Key Points
- USCIS has increased the automatic extension for EADs to 540 days
- The previous automatic extension period was 180 days
- The new Temporary Final Rule will prevent lapses in work authorization
- The temporary final rule will prevent nearly 800,000 EAD renewal applicants from losing work authorization
Overview
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it issued a new Temporary Final Rule (TFR) to increase the automatic extension period for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) from 180 to 540 days.
By increasing the automatic extension period to 540 days, USCIS hopes to reduce processing times further. The temporary final rule will prevent work-authorized noncitizens from having their employment authorization, and work documentation expires while they wait for USCIS to adjudicate their pending EAD renewal applications. The automatic extension will also help US employers continue their operations without interruption.
Who is Impacted?
The Temporary Final Rule applies to eligible applicants who properly filed an EAD renewal application on or after Oct. 27, 2023, provided their application is still pending when the TFR was published in the Federal Register. The TFR also applies to eligible EAD renewal applicants who file their Form I-765 application correctly and on time during a 540-day period starting with the rule’s publication in the Federal Register.
What are the Benefits?
The TFR is consistent with USCIS’s ongoing efforts to enable employment-authorized individuals to continue working. Without the new temporary measure, approximately 800,000 EAD renewal applicants, including asylees and asylum applicants, green card applicants, and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) applicants or recipients, would be at risk of having their employment authorization lapse. As a result, up to 80,000 employers would be negatively impacted.
Other USCIS Efforts to Reduce Processing Times
USCIS has made other improvements to reduce EAD processing times and streamline adjudication processing, including:
- Processing a record volume of EAD applications in 2023
- Reducing EAD processing times by half for people with pending green card applications from FY 2021 through the present time
- Reducing EAD processing times for asylum applicants and certain parolees to a 30-day median or less
- Extending EAD validity for specific categories from two to five years
- Extending online filing for EADs to asylum applicants and parolees
- Streamlining the EAD process for refugees
- Working with communities to educate work-eligible individuals
USCIS will announce any other improvements to processing times as they occur.
Written by: Lucy Halse, Content Marketing Associate, Envoy Global
Edited by: Frank Fogelbach, Managing Attorney, Corporate Immigration Partners
Source: US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
