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Auto-Extension Period for Certain Employment Authorization Documents to Change Starting Oct. 27, 2023
Certain renewal applicants who have filed Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, qualify for an automatic extension of their expiring employment authorization and/or EADs while their renewal application is pending. This includes those who have applied for or have received Temporary Protected Status or asylum.
Normally, USCIS regulations provide for an automatic extension period of up to 180 days from the expiration date stated on the EAD. In May 2022, however, USCIS announced a temporary final rule (TFR) that increased the automatic extension period for employment authorization and/or EADs available to certain EAD renewal applicants from up to 180 days to up to 540 days.
As announced in the 2022 TFR, automatic extensions of employment authorization and EAD validity will revert to the original up to 180-day period for those eligible applicants who timely file Form I-765 EAD renewal applications on or after Oct. 27, 2023. This change is not retroactive; all previous up to 540-day automatic extensions will remain in place.
For individuals who received an increased automatic extension period under the TFR, the increased automatic extension will end when they receive a final decision on their EAD 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.
USCIS is in the process of determining whether, notwithstanding past and ongoing operational improvements, there is a need for a new regulatory action similar to the May 2022 TFR.
Form I-765 Backlog Reduction Efforts
USCIS recently published a Policy Manual update increasing the maximum EAD validity period to five years for initial and renewal applications approved on or after September 27, 2023, for the following categories:
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Certain noncitizens who are employment authorized incident to status or circumstance, including those admitted as refugees, paroled as refugees, granted asylum, and recipients of withholding of removal; and
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Certain noncitizens who must apply for employment authorization, including applicants for asylum and withholding of removal, adjustment of status, and suspension of deportation or cancellation of removal.
Increasing the maximum EAD validity period to five years for these noncitizens should significantly reduce the number of Form I-765 EAD renewal applications submitted to USCIS and processing times. These new policy updates will help USCIS allocate resources to further reduce the backlog of Forms I-765.
USCIS is making every effort to help avoid gaps in employment or employment authorization documentation for noncitizens with pending EAD renewal applications, and to help reduce EAD processing times overall, including by dedicating additional personnel and implementing processing improvements to decrease the median processing time for certain EAD applications to 30 days.
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