US ends automatic work-permit renewals, green card backlog draws 63 lawmakers

Washington, Oct 20 (IANS) Indian H-4 spouses and green card applicants in the US now face the risk of losing their jobs while waiting on work-permit renewals, after a Department of Homeland Security rule ending automatic extensions took final effect, even as lawmakers press the government to clear a growing green card backlog.

The final rule, published in the Federal Register on October 14 (FR Doc 2026-20955), “reaffirms and finalizes” an interim rule DHS issued on October 30, 2025. It ends “the practice of automatically extending the validity of employment authorization documents” for people who have filed on time to renew them in certain categories.

Until last year, many renewal applicants could keep working for up to 540 days while their applications were pending.

DHS said the change “enhances benefit integrity and prioritizes the proper vetting and screening of aliens before granting a new period of employment authorization.”

The categories most watched by Indian families are H-4 spouses of H-1B workers and people with pending applications to adjust status to permanent residence. Indians make up the bulk of both groups, because of the long country-cap queue for employment-based green cards.

Extensions for students on STEM Optional Practical Training and the “cap-gap” extension are not affected.

Separately, 63 members of Congress, led by Representatives Yvette Clarke and Raul Grijalva, have urged US Citizenship and Immigration Services to speed up pending green card applications, saying lawfully present immigrants are losing healthcare coverage while they wait.

On the $100,000 H-1B fee, the legal fight continues in California. Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. of the Northern District of California vacated the policies implementing the fee on September 30. The administration appealed to the Ninth Circuit on October 9.

A joint case management statement is due in the district court on October 20, and a case management conference is set for October 27. Indian nationals have historically been the largest group of H-1B beneficiaries.

–IANS

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