USCIS extends immigration work permit by 540 days; here's all you need to know

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Thursday, April 4, declared the automatic extension of certain immigrant work permits, including India. The US Immigration Agency released a temporary final rule (TFR) to increase the automatic extension period for certain employment authorization documents (EADs) from a maximum of 180 days to upto 540 days.

These measures will prevent renewal applicants from facing employment authorization and documentation gaps. The temporary final rule will come into effect on April 8, 2024.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), USCIS said that the temporary final rule increases the automatic extension period for employment authorization and Employment Authorization Documents, available to certain EAD renewal applicants, to up to 540 days.

USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou said, “Over the last year, the USCIS workforce reduced processing times for most EAD categories, supporting an overall goal to improve work access to eligible individuals. However, we also received a record number of employment authorization applications, impacting our renewal mechanisms.”

"This rule temporarily amends existing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations to provide that the automatic extension period applicable to expiring Employment Authorization Documents (Forms I-766 or EADs) for certain renewal applicants who have filed Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization (EAD application), will be increased from up to 180 days to up to 540 days from the expiration date stated on their EADs. DHS is taking these steps to help prevent renewal applicants from experiencing a lapse in their employment authorization and documentation," reads the notification

Here’s the official notification.

From May 12, 2023, to March 13, 2024, DHS removed or returned over 617,000 individuals, most of whom crossed the Southwest Border, including more than 97,000 individual family members. The majority of all individuals encountered at the southwest border over the past three years have been removed, returned, or expelled. Total removals and returns since mid-May exceed removals and returns in every full fiscal year since 2011, reads the USCIS’ statement.