H-1B Spouses Get Limited Win on Rule Ending Work Permit Renewals

A federal judge in California has set aside a rule eliminating automatic extensions of work permits for certain immigrants, finding that the Department of Homeland Security failed to follow required rulemaking procedures.

 

Judge David O. Carter of the US District Court for the Central District of California ruled on September 11 that DHS had failed to justify its decision to bypass the notice-and-comment process when issuing the rule.

 

But the ruling applies only to the seven plaintiffs who challenged the interim final rule, while DHS may soon issue final regulations codifying the changes to automatic extensions.

 

The agency issued the interim final rule in October 2025, ending automatic extensions of work permits for individuals with pending renewal applications from the end of that month. DHS cited national security and public safety concerns in support of the change.

 

Several spouses of H-1B specialty occupation workers argued that the failure to follow the normal rulemaking process violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

 

“If an EAD applicant is a national security threat, the issue is that they are able to live in the United States, not that they are able to work in the United States,” Carter wrote. “The IFR does nothing to eliminate the former concern.”

 

The plaintiffs argued that the agency had not established good cause for skipping notice-and-comment rulemaking. Family members of H-1B workers are admitted in dependent H-4 status, which permits eligibility for employment authorisation in limited circumstances.

 

A final rule by DHS eliminating automatic extensions was approved by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on September 9, two days before Carter's ruling.

 

The case is Jane Doe v. Department of Homeland Security, C.D. Cal., No. 8:26-cv-00060, order issued September 11, 2026.