Qualifying spouses of some highly skilled foreign workers with H-1B visas qualify for work permits, per a recent D.C. Circuit court finding. The challenge came from an organization of former IT workers, claiming they are being displaced due to H-1B spousal work permits. The program providing for H-4 visa holders to work originated in the Obama administration.

The IT group, Save Jobs USA, claims the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acted beyond their authority when implementing the rule. However, the three-judge panel found that the court gave DHS the authority in a 2022 decision, Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. Department of Homeland Security. The Save Jobs USA suit is not meaningfully distinguished from that prior case, therefore, the precedent is set.

In 2015, Save Jobs USA filed a suit shortly after the introduction of the H-4 visa. At that time, a U.S. District Judge found that DHS has the authority to offer the H-1B spousal work permits as it relates to spouses accompanying or following these foreign highly skilled workers to the U.S.

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Employment Authorization H-1B Visa H-4 visa