USCIS issues temporary relaxation for H-1B spouses waiting for work authorization cards

Lack of a valid employment authorization document (EAD) card will not result in a job loss, as US employers can rely on a notice of approval issued to such individuals, reports The Times Of India.
Earlier the norms required that employers could only accept the issued EAD card as proof of work authorization. The notice of approval given for an initial application or an application for renewal of an EAD was not sufficient.

However, inordinate printing delays in issue of EAD cards and settlement of a class action lawsuit initiated by an Indian citizen, has led the US immigration agency – United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to introduce this temporary relaxation, the report said.

“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,” reports TOI, quoting Mitchell Wexler, California based partner with Fragomen, a global immigration law firm.

An EAD extension can be applied for only 180 days before the expiry of the current card. Typically, it took USCIS 90 days to process the application, post which the EAD card was generally mailed within 48 hours. Recently the waiting period ran into a few months.

Under the temporary relaxation that has been announced, US employers may accept Form 1-797 (which is a notice of approval of the EAD application), provided such notice has been issued after December 1, 2019. However, by December 1, 2020, the employers are required to re verify employees who presented this form as evidence, says the report.

Nearly a lakh Indian spouses (where the primarily H-1B visa holder is on track for a green card), are currently authorized to work in the US.