Starting January 18, 2025, USCIS may end its mandatory practice of processing certain H-4 and L-2 dependent status applications and dependent Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) simultaneously with principal H-1 or L-1 petitions. This change would delay and disrupt work authorization for certain dependent spouses.

For background, often a principal employee’s Form I-129 petition (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker), is filed together with dependent Form I-539 applications (Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status) and Form I-765 applications (Application for Employment Authorization). Historically USCIS has processed all these forms together, extending status for the whole family and granting work authorization to the spouse where eligible and requested.

This practice changed in March 2019 when USCIS added a lengthy, burdensome biometrics requirement to all I-539s, preventing USCIS from processing a family’s forms together. H-4 and L-2 dependents burdened by this new practice, who lost work authorization due to USCIS processing delays of their I-765s, sued USCIS for unlawful delay of their change of status, extension of status, and EAD applications. In January 2023, this litigation (Eddakunni v. Mayorkas) settled, mandating USCIS to simultaneously process or “bundle” all I-129s, I-539s, and I-765s properly filed together.

The Eddakunni requirement has benefited dependents by speeding up their processing times to match their principal’s. Additionally, USCIS has taken other actions to ease the processing delay problem for certain dependents, by announcing that certain L and E dependent spouses are automatically work authorized (even without an EAD), and by specifying that timely-filed H-4 EAD renewals automatically extend an EAD 540 days after its stated expiration date to account for USCIS processing delays.

The Eddakunni processing requirement is scheduled to end January 18, 2025. As of this writing, USCIS has not specified whether it will continue this requirement. If USCIS abandons this requirement, processing times for H-4s and H-4 EADs will likely lengthen significantly. Some dependents might temporarily lose work authorization depending on USCIS processing times. As of this writing, no premium processing option (which would significantly speed up processing for a fee) is available to H and L dependents filing separately from the principal. Additionally, the Trump administration may try to eliminate H-4 EADs altogether, as Trump unsuccessfully attempted in his first term.

To prepare for the end of the Eddakunni requirement, employers should evaluate who in their workforce is:

• An H-1B employee with a dependent spouse who has or wants an H-4 EAD. The employer should consider whether it can file an extension for this family prior to January 17, 2025 (the last business day before the Eddakunni requirement ends on January 18). This option would need to be selected ASAP and may shorten the next H-1B validity period, but could provide certainty for concerned families.
• An employee whose work authorization is an H-4 EAD through their H-1B spouse. Depending on how the H-1B spouse’s employer is handling the situation, the H-4 EAD may wish to seek alternative work authorization options, whether employer-sponsored or independent.

For more individualized advice, please contact your designated Meltzer Hellrung attorney.