USCIS to Process H1B, H4 (and EAD) together Starting Jan 25

USCIS has reached a settlement agreement to process the H1B, H4, and EAD together (as they used to do earlier) starting Jan 25, 2023.

During Trump’s government, USCIS added the H4 biometric requirement and started processing the H4 and EAD separately. This added unnecessary delays and increased processing time by up to 2 years.

To get the H4 and EAD approval quickly, do this:

1. File H1B extension/transfer/Change of status, H4, and H4 EAD in the same package (at the same time).
2. Request H1B premium processing – You will get all 3 approvals within 15 calendar days.

Steven Brown of the RN Law group has shared the good news on his Twitter account. He worked with Jonathan Wasden from Wasden Law and Jesse Bless on behalf of AILA.

H4 Biometric?

It is unclear whether the H4 biometric requirement is going away. It is not mentioned in the settlement agreement.

Steven believes that USCIS may extend the H4 biometric suspension (which was suspended during COVID until Mar 2023). There is no official information available from USCIS yet.

We will update this page as soon as we get any concrete information.

If the h4 biometric requirement is not removed, we suspect the delays will still be there.

Source: RN Law