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OfficialUSCIS — H-4 Nonimmigrant Visa · Last verified
H-4 status and when an H-4 spouse can work
H-4 is the dependent status for the spouse and unmarried children under 21 of an H-1B holder. Work authorization is separate, and it depends on where the H-1B holder is in the green card process.
Who can hold H-4
The spouse and unmarried children under 21 of an H-1B holder may be admitted in H-4 status. H-4 status is tied to the principal's: it lasts as long as the principal's H-1B status and ends when that ends.
Source: USCIS — H-4 Nonimmigrant Visa · in effect from 2015-05-26
When an H-4 spouse can be authorized to work
An H-4 spouse may apply for employment authorization if the H-1B principal is the beneficiary of an approved Form I-140, or has been granted H-1B status beyond the six-year limit under sections 106(a) and (b) of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act. Children in H-4 status are not eligible for employment authorization on this basis.
Source: USCIS — H-4 Nonimmigrant Visa · in effect from 2015-05-26
You must have the document before you start
Eligibility is not authorization. You apply on Form I-765 and you may only begin working once the employment authorization document is approved and valid. Starting before that is unauthorized employment.
Source: USCIS — H-4 Nonimmigrant Visa · in effect from 2015-05-26
Renewing: the gap that used to be covered, and no longer is
A renewal used to carry itself. If you filed on time, an automatic extension of up to 540 days kept you working while the new card was decided, so the expiry date on the old card did not have to be a date you planned around. The Department of Homeland Security removed that automatic extension on 30 October 2025. Now the printed expiry date is the date: if the renewal has not been approved by then, your permission to work ends that day and you must stop, even though the application is still pending and nothing has gone wrong with it. The gap is not a penalty and there is no form that closes it — it is simply unauthorised time, and working through it is a violation that stays with the employee rather than the employer. H-4 renewals are among the slowest USCIS decides, so the practical advice is the unglamorous kind: file at the earliest date your category allows rather than a comfortable margin before expiry, tell your employer the date the card expires rather than the date you expect the new one, and treat any month of that queue as a month you may not be working.
Source: USCIS — H-4 Nonimmigrant Visa · in effect from 2015-05-26
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Frequently asked questions
- My H-4 EAD renewal is still pending and my card expires next week. Can I keep working?
- No. Until 30 October 2025 a timely-filed renewal automatically extended your authorization for up to 540 days; DHS removed that. Your authorization now ends on the date printed on your current card, whatever stage the renewal has reached. You must stop work on that date and may start again only when the new card is approved and valid. Tell your employer before the date rather than after it — a gap they knew about is a scheduling problem, and a gap they discover later is a records problem for both of you.
- Can my H-4 spouse work as soon as my I-140 is approved?
- They become eligible to apply. They may only start work once their own Form I-765 is approved and the employment authorization document is valid.
- What happens to my spouse's H-4 if I lose my H-1B job?
- H-4 status depends on the principal's H-1B status, so it is affected at the same time. The grace period and change-of-status options apply to the family together.