In a surprise tightening of immigration controls, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on 30 October 2025 discontinued the 540-day automatic extension of Employment Authorisation Documents (EADs) that many Indian nationals rely on while renewal applications are pending. Applicants filing after the cut-off will receive no interim work validity and must wait for USCIS approval before resuming employment.
The change disproportionately affects Indians, who hold roughly 28 % of all EADs under categories such as L-2 spouses, STEM OPT graduates, and humanitarian parolees. Without automatic cover, any gap in authorisation will trigger loss of work status, potential termination, and downstream effects on H-1B or green-card portability. Employers with large Indian workforces—IT services, healthcare and logistics firms in particular—must now diarise EAD expiries at least nine months in advance and budget for premium-processing fees where eligible.
The policy aims to allow “more frequent vetting” of foreign workers, according to DHS, but legal experts warn it will worsen USCIS backlogs until additional adjudicators are hired. Companies that fail to pull staff off payroll once an EAD lapses risk I-9 penalties and reputational damage. Forward-thinking HR departments are exploring internal mobility options, such as transferring staff to Canadian or Mexican delivery centres under near-shore models until renewed work permits arrive.
Practical next steps: audit all employees whose EADs expire in the next 12 months; switch to the new electronic payment mandate for paper-filed forms effective 29 October; and brief travelling assignees to carry evidence of timely filing at US ports of entry, as Customs and Border Protection officers may deny admission if work eligibility is ambiguous.
The change disproportionately affects Indians, who hold roughly 28 % of all EADs under categories such as L-2 spouses, STEM OPT graduates, and humanitarian parolees. Without automatic cover, any gap in authorisation will trigger loss of work status, potential termination, and downstream effects on H-1B or green-card portability. Employers with large Indian workforces—IT services, healthcare and logistics firms in particular—must now diarise EAD expiries at least nine months in advance and budget for premium-processing fees where eligible.
The policy aims to allow “more frequent vetting” of foreign workers, according to DHS, but legal experts warn it will worsen USCIS backlogs until additional adjudicators are hired. Companies that fail to pull staff off payroll once an EAD lapses risk I-9 penalties and reputational damage. Forward-thinking HR departments are exploring internal mobility options, such as transferring staff to Canadian or Mexican delivery centres under near-shore models until renewed work permits arrive.
Practical next steps: audit all employees whose EADs expire in the next 12 months; switch to the new electronic payment mandate for paper-filed forms effective 29 October; and brief travelling assignees to carry evidence of timely filing at US ports of entry, as Customs and Border Protection officers may deny admission if work eligibility is ambiguous.
