United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that a Trump-era US immigration rule, which requires the spouses of US work visa holders to be fingerprinted and photographed to access work permits, will be suspended. Critics of the rule argue that it causes ‘months-long delays’ in processing applications.
USCIS has confirmed that biometric screening requirements for H4 and L2 visa holders – issued to spouses of H1B and L1 visa holders – will be suspended from May 17 while a review is carried out.
The suspension comes amid a lawsuit filed against USCIS, which claims that the immigration agency’s delays in issuing work permits are illegal. The lawsuit, filed in Seattle in March, claims a 2019 rule requiring applicants to attend an interview and provide biometrics had made it ‘impossible’ for many visa holders to avoid gaps in their employment.
US to suspend biometric requirements for processing H4-EAD visas
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Synopsis
This is expected to help speed up processing times for visa extensions and employment authorisation for spouses of H-1B and L1 visa holders in the United States. The move came in response to a class action lawsuit filed by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and Wasden Banias.
Agencies
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The US immigration agency will suspend biometrics for all H4 and L2 applications from May 17, said the lawyers at Wasden Banias, an immigration law firm.
AFP
Listening to
Behind the Numbers, a digital media and marketing podcast was one of Swara’s (name changed) favourite routines on her way to work. Swara is a senior marketing professional in San Francisco with a masters degree from a US university. In July 2020, she was offered a new job with good pay and benefits.
A couple of days into her new position, she had to stop working as her work permit renewal was not adjudicated in time by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. She filed for her renewal in May 2020 and has not received a decision as of February 2021. Swara is on an H-4 visa as the spouse of an H-1B visa holder.
H-1B aspirants hope Joe Biden will undo the damage done by Donald Trump
The president-elect has promised to expand the total number of visas available and scrap country quotas for green cards. Biden needs to address visa-related presidential proclamations spurred by the coronavirus crisis. | Vivek Prakash/Reuters
H-1B aspirants have a to-do list for United States president-elect Joe Biden when he takes office in January, and it can be summed up in four words: Undo Donald Trump’s damage.
Over the last four years, the Trump administration has clamped down on the skilled worker visa program, under the auspices of protecting American jobs. The president has tried to raise qualifying wage levels, alter the language describing eligible job roles, and threatened to take away spousal work authorisation, among other things. Just this weekend, he extended an already months-long freeze on H-1B visas by three months to March 31.