USCIS Temporarily Increases Automatic Extension Period of Employment Authorization Document for Certain Eligible Applicants

Pasricha & Patel
May 05, 2022

Link:- https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/uscis-increases-automatic-extension-period-of-work-permits-for-certain-applicants

Pasricha & Patel

USCIS has announced that it has published Temporary Final Rule by providing that the automatic extension period applicable to expiring EADs for certain renewal applicants who have filed Form I-765 will be increased from up to 180 days to up to 540 days from the expiration date stated on their EADs.

This increase will be available to eligible renewal applicants with pending Forms I-765 as of May 4, 2022, including those applicants whose employment authorization may have lapsed following the initial 180-day extension period, and any eligible applicant who files a renewal Form I-765 during the 540-day period beginning on or after May 4, 2022, and ending October 26, 2023.

This latest rule change should be much welcome news for many eligible EAD applicants whom, through no fault of their own, and because of the USCIS’s prolonged processing backlogs have caused work-authorized foreign nationals to lose jobs and employers to lose valuable talent at a time when there is a labor market shortage.

The hope is that this latest USCIS announcement will lessen the stress and anxiety affecting thousands stuck in uncertainty while they wait for USCIS to issue EAD cards.

It will also be interesting to see if USCIS takes other steps in the coming days in areas affecting processing times in order to provide some temporary relief for the immigrant applicants who have been waiting for many months for adjudication of their filed petitions with the USCIS in not just employment authorization document, but also adjustment of status application filings.

Due to the ever changing immigration law landscape, we encourage readers to check back with our site to see any recent updates concerning immigration and related news. Should readers wish to discuss their matters in more detail, we suggest you contact our office to schedule a formal appointment as well.