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).

The increased automatic renewal extension will be available to eligible renewal applicants with pending Forms I-765 as of May 4, 2022, including applicants whose authorizations may have expired 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. The requirements to be eligible for the automatic extension include:

Timely filing of the Form I-765 renewal application prior to expiration of the applicant’s current EAD;

Eligibility category on the EAD must match the eligibility category on Form I-765; and
Eligibility category must qualify for the automatic extension.

Among the categories listed by USCIS eligible for auto-renewals are those with the following corresponding categories listed on the Form I-765 renewal application:

(a)(3) Refugee;
(a)(5) Asylee;
(a)(7) N-8 or N-9;
(a)(8) Citizen of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, or Palau;
(a)(10) Withholding of Deportation or Removal Granted;
(a)(12) Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Granted;
(a)(17) Spouse of principal E nonimmigrant with an unexpired I-94 showing E (including E-1S, E-2S and E-3S) nonimmigrant status;
(a)(18) Spouse of principal L-1 Nonimmigrant with an unexpired I-94 showing L-2 (including L-2S) nonimmigrant status;
(c)(8) Asylum Application Pending;
(c)(9) Pending Adjustment of Status under Section 245 of the Act;
(c)(10) Suspension of Deportation Applicants (filed before April 1, 1997)
Cancellation of Removal Applicants
Special Rule Cancellation of Removal Applicants Under NACARA;
(c)(16) Creation of Record (Adjustment Based on Continuous Residence Since January 1, 1972);
(c)(19) Pending initial application for TPS where USCIS determines applicant is prima facie eligible for TPS and can receive an EAD as a “temporary treatment benefit”;
(c)(20) Section 210 Legalization (pending I-700);
(c)(22) Section 245A Legalization (pending I-687);
(c)(24) LIFE Legalization;
(c)(26) Spouses of certain H-1B principal nonimmigrants with an unexpired I-94 showing H-4 nonimmigrant status; or
(c)(31) VAWA Self-Petitioners.

USCIS has taken this step due to the current backlogs in processing times for Forms I-765 and its pledge to its newly established internal cycle time goals. The agency is committed to helping renewal applicants avoid a lapse in employment authorization and/or documentation while their applications remain pending and the department implements solutions to return to normal processing times. In fact, it has been reported that “the new policy protects as many as 420,000 immigrants from losing their ability to work in this country.”