Automatic Employment Authorization Document (EAD) extensions are confusing. Before you can figure out whether one of the various extensions applies, you need to identify the EAD category.

Certain EAD applicants are entitled to 180-day automatic extensions if they have pending, timely filed EAD renewal applications. The code on the face of the expired EAD indicates eligibility.

Those who are eligible include:

  • Refugees (A03)
  • Asylees (A05)
  • Parent or dependent child of an international organization employee granted permanent residence (A07)
  • Citizens of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands or Palau admitted as nonimmigrants (A08)
  • An individual granted withholding or deportation or removal (A10)
  • Certain asylum applicants (C08)
  • Adjustment of status applicants (C09)
  • NACARA applicants for suspension of deportation or cancellation of removal (C10)
  • Registry applicants (C16)
  • Special agricultural workers (C20)
  • Legalization applicants under INA 245A (C22)
  • LIFE applicants (C24)
  • VAWA beneficiaries and children (C31)
  • Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries (A12 and C19)

Applicants who are entitled to 180-day automatic extensions are now entitled to 540-day automatic extensions if:

  • They have pending timely filed EAD renewal (even if their 180-day extension has already expired); or
  • They timely file an EAD renewal application between May 4, 2022, and October 26, 2023; and
  • They are requesting a renewal in the same category as the expired EAD (except for TPS beneficiaries who may mix and match A12 and C19 codes).

For filings after October 26, 2023, the 540-day renewal will sunset leaving only the 180-day extension.

Certain H (C26), L (A18), or E (A17) spouses are also entitled to 180- or 540-day automatic renewals, but the automatic extensions cannot exceed their Form I-94 end dates. Moreover, L or E spouses with proper annotations on their I-94s have employment authorization incident to status, so they may not need an EAD.

To ease the 540-day calculation, USCIS has created a new tool, an EAD Automatic Extension Calculator. The calculator helps to determine the 540-day end date, once you know if the 540-day automatic renewal applies.

If you have questions about calculating EAD extensions or preparing Form I-9 Employment Verification Authorizations in these situations, Jackson Lewis attorneys are available to assist you.

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Photo of Forrest G. Read IV Forrest G. Read IV

Forrest Read is a Principal in the Raleigh, North Carolina, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He has extensive experience in both business immigration law and employment law and has particular focus in legal issues in graduate medical education (GME).

Mr. Read’s immigration practice…

Forrest Read is a Principal in the Raleigh, North Carolina, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He has extensive experience in both business immigration law and employment law and has particular focus in legal issues in graduate medical education (GME).

Mr. Read’s immigration practice focuses on assisting employers in obtaining employment-based nonimmigrant visas (e.g., H-1B, L, O, TN) for foreign national employees and work-related immigrant (green card) visas, including PERM Labor Certifications, and advising employers on compliance with U.S. immigration laws and regulations. He has broad experience in advising large, mid-size and small employers on their various immigration needs and developing strategies to help them navigate through complex immigration issues. He also has particular experience in counseling employers in the health care industry and addressing immigration-related issues that arise for their broad range of health care professional employees (including advising on and obtaining employment authorization for medical residents and fellows and obtaining J-1 visa waivers for foreign national physicians completing their medical training in the United States). His immigration practice also includes defending employers in connection with Department of Labor H-1B and H-2B investigations.

Mr. Read’s employment law experience includes representing management, particularly academic medical centers in the GME context, in a wide array of workplace disputes and litigation before federal and state courts and administrative agencies, including matters related to discrimination, retaliation, harassment, disability, family and medical leave, various wage and hour issues, contracts, and intentional torts. He advises academic medical centers on the interplay between applicable academic law and employment law and the ramifications of what are divergent legal requirements and standards. Mr. Read also provides counsel with respect to the legal impact of competency standards for residents and trainees in GME, including situations involving discipline, remediation, and dismissal. He provides advice and guidance in the peer review process, including provision of verification and assessment of training in response to third party inquiries.

As a member of the Firm’s Corporate Diversity Counseling group, Mr. Read also has experience in providing assessments and making recommendations to corporate and institutional clients with respect to diversity and inclusion policies and initiatives, conducting related internal investigations, and shaping, developing and enforcing effective policies and initiatives to ensure consistency with client values and in furtherance of business goals and objectives.