DHS plans to undo a 2015 rule that lets some H-4 spouses apply for an EAD. Under that rule, the spouse qualifies mainly when the H-1B holder has an approved I-140 (the employer’s green-card petition) or has extended H-1B status beyond six years under the AC21 law. If the rule is undone, those spouses could no longer get a work permit this way; the H-1B holder’s status is unchanged. For now it appears only on the government’s long-term plan, with no formal proposal and no timeline.
The plan is tracked as RIN 1615-AD14 (a RIN is the tracking number the government gives each rule). It would undo the 2015 rule that opened work permits to H-4 spouses. The government’s rulemaking plan lists it as a long-term item with the proposal date “to be determined.” The normal path is: publish a proposed rule, take public comments, then issue a final rule, which is where a start date would appear. None of those steps has started.
A different rule, RIN 1615-AD05, has already ended automatic extensions for certain EAD renewals filed since October 30, 2025, and was finalized unchanged on October 14. That rule is about whether you can keep working while a renewal is pending, and is separate from AD14, which is about eligibility. H-4 spouses can still apply for an EAD today; a renewal receipt just no longer extends the old card.
If the rule is eventually undone, the hit goes beyond one lost paycheck. The spouse’s career stops, benefits such as health insurance may go with the job, and the family may rethink whether to stay in the U.S. at all. But it is only on the long-term plan for now, and a rule usually takes a long time to get from proposal to effect. Factor it into long-range planning; day-to-day work continues as usual.
Families that pay rent, tuition and daily costs on two incomes would have far less room if the spouse’s income stopped.
Lin and her husband budget for rent, childcare and groceries on two incomes. If H-4 EAD eligibility is removed and Lin cannot keep working, her income disappears while fixed expenses stay. The change hits the spouse’s work permit; the husband’s H-1B is unchanged.
Even if the family can manage in the short term, a career gap, missed promotions and lost benefits make it harder to go back to work later.
Lin works on an EAD she got through H-4 spouse eligibility, which is exactly what the plan would remove. If it is removed, Lin could not get a new permit this way even if her employer wants to keep her. What happens to existing EADs, and from when, will be set out in the final rule.
The H-1B holder’s status is unaffected. But whether staying still makes sense for the whole family, and what options the spouse has, could change, and so could where you live.
Our view: the first thing to watch is whether this moves from the long-term plan to a formal proposal. If it does, three details matter most: whether existing EADs last until they expire, how renewals are handled, and how long the transition is. Those decide whether families can adjust gradually or lose the income all at once.
Pick a situation to see what it would mean for you. The three are side-by-side possibilities, in no particular order.
Assumption: No proposal comes out and the current rule stays.
These scenarios are our analysis and get updated as new documents come out.
It is only a long-term item in the government’s rulemaking plan; it has not gone to OIRA and there is no proposal.
Whether it moves from the long-term plan into formal rulemaking.
The agency drafts the rule, or first lists it in the government’s rulemaking plan.
Listed as a long-term item in the government’s rulemaking plan.