The past several years have been a confusing time for spouses of H-1B visa holders who wish to work in the United States, with various reversals regarding whether H-4 visa holders can apply for work permits at all. Fortunately, under the Biden Administration, H-4 visa holders can, in certain circumstances, prepare and submit Form I-765 to request work authorization, as described here.
Not every H-4 spouse is eligible for an EAD. First off, the person's H-1B worker spouse must have an employer that is interested in keeping them on long term and that has started the green card application process for that worker. Only after that has resulted in an approved Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers on the H-1B worker's behalf can the H-4 holding spouse qualify for a work permit.
The spouse of the H-1B worker must prepare Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization and file it with all required evidence to the appropriate USCIS ("United States Citizenship and Immigration Services") office.
For more guidance, see Filling Out Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. The Form I-765 page of the USCIS website includes the form itself, instructions, and further guidance, such as on the latest filing fees and filing addresses. Answer the questions on the form as completely as possible, and if you are not completing it electronically, use black ink to fill it out.
In Part 2, Question 27, the form will ask for your EAD eligibility category. For a qualifying H-4 spouse of an H-1B holder, it's "(c)26." (For more about the available EAD categories, check out What Is Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization.)
Once you complete the form, you will need to gather certain documents, including:
Send these to USCIS with the completed I-765 and filing fees ($410 for the form and $85 for biometrics; early 2023 figure; but doublecheck the USCIS website for the latest, since it proposed fee hikes for later in 2023).
The filing fees can be paid by money order, personal check, or cashier's check made out to the "U.S. Department of Homeland Security." You may also pay by credit card by using Form G-1450. Once you gather all of these items, make a copy for yourself and mail them to the appropriate address.
Assuming the H-1B visa holder remains in valid status in the U.S., the spouse may stay on as well, and renew the permission to work.
EAD renewal applications may ordinarily be submitted to USCIS up to six months before the EAD's expiration date. You can find the expiration date on your physical EAD document.
Unfortunately USCIS is quite slow to act on these renewals, and you might find that your work permit expires before your new one has been approved. To deal with this, USCIS will allow certain H-4 spouses to receive automatic extensions of their work permit for up to 180 days.