On April 4, 2024, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a temporary final rule that increased the automatic extension period for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) available to certain EAD renewal applications from up to 180 days to up to 540 days. This temporary final rule applies to two categories of EAD applicants: (1) applicants who timely and properly filed their Form I-765 applications on or after Oct. 27, 2023, if the application is still pending on April 8, 2024; and (2) applicants who timely and properly file their Form I-765 application on or after April 8, 2024, and on or before Sept. 30, 2025 (540 days after publication of the temporary final rule in the Federal Register).

What does this mean for our RIS clients?

This is great news for our RIS clients who are concerned about their expiring work authorization. So long as the foreign national’s EAD renewal application is timely filed, meaning filed prior to the current EAD expiration date, the foreign national receives the benefit of the “automatic extension period” which allows the foreign national to remain in the United States and continue working for up to 540 days or until their EAD renewal is approved, whichever comes first. Prior to this temporary final rule, foreign nationals with timely filed EAD renewals only received an automatic extension of 180 days. Due to an increase in current processing times for EAD renewals based on a pending I-485 adjustment of status application [(c)(9)], the category most commonly used by our RIS clients, the 540-day automatic extension period is now expected to cover the amount of time it takes USCIS to process and adjudicate the renewal.

It is important to note that this automatic extension period applies to both EAD cards and EAD/Advanced Parole (AP) “combo” cards that are held by our RIS clients. Although the foreign national will receive the benefit of the automatic extension in regard to their employment authorization, those who carry EAD/AP “combo” cards will need to remain in the United States until the new combo card, with Advance Parole designation, is received by the foreign national before traveling abroad. There is no automatic extension period allowed for Advance Parole documents at this time. Traveling outside of the U.S. without the renewed EAD/AP combo card in hand could result in the abandonment of the foreign national’s pending green card application.

For more information regarding this temporary final rule please visit the following resources:

Final Rule: https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/uscis-increases-automatic-extension-of-certain-employment-authorization-documents-to-improve-access

Federal Register: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/04/08/2024-07345/temporary-increase-of-the-automatic-extension-period-of-employment-authorization-and-documentation

Please reach out to your assigned RIS attorney with any questions or concerns regarding the automatic EAD extension.