Tech sector H-1B workers’ spouses can continue to work in US, says judge

Big technology companies won a major court victory in Washington, where a judge dismissed a suit challenging the rights of highly skilled H-1B visa holders’ spouses to work in the US.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Tuesday issued a decision upholding the Obama-era rule under which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued H-4 visas to the spouses of hundreds of thousands of H-1B workers in the US, 70% of whom hold science and engineering jobs in the tech sector. Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Google, Microsoft Corp. were among the companies who urged the judge to let the rule stand.