely due to the fact that they have no legal work authorization. They are an untapped and unused pool of available talent.  Being allowed to work would not only mean that they can contribute to their own household income, but also to the workforce and economy. These individuals are typically highly skilled, with various and often times extensive and numerous degrees of education. What does this mean for you? A larger selection of viable potential candidates!

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty: H-4’s will receive their work authorization in the form of an EAD (Employment Authorization Document) Card if their H-1B  spouse or parent has begun the green card process and has an approval the second of the three stages, better known as the I-140 stage. The H-4 holder would still be subject to the annual lottery if they wish to get their own H-1B.

The law took effect on May 26th, 2015. The EAD Cards will have to be applied for by the H-4 visa holder, and processing times are projected to take anywhere from 90 days to 6 months, if not more and will be dependent on the volume of applications. The EAD Card does not have to be sponsored; the H-4 visa holder can work for whomever they would like and can begin work immediately as long as the EAD card is valid. Learn more about the bill and what it means in this recent post.

In addition to this new law, in April, USCIS received a record number of H-1B applications in the 2015 lottery season.

H-1B Visas give work authorization to Foreign Nationals who have a specialty occupation, meaning an occupation practiced by a non-immigrant in the same area of expertise in which they have at least a bachelor’s degree.  

H-1Bs are highly sought after and people who have never had one can only be eligible for this specific visa in a lottery system that happens once a year! To give an idea of the demand for these visas, the government only allows for 65,000 people to apply for a new H-1B visa, in addition to a reserved 20,000 visas for anyone who holds a master’s degree. In April of 2015, 233,000 people were put into the lottery. Out of the 233,000, only 85,000 will be selected to apply for the visa. Yowza!

Stay tuned for further updates on this ground breaking change to immigration in the U.S. 

Have questions? We'd love to hear from you!