This week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule ending the automatic extension of employment authorization documents (EADs), or work permits, for many workers who file renewals on time. The rule makes permanent an interim final rule issued on October 30, 2025.
What’s new: Previously, eligible employees who filed renewals before their cards expired could generally keep working for up to 540 days while U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processed their cases. Under the final rule, renewals filed on or after October 30, 2025 generally will not receive that extension, and workers typically must wait for USCIS approval before a new period of employment authorization begins.
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The rule impacts several groups, including H-4 visa holders (spouses of H-1B workers), some asylum applicants, and people with pending adjustment-of-status (green card) cases.
What’s not impacted:
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Renewals filed before October 30, 2025. The rule is not retroactive. The 540-day automatic extension still applies to renewal EAD applications filed before October 30, 2025, and the final rule does not affect EADs that were automatically extended before then.
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Extensions provided by law or Federal Register notice. Automatic extensions provided by law, or through a Federal Register notice for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) employment documentation, are not affected.
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F-1 STEM OPT 180-day extension. The 180-day extension for F-1 visa students in STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT) is also not covered, because it is not an EAD renewal. STEM OPT is a 24-month work authorization for foreign students who have earned a qualifying STEM degree from an accredited U.S. institution.
Stricter scrutiny: DHS says the goal is more thorough vetting before work authorization is extended. DHS has said it received roughly 52,800 additional automatic-extension-eligible renewal applications per month in fiscal year 2023, which suggests the number of affected workers is large.
More I-9 requirements: On Form I-9 (employment eligibility verification) compliance, employers must reverify work authorization without relying on an expired EAD, and the USCIS receipt notice (Form I-797C) for renewals filed on or after October 30, 2025 is no longer acceptable evidence of work authorization. Employers will need to track renewal dates more closely and set internal protocols for handling potential lapses.
Legal challenges produce limited result: H-4 visa holders sued the administration over the interim rule arguing DHS did not comply with Administrative Procedure Act requirements, and in September 2026 a federal court in California issued a limited injunction preventing enforcement of the interim rule against the plaintiffs in that case only, but the rule remained in effect for everyone else.
