USCIS Increases Automatic Extension of Certain Employment Authorization Documents to Improve Access to Work Permits
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a press release announcing that it will issue a temporary final rule to increase the automatic extension period for certain employment authorization documents (EADs) from up to 180 days to up to 540 days.
USCIS notes that without the temporary final rule, nearly 800,000 EAD renewal applicants – including those eligible for employment authorization as asylees or asylum applicants, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) applicants or recipients, and green card applicants – would be in danger of experiencing a lapse in their employment authorization, and approximately 60,000 to 80,000 employers would be negatively impacted.
Among other things, the temporary final rule will prevent already work-authorized noncitizens from having their employment authorization and documentation lapse while waiting for USCIS to adjudicate their pending EAD renewal applications and better ensure continuity of operations for U.S. employers. The rule comes following prior actions taken by USCIS to support employment authorized individuals’ access to work, reduce EAD processing times overall, and streamline adjudication processing.
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