Considering the nonhomogeneity and anisotropy of the undrained shear strength of soft clay, the face stability of shield tunnel was studied by upperbound limit analysis, and the formula for calculating the limit support pressure was obtained. The influences of nonhomogeneity and anisotropy on the limit support pressure amplify with each other.The relationship between limit support pressure and tunnel depth also depends on the nonhomogeneity and anisotropy; the limit support pressure reaches maximum value at a certain tunnel depth when nonhomogeneity and anisotropy are strong enough. These results show the nonhomogeneity and anisotropy of clays cannot be neglected when analyzing the stability of tunnel face.