USCIS Will Begin “Bundling” Adjudication of Petitions for H-4 and L-2 Dependents

January 24, 2023

On January 20, 2023, the USCIS settled a class action lawsuit that challenged the extremely long adjudication and processing times for H-4 and L-2 spouses. As a part of the Edakunni settlement, the USCIS agreed to resume “bundling” the adjudication of H-4 and L-2 petitions, as well as their Employment Authorization Document petitions, when filed together with the underlying H-1B petition. These forms will only be bundled if they are filed concurrently. The bundling will take place for both cases filed under regular processing and under premium processing. This protocol will begin on January 25, 2023 and will last for 2 years.

Prior to 2017, it was commonplace for the USCIS to bundle the adjudication of these petitions when the underlying H-1B petition was filed under premium processing. At that time, our office saw the number of these petitions processed together decrease. The processing time for H-4, L-2 and EAD petitions became increasingly longer, leading to the Edakunni lawsuit filing and the claim in the plaintiff’s brief that the current processing times for EADs made it “mathematically” impossible for the EAD applicant to remain employed. 

Our firm is optimistic about these changes as a result of the Edakunni settlement and looks forward to processing times for H-4 and L-2 spouses becoming more reasonable. 

This blog is made available by the The Immigration Group, PC for educational purposes only in order to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. For legal advice, please contact an attorney directly.