A lot of non residents of the United States wants to stay in the country and work there indeed. Well, EAD allows them to do the same.
EAD stands for employment authorization document which is famously known as a work permit and is a document which is issued by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) providing employment to the people who are non citizens in the United States. So, if somebody has this EAD permit, they can work in the United States even if they aren’t United States citizens. However, many transitions have taken place with time in this visa law.
Past Status
According to this, H4 visa holders spouses to be eligible to get EAD and this law was passed in 2014/2015 and the people were allowed to apply from may 26, 2015 onwards.
This brought elation amongst the immigrants all over the country. However, before this law, many H4 visa holders couldn’t work in the United States with authority and therefore were not able to earn. So, after this many qualified immigrants were getting the jobs they deserved.
Let Us Now Know The Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to apply for EAD, these are the points one should keep in mind:
- It is important for the spouse to be valid on h-1 visa status and if not valid, there cannot be the application of H4 EAD visa. So it’s very important to have h-1 visa to be eligible for H4 EAD visa for your spouse.
- If spouse has a status of being in the country for more than 6 years under ac21(american competitiveness in the 21st century) act.
- Person on H-1B visa can file a green card with I-140 approved(immigration petition for green card or permanent residency), his spouse gets H4 EAD which mean that she’s allowed to work in usa which means that there would be great income and a fairly stable life in america. Isn’t it cool that an indian wife won’t have to sit at home while she has a nice degree and she marries a guy with H-1B visa.
Advantages
- Anybody with H4 EAD visa can work full-time or part-time in any company at any position based on the qualifications of course
- No quota or reservation for a particular group of people is available to be eligible for H4EAD visa
- H4EAD visa holders can start their own business of any type in the United States.
- For an H4 EAD visa holder to be eligible for the same, it isn’t a compulsion to receive a job letter that is, even if the holder isn’t working at present, holder is still eligible for this visa.
Current Status
Here’s the obstacle now, H4EAD has been removed now which means that an indian wife can’t work in the United States on the basis on H-1B visa of her spouse.
It has been reported that H4EAD to be ended by march,2020.
End of H4EAD can be a sad news for a lot of H-1B visa holder’s spouses and is certainly going to close the gates of entering the United States and working there according to best possible academic qualification.
However, the decision is still pending and those who have H4EAD visa are continuing to live and work in the United States. So, it is better that this decision is taking more and more time and in this case it is a temporary relief for H4EAD visa holders and technology companies employing them. A ban on H4EAD is a part of “buy american, hire american” push resulting in a lot of denials in recent years. However, spouses of H-1B holders do not have any transparency or a lucid idea on EAD status. Additionally, until the final decision comes, H4 visa holders are being avoided to be hired in the United States.