GOOD NEWS FOR IT EMPLOYEES: 'US EMPLOYERS ACCEPT FORM 1-797' - HUGE TEMPORARY RELIEF FOR VISA HOLDERS!

H4 h1b visa holders ead card relaxed us employment

Amid several new relaxations that are being made for temporary visa holders in the United States, yet another new temporary relaxation was announced on Monday. Spouses of H-1B visa holders (H-4 Visa holders) who previously needed to obtain Employment Authorisation Document card (EAD card) can now exert a sigh of relief.

According to latest developments, the Trump lead government has directed employers to rely upon a notice of approval instead of the EAD Card. Due to inordinate printing delays of EAD cards and an unsettled lawsuit filed by an Indian citizen, this relaxation has been introduced by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The notice of approval of the EAD Card is ‘Form 1-797’. This form is being issued to spouses of H-1B Visa holders since December 2019. Employers will accept the same until December 1, 2020, post which the employers are required to re-verify the employees who presented Form 1-797.

H-4 visa holders were previously facing problems of job termination as a result of a delay in the issuance of an EAD card of validation. However, they can now navigate this issue under employment purposes.

“This is a significant accommodation for employers who no longer need to wait many months for the creation of a plastic card to lawfully employ an authorised, critical foreign worker,” Mitchell Wexler, a prime partner with Fragomen, a global immigration law firm, was quoted saying to the Times of India.