Indian Families In The US Struggle To Obtain H-4 Work Permits Due To Long Delays

Many Indians living in the US have been affected by delays in processing several categories of US visas since COVID-19. Since 2020, the USCIS has been dealing with backlogs that have affected many spouses of Indian professionals working in the US on H-1B work permits.

There are some spouses of dependent H-4 status who can work in the US and have careers of their own. However, they must be approved by EAD. Before the pandemic, holders of H-4 EAD had to appear for biometrics appointments to get their H-4 and H-4 EAD extension applications approved. The application service centers that were conducting these appointments were closed for four months between March and July 2020 due to COVID-19.

“When they did resume their biometrics services for applicants, they were operating at a significantly reduced capacity. This shutting down of application service centers and reduced operational capacity created a backlog of biometrics appointments, which had a ripple effect on the H-4 extension and H-4 EAD extension applications,” says Prashant Dubey, Washington DC-based attorney specializing in immigration law.

Temporary easing of the automatic extension period of the EAD, which was normally up to 180 days, to up to an additional 360 days for eligible applicants by the US department of homeland security has helped some of the Indian H-4 visa holders.

“However, the automatic extensions help only those individuals who are in H-4 status and beyond their existing EAD expiration date. For first-time EAD filers or those applying for a change of status from another visa category and those with H-4 extensions pending along with H-4 EAD extension, the automatic extension rule does not apply,” Dubey said.

He also noted that the elimination of the biometrics requirement for H-4 extension applications has eased the situation for certain applicants. However, many Indian families living and working in the US have experienced delays of over six months in the processing of H-4 and H-4 EAD extension applications, resulting in job losses and loss of health insurance paid maternity leave benefits, and even license suspension.