On October 30, 2025, The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) along with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) published an interim final rule ending the automatic extension of Employment Authorization Documents (“EADs”) for certain categories of applicants who file renewal requests on or after October 30, 2025. Under the previous regulation, USCIS automatically extended work authorization and EAD validity for up to 540 days for individuals in specific eligibility categories while their renewal applications were pending in an attempt to ease the effects of USCIS delays in processing. The new interim final rule does not affect any EADs that were automatically extended before October 30, 2025.
Read moreDHS Permanently Increases Automatic Extension of Certain Employment Authorization Documents for Certain Applicants
On December 10, 2024, The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced a permanent increase in the automatic extension period for employment authorization documents (“EADs”) up to 540-days from the current 180-days period for certain applicants who timely and properly filed their Form I-765 applications for work authorization.
Read more180-Day Automatic Extensions of Employment Authorization Documents
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced on October 27, 2023, they would be reverting back to 180-day automatic extensions of employment authorization and EAD validity for those eligible applicants who timely file a Form I-765 renewal application on or after October 27, 2023. This announcement follows a Temporary Final Rule (“TRF”) adopted by USCIS from May 4, 2022, through October 26, 2023, which increased the automatic extension period for employment authorization and Employment Authorization Documents (“EADs”) available to certain EAD renewal applicants up to 540-days. Please note that this change to automatic 180-day renewals does not affect beneficiaries who were granted automatic extensions of up to 540-days during the time the TRF was in effect. For beneficiaries of the 540-day extension, the increased automatic extension “will end when they receive a final decision on their renewal application or when the up to 540-day period expires (counted from the expiration date of the employment authorization and/or their EAD), whichever comes earlier.”
Read moreTemporary Increase of Automatic Extension Period for Certain Renewal Applicants’ Employment Authorization
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) adopted a Temporary Final Rule (“TFR”) on May 4, 2022, to increase the automatic extension period for employment authorization and Employment Authorization Documents (“EADs”) available to certain EAD renewal applicants. Previously, work authorization granted to foreign nationals who had filed a timely Form I-765 application to renew certain categories of EADs was automatically extended for 180 days. The new rule will effectively increase this period to up to 540 days from the expiration date stated on the EAD. During the eighteen month period after publication of the TFR, eligible applicants with a timely-filed, pending Form I-765 renewal application will receive up to 360 days of additional automatic extension time (for a total of up to 540 days).
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