The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has temporarily increased the automatic extension period of expiring Employment Authorisation Documents (EADs) – aka work authorisations, for certain ‘renewal’ applications, from the current maximum of 180 days to 540 days.
Asylum-seekers, H-4 visa holders (spouses of certain categories of H-1B visa holders) and green card applicants are required to hold a valid EAD, else they face a job-loss or employment gap. Given the lengthy processing times by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the extension-rule will ensure that work authorisation documents are not rendered invalid while their application is pending.
According to the USCIS, while processing times have reduced significantly over the past year, if the 540-day automatic extension rule was not announced, nearly 8 lakh EAD renewal applicants would have faced a lapse in their employment authorisation and nearly sixty-eighty thousand American employers would have been negatively impacted. Immigration experts point out that hundreds of EAD applications of Indian spouses of H-1B visa holders are caught in the processing backlog. They add that another group that will immensely benefit are Indians who have applied for green cards and must periodically renew their EADs, while they face the decades-long wait for their green card.
An Indian-national H-4 visa holder, hailing from Hyderabad, who works in Silicon Valley, told TOI that had it not been for the extension, she would have lost her job at the end of this month. Even her employer was on tenterhooks as she was a key player in an ongoing client project.
Advocacy groups, business leaders and several Congressmen had recently pointed out the need for an extended tenure on an urgent basis. An earlier similar extension of 540 days expired on October 26, 2023. In other words, the automatic extension period stood curtailed to 180 days (and would have ended in the coming weeks on April 24).
The current processing time for renewal of EAD applications by green-card holders is nine months or more. H-4 holders (spouses of certain categories of H-1B visa holders) can apply for EAD renewal only six months prior to its expiry. The 180-day automatic extension period would have proved insufficient given processing delays.
Announcement of the extended period means that applicants whose EADs have expired since October 27, 2023, will remain eligible to work for at least another 360 days, while their EAD renewals are being processed.
According to USCIS, the increased automatic extension period of up to 540 days will apply to eligible EAD applicants who have properly filed renewal applications on or after October 27, 2023, as long as these applications remain pending on April 8, 2024. In such cases, it is also essential that their current EAD or 180-day auto-extension period has not expired. The new increased auto-extension will also apply to eligible applicants who apply to renew their EADs between April 8, 2024 and September 30, 2025.
Who is not eligible:
Immigration experts point out that the 540-day automatic extension rule will not benefit those applying for their initial EAD. It will also not benefit international students, such as STEM-students who are eligible for a three-year Optional Practical Training (OPT). Mitch Wexler, partner at Fragomen, a global immigration law firm explains: “Such students continue to be eligible for an auto-extension period of up to 180 days. STEM OPT-EAD renewal applicants can also request expedited processing of their applications for an additional fee.”
Wexler adds, “As with the current maximum 180-day auto-extension period, the 540-day maximum auto-extension period will automatically cease if the EAD renewal application is denied. The temporary rule also does not cure any period of unauthorized employment accrued prior to April 8, 2024.”
Statement by USCIS’ director:
“Over the last year, the USCIS workforce reduced processing times for most EAD categories, supporting an overall goal to improve work access to eligible individuals,” said Ur Jaddou, director at USCIS “However, we also received a record number of employment authorization applications, impacting our renewal mechanisms. Temporarily lengthening the existing automatic extension up to 540 days will avoid lapses in employment authorizations,” she said.
Jaddou added, “At the same time, this rule provides DHS with an additional window to consider long-term solutions by soliciting public comments, and identifying new strategies to ensure those noncitizens eligible for employment authorization can maintain that benefit.”
