After years of outreach to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a major settlement (Shergill, et al. v. Mayorkas, Nov. 10, 2021) has forced the agency to update its policy to provide that certain H-4, E, or L-2 dependent spouses will qualify for an automatic extension of their work authorization, provided certain conditions are met.

Adjudication of employment authorization documents (EADs), a process the USCIS itself estimates should take 12 minutes per application, has taken up to 20 months. Over the past few years, the delays have resulted in tens of thousands of lawful, employment-eligible immigrants being forced to forgo job offers or quit their jobs. This settlement provides welcome relief from the long delays in USCIS issuance of EADs and, in the case of L-2 and E dependent spouses, relief from the ever-higher USCIS filing fees.