U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services announced a temporary final rule Thursday increasing the automatic extension period for certain employment authorization documents to up to 540 days.

Key Points:

  • A previous temporary final rule increasing the automatic extension period of some EADs expired in October 2023.
  • The new extension will be effective starting on the date USCIS officially publishes the rule, which is expected to be April 8, 2024.
  • The extension will apply to eligible EAD renewal applications that (1) were filed on or after October 27, 2023, and remain pending on April 8 or (2) are filed from April 8 through September 2025.

Additional Information: Generally, automatic EAD extensions remain valid for a maximum of 180 days after expiration, but the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that the longer extension is necessary because of application volume and processing times. The agency said that without the longer extensions nearly 800,000 EAD renewal applicants “would be in danger of experiencing a lapse in their employment authorization, and approximately 60,000 to 80,000 employers would be negatively impacted as a result of such a lapse.” Eligibility requirements for automatic extensions can be found on the USCIS Automatic EAD Extension page.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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