U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a new rule increasing the automatic extension period for employment authorization document (EAD) renewal applications from 180 to 540 days for certain categories. Automatic EAD extensions are confusing. You need to identify the EAD category, before you can figure out whether one of the various extensions applies,

To ease the 540-day calculation, USCIS created an EAD Automatic Extension Calculator to help employers and employees with determining their EAD expiration date. The calculator helps to determine the 540-day end date, once you know if the 540-day automatic renewal applies.

Certain EAD applicants are entitled to 180-day automatic extensions if they have pending, timely filed EAD renewal applications. The code on the face of the expired EAD indicates eligibility.

Those who are eligible include:

(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 nonimmigrant status

(a)(18) Spouse of principal L-1 Nonimmigrant with an unexpired I-94 showing L-2 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

(c)(31) VAWA Self-Petitioners

The 540-day extensions will be applicable to those whose renewal applications are currently pending and those who timely file qualifying renewal applications until October 26, 2023, at which time the rule will revert to 180-day extensions.

Certain H (C26), L (A18), or E (A17) spouses are also entitled to 180- or 540-day automatic renewals, but the automatic extensions cannot exceed their Form I-94 end dates. Moreover, L or E spouses with proper annotations on their I-94s have employment authorization incident to status, so they may not need an EAD.

For those with a qualifying EAD renewal application pending who have already seen their 180-day extension lapse, they can resume employment starting May 4, 2022 by showing their expired EAD card and their I-765 receipt notice so long as they are within 540 days of the expiration of the EAD and the underlying benefits application remains pending. Current clients are welcome to contact us with questions. If you are not a current client and wish to discuss how this new rule might affect your case, please contact our office to schedule a consultation.