Indians to learn as US broadcasts extension for expiring immigrant work permits

The Biden administration has introduced an automated extension of expiring work permits for sure classes of immigrants, together with these looking for inexperienced playing cards and spouses of H-1B visa holders who get employment authorisation playing cards (EAD), for a yr and a half.

The transfer, introduced by the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday, is prone to profit 1000’s of Indian immigrants.

The extension interval of as much as 180 days will robotically be prolonged to as much as 540 days from the expiration date said on the present EADs, the Department of Homeland Security mentioned.

“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 currently insufficient,” mentioned 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 mentioned.

According to USCIS, non-citizens with a pending EAD renewal utility whose 180-day automated extension has lapsed and whose EAD has expired shall be granted an extra interval of employment authorisation and EAD validity starting May 4, 2022, and lasting as much as 540 days from the expiration date of their EAD. They might resume employment if they’re nonetheless inside the as much as 540-day automated extension interval and are in any other case eligible.

Non-citizens with a pending renewal utility nonetheless lined below the 180-day automated extension shall be granted an extra extension of as much as 360 days, for a complete of as much as 540 days previous the expiration of the present EAD.

.@DHSgov posted a short lived closing rule that briefly will increase the automated extension interval for employment authorization and EADs for sure renewal candidates who’ve filed Form I-765. To study extra, go to: https://t.co/6uLAZICKsc

— USCIS (@USCIS) May 3, 2022

Non-citizens with a pending renewal utility and a sound EAD on May 4, 2022, or who well timed file an EAD renewal utility earlier than October 27, 2023, shall be granted an automated extension of as much as 540 days if their EAD expires earlier than the renewal utility is processed.

“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 neighborhood chief Ajay Jain Bhutoria instructed PTI.

The coverage is supposed to handle the unprecedented backlog of 1.5 million work allow purposes on the nation’s authorized immigration company, leaving tens of 1000’s unable to work legally and exacerbating labour shortages.

Welcoming the change in coverage, Bhutoria mentioned that is nice information for employers as most corporations are going through staffing points and can now be capable of hold their eligible staff.

“This policy change allows employers to continue their workers and eligible immigrants to work on expired documents for up to 540 days, rather than 180. That means even the tens of thousands of people past their 180-day window have as much as another year of work authorisation as of Wednesday,” he mentioned.

“This is the right step in the direction to reduce the visa processing backlog,” he mentioned.