Highlights
Impacted Employers:All employers with impacted employees who have filed an employment authorization document (EAD) renewal application on or after Oct. 30, 2025
Effective Date:Oct.30, 2025
Summary:On Oct. 29, 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced anInterim Final Rule(IFR) to end the practice of automatically extending the validity of certain EADs when a renewal application for employment authorization was timely filed.
Next Steps:
EAD holders who intend to file a renewal application should do so as soon as possible to reduce the risk of a gap in work authorization. EAD renewal applications can generally be filed up to six months prior to the EAD expiration date.
Employers should review the latest government guidance on how to complete Form I-9 when an employee presents an EAD with a qualifying eligibility code and evidence of a timely filed renewal application.
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The Details
Background
Historically, under the automatic extension practice, foreign nationals who had timely filed an application to renew their EAD in certain categories would receive an automatic extension of their employment authorization validity. The extension would be anywhere between 180 days and 540 days from the expiration date of the current EAD, while the renewal application was pending. Employees would present their expired EAD along with an I-79C Notice of Action as evidence of a timely filed renewal application for Form I-9 purposes.
New Interim Final Rule
The DHS IFR ends the automatic extension practice effective Oct. 30, 2025. This means that unless an exception applies, EAD renewal applicants will need to wait for formal approval of their renewal application and receipt of a new physical EAD to extend their employment authorization.
To conform to the changes made by the IFR, Notices of Action issued on or after Oct. 30, 2025, will no longer contain information regarding automatic extensions of employment authorization documentation. Instead, USCIS will add appropriate information to the Notices of Action clearly indicating that the document is not evidence of employment authorization and cannot be used by itself or in conjunction with an expired EAD as proof of employment authorization.
The IFR does not affect the validity of EADs that were automatically extended prior to Oct. 30 or which are otherwise extended separately by law or Federal Register notice for Temporary Protected Status (TPS)-related employment documentation.
Next Steps
EAD holders who intend to file a renewal application should do so as soon as possible to reduce the risk of a gap in work authorization. EAD renewal applications can generally be filed up to six months prior to the EAD expiration date.
Employers should review the latest government guidance on how to complete Form I-9 when an employee presents an EAD with a qualifying eligibility code and evidence of a timely filed renewal application.