Right to work for H-4 visa holders stands as US Supreme Court declines appeal

The decade-long legal battle over the right of H-4 visa holders to work in the United States reached closure in mid-October, after the US Supreme Court (SC) declined to hear an appeal by Save Jobs USA, effectively leaving intact lower court rulings that upheld employment authorisation for certain spouses of H-1B visa holders. The SC’s refusal to take up the case brings finality to a dispute that began in 2015, when the Obama administration introduced the H-4 Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) rule. to mitigate the problems faced by certain sections of immigrants (such as the Indian diaspora) who faced backlogs running into several decades to obtain an employment based green card. Under the EAD rule, in those cases where the H-1B visa recipient is on track for a green card