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H-1B spouses sue DHS over abrupt work permit cut-off
The USCIS order issued in October ended automatic work visa extensions for H-1B spouses amidst ballooning wait times.
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Sat, 10, Jan 2026
- 01:23 EST
- 132
Representative image / Pexels
The spouses of multiple H-1B visa holders have sued the Department of Homeland Security for its order that ended automatic extension of immigrants’ work permits with pending renewal applications.
The interim final rule issued by the DHS in October 2025 ended the automatic extension of Employment Authorization Documents, also know as Work Permits, for certain immigrants, including H-4 visa holders, that is spouses of H-1B workers.
Previously, if a spouse filed a timely renewal application for their work permit, they received an automatic extension while the renewal was pending. This prevented gaps in work authorization due to backlogs. However, the Trump administration's renewed policy ended the automatic approval provision, citing national security.
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USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in the initial order, “Reducing the maximum validity period for employment authorization will ensure that those seeking to work in the United States do not threaten public safety or promote harmful anti-American ideologies."
The USCIS order further read, "The reduced maximum validity periods for certain categories will result in more frequent vetting of aliens who apply for authorization to work in the United States. Vetting an alien more often will enable USCIS to deter fraud and detect aliens with potentially harmful intent so they can be processed for removal from the United States."
Challenging this notifications at U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the complainants alleged, "The administration’s true rationale, stripping the ability of people lawfully in the U.S. to sustain themselves, is embarrassingly obvious."
The suit also alleged that this order was brought as an indirect attempt to end work permits entirely for H-1B spouses by "creating processing burdens, and pretextual biometric collections.”
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