The Trump administration is moving to expand its scrutiny of the H-1B visa program, taking aim at two key protections connected to the system: work authorization for some spouses of visa holders and the grace period that gives laid-off foreign workers time to find new employment in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security has renewed an effort to end employment authorization for certain spouses of H-1B workers who live in the U.S. under H-4 dependent visas.
Separately, another DHS proposal that would eliminate the existing 60-day grace period for H-1B workers after a job loss has completed review at the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, a key step before the rule can be released to the public.
Alongside the administration’s newly proposed $103,265 fee for cap-subject H-1B petitions, the measures signal a wider push to overhaul a visa program that opponents argue has allowed companies to bring in lower-cost foreign labor while U.S. workers compete for similar positions.
The H-4 work permit policy dates back to 2015, when the Obama administration adopted a rule allowing some spouses of H-1B workers to apply for employment authorization while their families moved through the lengthy employment-based green card process.
Eligibility is limited. In most cases, an H-4 spouse qualifies only if the H-1B worker has an approved Form I-140 immigrant petition or has been granted specific extensions beyond the standard six-year limit for H-1B status.
For eligible spouses, the Employment Authorization Document provides the ability to work independently in the United States. The Trump administration’s DHS is now weighing whether to revoke that opportunity.
The proposal is listed on the department’s regulatory agenda as “Removing H-4 Dependent Spouses From the Classes of Noncitizens Eligible for Employment Authorization.”
That does not mean current H-4 work permits have been canceled. The proposal remains a long-term regulatory action, and DHS has not provided a target date for its release. Before any change could take effect, the administration would have to go through the formal rulemaking process.
As mentioned earlier, the White House has also cleared a DHS proposal eliminating the 60-day grace period that currently protects H-1B workers after an employer terminates them.
Since 2017, H-1B workers who lose their jobs have generally been given up to 60 days to find another sponsor, change immigration status or leave the United States.
Under the Trump proposal, that automatic cushion would disappear. The change would make the visa even more dependent on continued employment and potentially reduce the ability of foreign workers to move between companies after a layoff.
The two proposals arrive only days after DHS unveiled an even more dramatic H-1B change: a proposed $103,265 additional fee on every cap-subject petition.
The fee would apply to the regular 65,000 H-1B slots and the additional 20,000 visas reserved for workers with advanced degrees from American universities.
DHS says the figure is based on approximately $8.8 billion in federal costs associated with administering and supporting immigration programs, divided across the 85,000 annual cap-subject petitions. The administration’s argument is straightforward: Employers that want foreign workers should bear more of the cost of the system that supplies them.
DHS cited research finding that H-1B workers are paid substantially less than similarly situated American workers after accounting for factors such as education, occupation and geography.
That goes to the central controversy surrounding H-1B. The program was designed to provide access to specialized foreign talent, not simply to enlarge the labor supply and suppress professional wages.
Yet demand remains enormous. USCIS received nearly 344,000 registrations for fiscal year 2026 despite the statutory cap of 85,000.
The Trump administration is now attacking H-1B visa loopholes from several directions at once: making H-1B sponsorship more expensive, eliminating the two-month cushion after job loss and potentially removing work authorization for certain dependent spouses.
Neither of the changes involving H-4 spouses or the grace period is final yet, and both could face legal challenges before implementation.
But this is a real wake-up call for foreigners who have been exploiting America’s overly lenient immigration system. The administration is making the H-1B program more expensive for employers, less flexible for visa workers and less economically advantageous for their families.
For companies accustomed to treating H-1B hiring as a routine part of their labor strategy, that era may be coming to an end.
Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has been infected by socialism, and it’s spreading FAST. Democrats are claiming there’s nothing to worry about, but we know the truth.
