Historic Settlement Reached With DHS To Mitigate L-2 and H-2 Work Authorization Delays

On Nov. 10, 2021, a historic settlement with the Department of Homeland Security was reached in the complaint of Shergill, et al. v. Mayorkas, providing relief for nonimmigrant H-4 and L-2 spouses suffering long processing times for their work authorization applications. Spouses of H-4 and L-2 recipients are legally allowed to work while residing in the US. However, in recent years, the extreme processing times — in some cases, more than two years — have caused some L-2 and H-4 spouses to stop working or lose their jobs. A class action lawsuit was filed in March 2021 by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) in an effort to compel DHS to address policies causing this undue hardship among L-2 and H-4 spouses. The results of this groundbreaking settlement are significant. DHS will allow L-2 spouses to work without applying for work authorization or receiving an EAD card. H-2 spouses will be given an automatic 180-day extension after the expiration of their work authorization, should USCIS fail to adjudicate their application in a timely manner. Although it will take time to work out the practical details of this settlement result (USCIS will soon issue appropriate policy guidance), this historic decision may hopefully be a bellwether for more common-sense policy changes to alleviate suffering caused by long processing times.