In a major relief to foreign workers working in the US technology sector, a judge has ruled that the spouses of H-1B visa holders can work in the US.
US District Judge Tanya Chatkan dismissed a petition filed by ‘Save Jobs USA’ seeking to strike down former President Barack Obama’s tenure regulation.
Under this regulation, employment authorization cards are issued to spouses of certain categories of H-1B visa holders. Technology companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft opposed the lawsuit.
Under this regulation, the US has so far granted work rights to the spouses of nearly 100,000 H-1B workers, a sizeable number of whom are Indians. Judge Tanya Chatkan said in her order that Save Jobs USA’s first argument is that Congress has never allowed the Department of Homeland Security to allow foreign nationals such as H-4 visa holders to work while they are in the US.
The judge noted that Congress has expressly and deliberately authorized the US government to authorize employment as a permissible condition of the H-4 spouse’s residence in the US. Commission member Ajay Jain Bhutoria, a prominent leader of the Indian-American community, welcomed the judge’s decision. American companies employ foreign workers, especially in the technology sector, through the H-1B visa.
