💥 H-4 Can’t Automatically “Ride Along” With H-1B Premium Processing Anymore—But This Case Was Approved in Just 2 Days?!

We recently received a very smooth H-1B + H-4 approval case.

The husband’s H-1B was filed first with premium processing, and the wife’s H-4 was filed afterward.

For the H-4, we had already prepared ourselves for a separate and potentially longer wait. After all, the settlement agreement that allowed certain H-4 cases to benefit from the principal H-1B’s expedited adjudication expired in January 2025.

And since these two cases were not filed concurrently, we definitely weren’t expecting them to be adjudicated together.

But the final result was way faster than expected—

The wife’s H-4 was approved just 2 days after USCIS received it! 🎉

📌 Case Timeline (See Figure 2)

Husband’s H-1B:

08/17 — USCIS received the case → 09/01 — Approved

Wife’s H-4:

08/30 — USCIS received the case → 09/01 — Approved

In other words, both spouses’ cases were approved on the same day.

It certainly looks like the H-4 ended up benefiting from the timing of the H-1B premium processing.

What’s especially surprising is the wife’s H-4:

USCIS received it on 08/30 → Approved on 09/01.

That’s basically a “2-day approval”! 🚀

Previously, people often said that “H-4 can ride along with H-1B premium processing” because of the Edakunni v. Mayorkas settlement.

Under that settlement, USCIS agreed to adjudicate qualifying, properly bundled H-1B and H-4 applications together when they were filed concurrently.

However, that settlement expired on January 18, 2025, so USCIS is no longer required to adjudicate H-4 applications together with the principal H-1B petition. H-4 applications are therefore not guaranteed to benefit from the H-1B’s premium processing timeline.

So this particular case really was a pleasant surprise! 🎉

⚠️ Of course, this does not mean every H-4 case will be approved within two days. Processing times can vary significantly from case to case.

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