> Big technology companies won a major court victory
Fact is, tech companies are not even party to this lawsuit. The people who intervened in this lawsuit (and joined the lawsuit as parties) were advocates who stood to lose their own right to work, and they are the victors here.
The loser is John Miano, a lawyer who finds plaintiffs to sue the government and rarely wins.
To folks who aren't familiar with the intricacies of US visas, they are jumping to the conclusion that all spouses of H-1Bs are allowed to work, but this is not the case and has never been the case.
This judgment merely upholds what was already true before (meaning that the challenge to the status quo failed), that only spouses of H-1B who are transitioning to a green card and have an approved I-140 can continue to hold a H-4 EAD (employment authorization).
The caveat being that the primary H-1B holder must already be approved most of the way into the green card process (I-140), which takes many years.
Did it ever takes many years? I-140 is relatively an "easy" step, pre-covid it was roughly 9 months(Perm certification) + 14 days (Premium processing I-140).
For most of the green card beneficiaries(backlogged country applicants), the wait time to be eligible to file I-485 is the one takes many years.
1. H1B holders without an approved I-140. Their spouses cannot work.
2. H1B holders with an approved I-140 but not from a backlogged country. Technically, their spouses can work on an H-4 and EAD, but the odds are that they will get their green cards within months of getting their EADs, if not before. So it barely affects them either.
3. H1B holders with approved I-140s born in a backlogged country.
This is pretty much the only category impacted by the maintenance of status quo, and the impact is massive, since these people could be waiting 5-80 years for a green card, which means if this lawsuit had succeeded, their spouses wouldn’t be eligible to work for 5-80 years despite being in the US completely legally, in a visa category which is designed to provide a path to immigration.
It might not have in the past but in recent years especially during 45’s tenure there many pauses, government shutdowns and backlogs that lengthened th duration, not to mention the amount of time it takes for the lawyers to even start the paperwork which could be 2 years into the job.
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[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 28.9 ms ] threadThis is a multiyear process and extremely challenging for H4 holders.
> Big technology companies won a major court victory
Fact is, tech companies are not even party to this lawsuit. The people who intervened in this lawsuit (and joined the lawsuit as parties) were advocates who stood to lose their own right to work, and they are the victors here.
The loser is John Miano, a lawyer who finds plaintiffs to sue the government and rarely wins.
To folks who aren't familiar with the intricacies of US visas, they are jumping to the conclusion that all spouses of H-1Bs are allowed to work, but this is not the case and has never been the case.
This judgment merely upholds what was already true before (meaning that the challenge to the status quo failed), that only spouses of H-1B who are transitioning to a green card and have an approved I-140 can continue to hold a H-4 EAD (employment authorization).
The caveat being that the primary H-1B holder must already be approved most of the way into the green card process (I-140), which takes many years.
For most of the green card beneficiaries(backlogged country applicants), the wait time to be eligible to file I-485 is the one takes many years.
1. H1B holders without an approved I-140. Their spouses cannot work.
2. H1B holders with an approved I-140 but not from a backlogged country. Technically, their spouses can work on an H-4 and EAD, but the odds are that they will get their green cards within months of getting their EADs, if not before. So it barely affects them either.
3. H1B holders with approved I-140s born in a backlogged country.
This is pretty much the only category impacted by the maintenance of status quo, and the impact is massive, since these people could be waiting 5-80 years for a green card, which means if this lawsuit had succeeded, their spouses wouldn’t be eligible to work for 5-80 years despite being in the US completely legally, in a visa category which is designed to provide a path to immigration.