The United States administration announced an automatic extension of expiring work permits for certain categories of immigrants, including those seeking green cards and spouses of H-1B visa holders who get employment authorisation cards (EAD), for a year-and-a-half.
The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday announced the move. Thousands of Indian immigrants would be the beneficiaries of this decision.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the extension period will automatically be extended to up to 540 days from 180 days.
“As USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) works to address the pending EAD caseloads, the agency has determined that the current 180-day automatic extension for employment authorisation is insufficient,” said USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou.
“This temporary rule will provide those non-citizens, otherwise eligible for the automatic extension, an opportunity to maintain employment and provide critical support for their families, while avoiding further disruption for US employers,” he said.
Non-citizens with pending EAD renewal applications whose 180-day automatic extension has lapsed and whose EAD has expired will get an additional period of employment authorisation and EAD validity beginning May 4, 2022,- lasting up to 540 days from the expiration date of their EAD. They can resume employment if they are still within the 540-day automatic extension period and are otherwise eligible.
Non-citizens with a pending renewal application who are covered under the 180-day automatic extension will get an additional extension of up to 360 days, for up to 540 days past the expiration of the current EAD.
‘Non-citizens with a pending renewal application and a valid EAD on May 4, 2022, or who timely file an EAD renewal application before October 27, 2023, will be granted an automatic extension of up to 540 days if their EAD expires before the renewal application is processed,’ said USCIS.
“The change will immediately help about 87,000 immigrants whose work authorisation has lapsed or is set to in the next 30 days. Overall, the government estimates that as many as 4,20,000 immigrants renewing work permits will be protected from losing their ability to work for the duration of the policy,” Indian-American community leader Ajay Jain Bhutoria was quoted as saying by PTI.
The policy is meant to address the exacerbating labour shortage with the unprecedented backlog of 1.5 million work permit applications at the nation’s legal immigration agency.
Welcoming the policy change, Bhutoria said this is great news for employers as most companies face staffing issues and will now be able to keep their eligible employees.
