5.0 Automatic Extensions of Employment Authorization and/or Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) in Certain Circumstances

On May 4, 2022, DHS published a temporary final rule (87 FR 26614) in the Federal Register increasing the extension period for employment authorization and/or Employment Authorization Document (EAD) for applicants within certain employment eligible categories who have a pending Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, requesting a renewal of their employment authorization and/or EAD. This rule temporarily increases the automatic extension period from up to 180 days to up to 540 days. The automatic extension of up to 540 days applies to qualifying EAD renewal applicants whose Forms I-797C, Notices of Action, have a “Received Date” on or before Oct. 26, 2023.

In general, employees with EADs that contain certain category codes are eligible for an automatic extension of their employment authorization and/or EADs as described in the following scenarios. See Figure 8 for an example that shows how to locate the category code and expiration date on an employee’s EAD.

 Figure 8: Finding the Category Code and Expiration Date on an EAD (Form I-766)

The eligibility category appears on the EAD under “Category.” The expiration date appears to the right of “Card Expires,” see Figure 8 below: