Wall Street Journal
By Laura Meckler
February 24, 2015
Spouses
of certain high-skilled immigrants working in the U.S. will soon be
able to apply for work authorization of their own, the Obama
administration is announcing Tuesday.
The regulation is being published on Wednesday and will take effect 90 days later.
This
change was already in the works before President Barack Obama announced
a basket of executive actions on immigration in November, and was
included in the package.
It was one of the few things the administration said was legally doable
for high-tech businesses without cooperation from Congress.
The
change affects certain people with H-4 dependent spouse visas whose
mates are seeking employment-based lawful permanent residence status,
also known as a green card.
They will now be allowed to work while their spouses’ applications are
processed.
The
government estimates that as many as 179,600 people will be eligible to
apply for employment authorization in the first year, and 55,000
annually in subsequent years.
“Allowing
the spouses of these visa holders to legally work in the United States
makes perfect sense,” León Rodríguez, director of the U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration
Services, said in a statement.
The
announcement comes as Congress remains embroiled in a debate over
funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which runs out at
week’s end.
Many
Republicans are refusing to extend funding for the agency in protest of
the administration’s executive actions on immigration.
A
federal district court in Texas has put a hold on the most
controversial element of those actions, which offered some four million
illegal immigrants the chance to apply
for work permits and a reprieve from deportation.
The announcement was welcomed by Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, the tech-backed pro-immigration lobby group.
“Today’s
good news is another important step to fixing aspects of our broken
immigration system – this time, it’s allowing spouses of certain workers
to put their education,
training and talents to work in the country they love and call home,”
he said. “It’s a step forward, but it also shows just how many people
are being stuck in the green card backlog who desperately need relief."
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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