The latest move by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be highly beneficial for the spouses of H-1B visa holders (H-4) L-1 visa holders (L-2).

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced to permanently increase the automatic extension of the work permit renewal period for H-4 and L-2 visa holders from up to 180 days to up to 540 days.
The latest move will be highly beneficial for the spouses of H-1B visa holders (H-4) as well as spouses of L-1 visa holders (L-2).
Effective from January 13, 2025, the changes will be applied to all the Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) renewal applications, which are either pending or filed on or after May 4, 2022.
“This announcement responds to feedback from the business community to create more certainty for employers,” according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said that the American economy created over 16 million jobs since January 2021, while the department was committed to helping businesses fill these posts.
“Increasing the automatic extension period for certain employment authorisation documents will help eliminate red tape that burdens employers, ensure hundreds of thousands of individuals eligible for employment can continue to contribute to our communities, and further strengthen our nation’s robust economy,” Mayorkas noted.
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USCIS Director Ur M Jaddou said the agency was “committed to reducing unnecessary barriers and burdens in the immigration system to support our nation’s economy”.
The new rule will help employers in the US to retain their workers in a better way and “help prevent workers with timely-filed EAD renewal applications from experiencing lapses in their employment authorisation and employment authorisation documentation through no fault of their own,” Jaddou added.
H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows employers in the US to hire foreign nationals across specialised fields. The H-4 visa is provided to the dependents of H-1B visa holders, which includes their spouses as well as unmarried children under the age of 21.
On the other hand, the L-1 visa is utilised by companies to transfer their employees from their foreign offices to the US branches. It is divided into two categories — L-1A and L-1B. The L-2 visa is given to the dependents of L-1 visa holders, which means their spouses as well as unmarried children under 21 years of age.
As per the US Department of Homeland Security, the final rule aligns with USCIS’ ongoing efforts to support eligible individuals’ ability to contribute towards the US economy.
In addition to this, USCIS has taken other steps to reduce EAD processing times overall. Among these are —
- Reducing the median EAD processing times by half for the ones with pending applications for adjustment of status from fiscal year 2021 to date.
- Engaging with communities to educate work-eligible individuals as well as providing on-the-ground intake support for applicants.
- Bringing down the EAD application processing times for asylum applicants along with certain parolees to less than or equal to a 30-day median.
- EAD validity period extension for some categories of applicants from two to five years.
- Processing of refugee EAD applications gets streamlined.
- Expansion to online filing of EAD applications for asylum applicants and parolees.

