US District Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed a law suit brought by Save Jobs USA against U.S. Department of Homeland Security (15-cv-0015, US District Court, District of Columbia) which challenged the rights of certain highly skilled H-1B visa holders’ spouses to work in the US. Judge Chutkan upheld rule which grants certain H-4 visa holders the right for work authorization parallel to their spouses’ H-1B visa validity for employment in the US. The same Judge had previously dismissed the suit, ruling that Save Jobs lacked standing to challenge the H-4 rule. However, a federal appeals court reversed that ruling in 2019 and revived the case.

This is a major victory to tech sector innovators like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft who were among the companies who “urged the judge to let the rule stand.” The rule grants H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrant visa holders the right to apply for work authorization provided their H-B nonimmigrant spouse is the principal beneficiary of an approved Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers or the their spouse is under H-1B status pursuant to section 106(a) and (b) of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty- first Century Act of 2000 (“AC21”) which gives certain H-1B workers seeking permanent residence through employment the right to work and remain in the US beyond the six-year H-1B period of admission.