Recently the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule (89 FR 101208) that permanently increases the automatic extension period of Employment Authorization Document (EAD) validity from up to 180 days to up to 540 days from the expiration date listed on the EAD.
This final rule is effective as of January 13th, 2025 and will apply to certain applicants in certain category codes who timely filed their Form I-765 EAD renewal application on or after May 4th, 2022.
This rule will give employers greater certainty in their work force, as it can:
Reduce gaps in employment authorization for their employees.
These eligible employees can work while their EAD renewal is pending as long as I-9 rules are followed, which will prevent gaps in employment authorization due to processing delays.
Streamline I-9 compliance for employees on EADs.
I-9 Administrators will not need to reverify an employee’s eligibility to work as frequently with an increased automatic extension period.
Employers and employees can use the Automatic Extension Eligibility Calculator provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to find the appropriate EAD expiration date for specific categories.
We recommend I-9 training to provide I-9 Administrators tools to understand and analyze EAD auto-extension eligibility. You can sign up for training here at: Corporate Immigration Compliance Institute.
Ellie Wiltanger
Law Clerk, Mdivani Corporate Immigration Law
The information on this website is for general information purposes only, it is not legal advice applicable to a specific situation. Viewing it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
