Indian Woman Sues US Citizenship And Immigration Services

Ranjitha Subramanya has filed a lawsuit against the US Citizenship and Immigration Services for the alleged delay in issuing work permits. She accused the authorities of sitting on a backlog of at least 75,000 unprinted Employment Authorisation Documents.

Ranjitha is on an H-4 dependent visa and her husband Vinod Sinha on H-1B work visa. In a lawsuit filed before a federal court in Ohio said that while her application to extend her H-4 status and Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) was approved on April 7, she did not receive the work authorization card to date.

The EAD is produced and sent to the applicant within 48 hours of the approval, the lawsuit said it has been over 105 days since the USCIS approved Ranjitha's application but did not print and send her the EAD.

As a result, she was forced to stop working for her employer after her initial EAD expired on June 7, 2020.

An H-4 visa is a visa issued by the USCIS to the immediate family members of the H-1B visa holders. Spouses on an H-4 visa can apply for an EAD.

Early this week, the USCIS said it has "reduced its capacity to print secure documents," such as work permits and PR cards, after ending its contract with a third-party company that previously printed the cards.