A decision by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to defer rollout of a proposal barring spouses of certain H1-B visa holders from seeking employment, provides potential applicants a breather. The date for issuing the draft proposal has been deferred to June from its earlier target of February 2018. It is estimated that more than a lakh employment authorisations have been given to eligible spouses since the program was introduced in May 2015, a fair portion going to Indians. Immigration experts add that the DHS handles nearly 30,000-odd applications for employment authorisations each year, in addition to requests for renewals. Issue of the draft proposal in June by the Trump administration will be the first step towards ending the mechanism of granting such authorisations.

A decision by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to defer rollout of a proposal barring spouses of certain H1-B visa holders from seeking employment, provides potential applicants a breather. The date for issuing the draft proposal has been deferred to June from its earlier target of February 2018. It is estimated that more than a lakh employment authorisations have been given to eligible spouses since the program was introduced in May 2015, a fair portion going to Indians. Immigration experts add that the DHS handles nearly 30,000-odd applications for employment authorisations each year, in addition to requests for renewals. Issue of the draft proposal in June by the Trump administration will be the first step towards ending the mechanism of granting such authorisations.