A group of Democratic congressional members submitted a letter to the Biden administration urging the immediate extension of employment authorization grace period for tens of thousands of immigrants. These immigrants may soon lose their employment status due to ongoing processing delays.

Typically, employment authorization documents (EADs) are valid for 180 days after expiration date. This is a grace period to allow for potential unavoidable delays, so individuals are not at risk of losing their status. In May 2022, a temporary regulation giving USCIS greater flexibility in processing renewal requests was issued, which expired on October 26, 2023. At the time the temporary regulation was issued, over 66,000 applications for EAD renewal had been pending for over 180 days.

Current EAD holders who filed EAD renewal requests after October 26, 2023, will lose their work permission on April 24, 2024, if still in a pending status. The employment authorization grace period extension helps protect these individuals from losing their legal employment status.

Currently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is developing a rule to temporarily increase the 180-day automatic extension period. The proposal was submitted to the White House for review on March 1, 2024. However, the Democratic congressional members suggest the 180-day grace period extension should be a permanent change. If a permanent final rule isn’t an option, the group suggests a new temporary rule go into effect for a minimum of three years to allow USCIS to reduce the backlog. Further, the Congress members suggest the administration bypass the typical 90-day review period.

ILBSG actively monitors ongoing news that may affect U.S. immigration. If you have questions about employment authorization or any other U.S. immigration issue, please contact us. Our team of experienced attorneys work directly with our clients in their specific situations to ensure they ge the right advice and remain in compliance.

EAD Employment Authorization