IMMIGRATION REFORM IN PIPELINE: ALLOWING H4 SPOUSE TO WORK

Its finally gaining traction!  DHS Reforms To Attract And Retain Highly Skilled Immigrants.

'The President is deeply committed to fixing our broken immigration system so that it meets our 21^st century national security and economic needs. As a part of comprehensive immigration reform, the President supports legislative measures that would attract and retain immigrants who create jobs and boost competitiveness here in the U.S., including creating a "Startup Visa," strengthening the H-1B program, and "stapling" green cards to the diplomas of certain foreign-born graduates in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Together these actions would help attract new businesses and new investment to the U.S. and ensure that the U.S. has the most skilled workforce in the world. In the meantime, the Obama Administration is working to make improvements in the areas where we can make a difference.'

'As part of these ongoing efforts and in recognition of the one-year anniversary of the White House Startup America Initiative, the Department of Homeland Security today announced a series of administrative reforms which will be completed in the future.' 

'The initiatives described below will serve to make the United States more attractive to highly-skilled foreign students and workers, thereby improving the competitiveness of U.S. companies in the world market and stimulating U.S. job creation.'

• Expand eligibility for 17-month extension of optional practical training (OPT) for F-1 international students to include students with a prior degree in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
• Allow for additional part-time study for spouses of F-1 students and expand the number of Designated School Officials (DSOs) at schools certified by DHS to enroll international students.
• Provide work authorization for spouses of certain H-1B holders.
• Allow outstanding professors and researchers to present a broader scope of evidence of academic achievement.
• Harmonize rules to allow E-3 visa holders from Australia and H-1B1 visa holders from Singapore and Chile to continue working with their current employer for up to 240 days while their petitions for extension of status are pending. 
• Launch Entrepreneurs in Residence initiative  

The above proposed initiatives include:

• Provide work authorization for spouses of certain H-1B holders.

This proposed change to the current DHS regulation would allow certain spouses of H-1B visa holders to legally work while their visa holder spouse waits for his or her adjustment of status application to be adjudicated. Specifically, employment will be authorized for H-4 dependent spouses of principal H-1B visa holders who have begun the process of seeking lawful permanent resident status through employment after meeting a minimum period of H-1B status in the U.S. This effort will help retain talented professionals who are valued by U.S. employers and who seek to contribute to our economy.

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Lets rewind back to 2009, more precisely 14th January 2009, just 6 days prior to the swearing in ceremony of the then President-elect Barack Obama.  As President-elect, he had invited suggestions and recommendations for Immigration Reform through the website change.gov.  In response to his invitation, below is verbatim transcript of a message with an article titled IMMIGRATION REFORM: ALLOWING H4 VISA SPOUSE TO WORK, sent to the then President-elect on his change.gov website in response to an invitation...

It is with immense pleasure to note that the recommendation has been accepted and is listed among the proposed initiatives.

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DEAR ALL,

I was invited to post directly to the President-elect's then transition web site change.gov!

I request you publicize this as much as possible through your FORUM and ask them to VOTE UP on this issue on the Presidents site so that this is taken as a charter and presented to the President.

The complete text of the article under the  
TITLE: IMMIGRATION REFORM ALLOWING H4 VISA SPOUSE TO WORK
is posted below for your immediate reference:

"The time to fix our broken immigration system is now… We need stronger enforcement on the border and at the workplace… But for reform to work, we also must respond to what pulls people to America… Where we can reunite families, we should. Where we can bring in more foreign-born workers with the skills our economy needs, we should." -- Barack Obama, Statement on U.S. Senate Floor, May 23, 2007

Well said Sir, and now as President-elect, we hope to see some action on above.

This issue I bring to your attention may seem trivial, but throws light on darker side of the life of dependent H4 visa holders, who are mostly women. And since you endorse women empowerment, I believe you will give a serious look at this idea.

There's a strong lobby support for increasing H-1B visa cap to address the shortage of skilled workers. There's also a strong lobby opposing it. This idea will satisfy both the lobbies. A very simple way to literally double the number of already available skilled workers in the USA without having to increase the visa cap. Allow me to explain....

Currently the spouse of H-1B holders, the H4 visa holders are not allowed to work. Most of these H4 Visa holders are qualified, skilled and experienced. In one stroke of the pen, by amending this tiny rule allowing H4 visa holders to work, you will facilitate thousands, if not millions of already legal & available skilled workers in the US, to work. Please note that spouse on L2 Spouse/Dependent visas for L1 visa holders (intra-company transferee), ARE allowed to work through an amendment in 2001. And this can be used as a precedent. Even J and E Visa spouses (J2, E2) are allowed to work.

Good For the Economy: While its now a norm to have a dual-income family where the husband and wife both work, its become all the more necessary for a family to just survive through these unprecedented economic times. H1-B visa workers typically stay on for at least 3 years continuously if not extend it for the next available 3 years. All this while, the poor H1B and his family have to get along with just one income. Moreover, the law also forces the skilled and experienced spouse on H4 to idle at home. This I believe is a loss of national productivity. Your statistics will prove how many H-4's are currently idling away in the US.

Good for the Community & Social standing of Women:
To keep the family together, H1 visa holders bring in their spouse on H4 visa. And then, they get locked in the house. Ninety percent of H4 visa holders are women. Women being, more susceptible to domestic violence by the partner, becomes even more prone to violence due to her complete dependence on the spouse. They become prisoners in USA due to spousal abuse and immigration policies that give their husbands complete control over their lives. Yes, the immigration system is broken. The immigrant women get protection under VAWA but non-immigrants are not covered. Even if a law to let the non-immigrant battered women to obtain work permit is introduced, it might not protect women whose cases are dismissed as non-critical. The abuser can further exert his control over the victim and convince her that he has changed so that the victim might not press charges. Thus the abuser gets encouraged to continue violence. Divorce is not an option because most non-immigrants come from third world countries where a divorced women has to bear the social stigma of divorce and will not be protected in her own home country. Because of the long queues for Labor certification application and retrogression of visa numbers, getting an EAD and Green Card takes longer.

Way Forward:
You plan to legalize people living illegally in USA (and working illegally), you plan to give them a low skilled requirement job visa, similar to the H-1B or L-1, only that skills required are low, and you will let their spouses work too. This will mean that the only resident visa holder NOT AUTHORIZED TO WORK will be the H-4 visa holders.

As a tech-savvy President, you may also want to browse this issue on Google groups and hear the voices of depressed, frustrated and more often abused women, here... Oops. I am unable to provide you the link as it appears to violate the change.gov comment policy (?). The group title is misc.immigration.usa and title is Why USA should issue the dependent visa holders work-authorization? There's another forum under immigrationvoice.org you may wish to look up. Thanks.

When people who have come to the US illegally will be able to work legally – the poor H4 souls (mostly skilled women) who have come legally and followed all the rules should be given a fair chance to contribute to the economy and better their quality of life. By a simple amendment, allowing the H4 visa holders to work, you will make a brilliant move, without upsetting those who oppose the move to INCREASE the current H1B cap. Please think about it. May God Bless America!

LINK
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Thank you dear President for accepting the recommendation in principle to provide work authorization for spouse of certain H-1B visa holders and listing it among the proposed changes!  Lets hope these changes happen sooner than later!