Comment Submitted by Anusha Peddolla

Subject: Opposition to the Proposed Rule on Discretionary Employment Authorization I respectfully oppose the proposed rule that would make employment authorization discretionary for eligible applicants. I am an H-4 dependent spouse with a pending Employment Authorization Document (EAD) renewal application. I submitted my renewal application well before my current EAD expired and have complied with every USCIS requirement. Despite doing everything correctly, my application has remained pending for months, leaving my family in a state of uncertainty. I am employed in the United States, and my income is an important part of supporting our household. My employer also provides health insurance that covers my husband and our two young daughters. If I lose my ability to work because of processing delays or changes to EAD eligibility, my family could lose essential health insurance and face serious financial hardship. Our younger daughter may require surgery related to her tear duct, making continuous health insurance especially important for our family. We are law-abiding immigrants who have followed every immigration rule and filed all required applications on time. It is discouraging to face uncertainty despite complying with the law. My husband's work is also affected. He is an H-1B professional and serves as a critical resource on major analytics projects for his employer. Policies that make employment authorization less predictable for H-4 spouses create unnecessary stress for families and make it harder for highly skilled workers to continue contributing to the U.S. economy. I respectfully urge USCIS to preserve stable and predictable employment authorization for eligible H-4 spouses and to consider the real impact that processing delays and uncertainty have on families, employers, and the broader economy. Thank you for considering my comment.