The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a policy change impacting thousands of noncitizen workers and their employers across the United States. In an interim final rule released this week, DHS ended the practice of automatically extending employment authorization documents (EADs) for certain categories of applicants who file renewal requests.
Beginning Oct. 30, 2025
As we reported in August 2023, the temporary increase of 540 days to the automatic extension period for employment authorization and employment authorization documents (EADs) for certain renewal applicants expired Oct. 26, 2023. Currently, certain applicants with a pending Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, will qualify for 180-day extensions. The good news is, as
Tucked away in the Code of Federal Regulations is a statute that provides employment authorization to nonimmigrants – such as holders of E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, or O-1 visas – who are in positions of last resort. Unfortunately, getting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to approve an application for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD)
Beginning Feb. 16, 2016, USCIS began reissuing receipt notices on Form I-797 to applicants who continue to have pending applications for renewed employment authorization (EAD applications) under certain categories that were originally filed between July 21, 2016 and Jan. 16, 2017. EAD applications that were filed during this window did not fall within the benefits