Indian woman files a case in US for delay in work permits

washington — An Indian woman has filed a lawsuit against the US Citizenship and Immigration Services for the alleged delay in issuing work permits, accusing the authorities of sitting on a backlog of at least 75,000 unprinted employment authorisation documents (EADs).

Ranjitha Subramanya, who is on an H-4 dependent visa and her husband Vinod Sinha on H-1B work visa, in a lawsuit filed before a federal court in Ohio said while her application to extend her H-4 status and EAD was approved on April 7, she did not receive the work authorisation card till date. As a result, she was forced to stop working for her employer after her initial EAD expired on June 7, 2020.

“To date, she has not received her EAD and remains unable to work. Worse, her employer has notified her that she will lose her job if she does not provide proof of employment authorisation by August 9, 2020,” said her lawyer Robert H Cohen in the lawsuit.

An H-4 visa is a visa issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to the immediate family members of the H-1B visa holders. Spouses on an H-4 visa can apply for an EAD.

The lawsuit alleges that the USCIS is sitting on a backlog of at least 75,000 unprinted EADs.

Early this week, the USCIS said it has “reduced its capacity to print secure documents”, such as work permits and permanent residency cards, after ending its contract with a third-party company that previously printed the cards. —