Effective 5 December 2025, USCIS has reduced the maximum validity period of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for most adjustment-of-status, asylum, refugee, parole and TPS applicants from five years to 18 months. The rule, published 13 December, aims to facilitate more frequent security vetting but adds new administrative burdens.
Applicants will need to renew work cards every year-and-a-half, paying the US$410 filing fee and planning for processing backlogs that currently average five months. For employers, the change means more frequent I-9 reverification and a higher risk of unintentional lapses in work authorisation.
![USCIS cuts EAD validity to 18 months for adjustment-of-status and humanitarian applicants]()
USCIS says the shorter validity aligns EAD duration with “dynamic threat environments.” Immigration attorneys, however, note that the agency has struggled to process renewal applications within existing 540-day automatic-extension windows; the new timetable could create rolling employment interruptions.
Best practice: HR departments should audit expiration dates, file renewals as early as 180 days in advance, and consider enrolling in E-Verify to benefit from interim employment extensions. Applicants may also explore premium-processing upgrades where available.
Applicants will need to renew work cards every year-and-a-half, paying the US$410 filing fee and planning for processing backlogs that currently average five months. For employers, the change means more frequent I-9 reverification and a higher risk of unintentional lapses in work authorisation.
USCIS says the shorter validity aligns EAD duration with “dynamic threat environments.” Immigration attorneys, however, note that the agency has struggled to process renewal applications within existing 540-day automatic-extension windows; the new timetable could create rolling employment interruptions.
Best practice: HR departments should audit expiration dates, file renewals as early as 180 days in advance, and consider enrolling in E-Verify to benefit from interim employment extensions. Applicants may also explore premium-processing upgrades where available.
Source: Travel and Tour World
