In a February 28, 2018, status update filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in the matter of Save Jobs USA v. United States Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) stated its inability to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) on the rescission of H-4 EADs by its initial intended timeframe of February 2018. DHS now expects to issue the NPRM in time for publication in June 2018.
DHS explained that after review of the draft proposal by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, a determination was made that significant revisions were required, including requiring a new economic analysis, which could take several weeks to complete. In this status update, DHS reiterated that its intention to publish an H-4 EAD NPRM remains unchanged.
How the rule will immediately affect employers who employ H-4 EAD workers still remains unclear. DHS may either cancel valid H-4 EADs, render H-4 EADs invalid on a certain date, or prohibit the renewal of H-4 EADs. Therefore, employers should seek immigration counsel as soon as possible to mitigate any risks from the expected removal of H-4 individuals, who are currently employment eligible, from the class of employment-authorized nonimmigrants.