H-1B spouse work-ban rules near

Immigration chief says the public will be given a chance to comment

Federal authorities planning to ban the spouses of H-1B visa holders from working in the U.S. will submit the new rule within three months, the Department of Justice said in a court filing.

The Department of Homeland Security has made “solid and swift progress” developing the rule targeting people working on the H-4 visa, which is awarded to spouses of people on the controversial H-1B visa, the Justice Department said.

The Department of Homeland Security will submit the rule to the Office of Management and Budget, according to the filing Saturday in a lawsuit by Save Jobs USA against Homeland Security, which claims H-4 and H-1B visa holders unfairly compete against Americans for jobs.

Under certain circumstances, government agencies can finalize rules without a public comment period. But U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director L. Francis Cissna said in a Sept. 6 letter to the Internet Association — which represents major tech firms, including many such as Facebook and Google that rely on H-1B visas for hiring foreign workers — that “the public will be given an opportunity to provide feedback during a notice and comment period on any revisions to regulations that DHS determines are appropriate, including revisions relating to the H-4 Rule.”

Most public comment periods for new federal-agency rules last 30 to 60 days, but they can be shorter or longer.

Holders of the H-4 visa have been caught up in the tumultuous debate over the H-1B visa, which is intended for jobs requiring specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher. Silicon Valley’s tech giants

rely heavily on the H-1B and have pushed to expand the annual 85,000 cap on new visas. But critics point to reports of abuses, including at UC San Francisco, and argue that the H-1B visa is used to hire cheap labor at the expense of American workers.

As of the end of last year, about 125,000 people had received authorization to work under the H-4, according to Citizenship and Immigration.

Under President Donald Trump’s “Buy American and Hire American” executive order, U.S. immigration authorities have launched a crackdown on the H-1B, increasing scrutiny and rejection of applications.