Ilustración fotográfica de Max Herman/Borderless Magazine The end of the automatic extension process for pending renewal work permit applications could cause thousands to lose the ability to legally work in the U.S. Here’s what you should know.
Thousands of immigrants could be at risk of losing their ability to legally work in the U.S. under a new immigration rule, legal experts say.
The new rule, issued in late October, scrapped a long-standing policy that automatically extended someone’s work permit while their renewal application was being processed. Those applications can take up to 20 months to complete.
With long processing times for applications under U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), immigration legal experts say the change could leave immigrants unable to legally work while waiting for their applications to be processed.
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“The problem here is that what we’ve been seeing for the past few months is that USCIS’s overall processing backlog has increased,” said Adriel Orozco, senior policy counsel for the American Immigration Council (AIC). Orozco said that with rising backlogs, USCIS will likely not be able to process renewal applications in time for people to receive authorization before their work permits expire.
Without work permits, immigrants may lose other benefits tied to employment authorization, such as their driver’s license or Social Security number (SSN).
Legal experts said the change is part of a broader pattern of how immigration agencies, under the Trump administration, are figuring out ways to “make life untenable for immigrants” to push them to “give up their cases and waive their rights.”
“The reality is that most of these people are eligible for this benefit [of renewing their work permits],” said Lisa Koop, national director of legal services for the National Immigrant Justice Center. “This new policy serves only to prevent them from accessing benefits to which they’re entitled.”
Borderless Magazine spoke with immigration law experts to compile guidance on what you should know about the changes to the work permit renewal application, or Form I-765, and how they could impact immigrant workers and the economy.
Este artículo es sólo para fines educativos e informativos y no debe interpretarse como asesoramiento legal.
What’s changing with the work permit renewal process?
Before the new rule took effect on Oct. 30, certain applicants filing work permit renewal requests were eligible for an automatic 540-day extension. This would ensure they could continue working while their renewal application was being processed.
The new federal rule ended the automatic extensions of work permits, also known as Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). USCIS did not explain how processing times would be shortened to prevent gaps in lawful employment for applicants awaiting approval.
“USCIS, in their web page, is reporting that [the work permit processing time] is 6.5 months for a pending asylum application,” Koop said. “We’re seeing them take much longer than that.”
Enrique Espinoza, a staff attorney at Illinois Tech Chicago-Kent College of Law, said the changes leave working immigrants at the mercy of USCIS’s long processing times. Based on his experience, applications have often taken longer than six months to process, which is the earliest recommended time for immigrants to submit their renewals.
“The government needs to show that they’re going to be capable to process all these applications timely, so that the workforce will not be impacted by it,” said Espinoza. “I hope that they do. I don’t think they’re capable to do that.”
As of October, more than 900,000 work permit applications had been pending for over six months, according to USCIS data.
Who will this affect?
All 18 categories of immigrants who were previously eligible for automatic extensions will no longer have automatic extensions after filing renewal applications, including:
- Refugees
- People who have been granted asylum
- People with pending asylum applications
- Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Self-Petitioners
Nearly nine in 10 pending renewal requests fall under categories that are covered by the new rule, according to USCIS data analyzed by the Consejo Americano de Inmigración (AIC). However, the rule will only impact renewals filed on or after Oct. 30.
The new policies will also impact employers, said Orozco, with AIC.
Employers have already had to navigate a variety of work eligibility changes under the Trump administration, Orozco said. With the potential lapses in work permits, Orozco said employers may have to invest more time and training in navigating immigrants’ differing work eligibility.
“This is causing not only potential gaps in the labor force, but also so much more investment in time around employers’ HR and trying to stay on top of the eligibility for their employees,” Orozco said.
Why remove automatic extensions?
The change aims to prioritize proper screening for applications before approving renewals, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) argued in a comunicado de prensa.
However, legal experts say that DHS already has the tools it needs to properly inspect applicants, and that the change creates an additional barrier for immigrants navigating the legal system — potentially forcing them into impossible situations that lead them to give up or self-deport.
“If their goal were to vet cases, then they would adjudicate them more quickly, not leave cases sitting in backlogs forever untouched, which is what they’re doing,” Koop said. “This notion that this somehow allows them to vet them more closely is just factually false.”
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Orozco added that USCIS has already reviewed and approved the applications of individuals filing renewals. If someone was previously approved for a work permit, they would have already given biometric information, such as their pictures and fingerprints, that USCIS can use for background checks, Orozco said.
“The agency already has all the tools that it needs to properly vet individuals, and I don’t think that it was properly supported in the rule to indicate that there’s really a grave concern here,” Orozco said.
What should I do if my work permit is expiring soon?
Espinoza recommends applying for a renewal as soon as someone is eligible to, which is six months before their current permit expires.
“It is better to be ready than not in these particular situations,” he said.
He cautioned against submitting renewal applications earlier than six months, since, based on his experience, those applications are more likely to be rejected for filing “too soon.”
USCIS’s website also recommends not filing a request to renew more than 180 days, or roughly six months, before a work permit’s expiration.
To expedite the processing of certain work permit applications, individuals have the option to complete Form I-907, the “Request for Premium Processing Service.” However, the form costs $1,685 to file and doesn’t guarantee that someone’s application will be processed before their current permit expires, Espinoza said.
Applicants are also able to call USCIS customer service to ask to expedite their case if they’ve already submitted their renewal application and it hasn’t been processed yet.
However, Koop said her organization has not seen success with calling customer service to expedite the processing of an application.
“We’ve spent months and months … doing all of the things one can try in order to get an EAD expedited, and those things do not work, particularly when you have an administration that is now designed and set up to deny applications,” Koop said. “Their objective is not to find applications to approve.”
To estimate how long an application could take to be processed, applicants can visit the USCIS website, which lists estimated wait times based on status.
Is this change final?
The new rules went into effect immediately; however, the public can submit a comment about the changes until Dec. 1.
According to Orozco, having documented comments about the impacts of these policy changes can help strengthen efforts to challenge them in court.
“Under the law, the government should take into account the comments and … reliance that people have had on this rule,” Orozco said. “If the community is able to document that and send those comments into the government, the government can’t just ignore those — or if it does, then that makes the litigation even stronger.”
Espinoza said individuals can conduct a personal risk assessment before deciding whether to submit a public comment about the rule, taking into account their status and willingness to share their name publicly.
Individuals who are U.S. citizens, for example, may face less risk when speaking up publicly against these changes than those who don’t have legal status, Espinoza said.
“Depending on which status you have, the more risk or less risk you will have,” Espinoza said. “And that’s what is important, that the community as a whole collaborate.”
Katrina Pham es la reportera de participación de la audiencia de Borderless Magazine. Envíe un correo electrónico a Katrina a [email protected].
Aydali Campa is a Report for America corps member and covers environmental justice and immigrant communities for Borderless Magazine. Email Aydali at [email protected].
