H1B New Rule: Spouses Are Very Happy Now?

The Donald Trump administration in the United States is imposing new restrictions on immigration policies almost on regular basis. The most recent restriction came in the form of the impositions on the H1B visa policy.

But for a change, there is some positive development in this regard as the spouses of H-1B visa holders in the United States received major relief after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a case that aimed to stop them from working.

This means the current rule allowing H-4 visa holders, who are the spouses of H-1B workers, to work in the U.S. will continue.

The case was filed by a group called Save Jobs USA, which claimed that the law does not allow dependents of H-1B workers to have jobs and that this rule takes away opportunities from American workers. However, by rejecting the case, the Supreme Court has allowed the rule to remain in place.

The H-4 work authorization rule was first introduced by the Obama administration in 2015. Since then, more than 2.5 lakh (258,000) H-4 visa holders have been given permission to work in the U.S. In 2024 alone, around 25,000 spouses received employment approval.

This decision brings huge relief to thousands of Indian families living in the U.S. Many of them depend on both partners working to manage living expenses. Although this is a big victory for H-4 visa holders, experts say the rule could still face changes in the future if the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or a new administration decides to review the policy again.