WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has reconfirmed its intent to rescindthe H-4 visa rule on employment authorisation to certain spouses of H-1Bvisa holders, a proposal that could hit tens of thousands of Indian womenin the US.

The Trump administration is currently reviewing the H-1B visa policy thatit thinks is being misused by companies to replace American workers. TheH1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreignworkers in speciality occupations.

The work visa is popular among Indian IT professionals. H-4 visas areissued to the spouses of H-1B visa holders, a significantly large number ofwhom are high-skilled professionals from India.”Removing H-4 DependentSpouses From the Class of Aliens Eligible for Employment Authorisation,”said the Department of Homeland Security’s Unified Agenda in the federalregister notification of its semi-annual regulatory agenda.

The move will have a major impact on Indian women as they are the majorbeneficiary of the Obama-era rule. As per the notification published onMonday, the Department of Homeland Security is proposing to remove from itsregulations certain H-4 spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants as a class of alienseligible for employment authorisation.

It was in February 2015 that it had published a final rule extendingeligibility for employment authorisation to certain H-4 dependent spousesof H-1B nonimmigrants who are seeking employment-based lawful permanentresident (LPR) status.