A new US government proposal could strip thousands of H-4 visa holders of their right to work legally in America, reversing a policy that has been in place for more than a decade.
The Trump administration wants to end work permits for spouses of H-1B visa holders. If it goes through, it would reverse a rule that has let eligible H-4 visa holders work legally in the US for more than ten years. Indian professionals are likely to be hit hardest, as many H-4 permit holders are Indian.
Data on H-4 Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) applications from 2014 to 2017 show that 93 per cent of approvals went to Indian nationals, and 94 per cent of those were women.