Release Date 03/12/2024

USCIS has begun implementing a streamlined process for Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, to provide Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) more efficiently to eligible refugees after they are admitted into the United States. This streamlined process shortens the wait time for an EAD to approximately 30 days instead of several months. All individuals admitted into the United States as refugees on or after Dec. 10, 2023, will receive EADs pursuant to this new process.

Under U.S. law, a refugee is legally authorized to work as soon as they arrive in the United States. Obtaining proof of this work authorization in the form of an EAD, however, was previously a cumbersome paper-based process that led to undue delays. The new process is fully automated and no longer requires refugees to apply for an EAD, allowing for more efficient processing and adjudication of Form I-765 and quicker delivery of EADs after we approve them.

With this new process, USCIS will digitally create a Form I-765 for arriving refugees and begin adjudicating it as soon as they are admitted into the United States. After USCIS approves a refugee’s Form I-765, refugees will generally receive their EAD within one to two weeks. USCIS will mail their EAD via U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail to their address of record. The time frame for a refugee to receive their EAD card may vary, depending on delivery times. Please allow a total of 30 days before inquiring.

USCIS will also electronically provide the Social Security Administration with the information required to assign a Social Security number and mail a Social Security card to the refugee.

USCIS recognizes that documents such as an EAD and Social Security card are critical to a newly arrived refugee’s ability to integrate into the United States. This new process is the result of coordination across the U.S. government to support the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and refugee integration. USCIS is committed to streamlining and digitizing our processes to make them more efficient. We launched this process on Dec. 10, 2023, following a successful trial period.

This process does not apply to following-to join refugees admitted into the United States based on an approved Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition. Additionally, refugees seeking a replacement or renewal EAD will still need to complete and submit Form I-765.

The Department of State (DOS) has released guidance and frequently asked questions on its new pilot program to resume domestic visa renewals for qualified H-1B non-immigrant visa applicants who meet certain requirements. The pilot program will accept applications from January 29, 2024, through April 1, 2024, or when all 20,000 application slots are filled, whichever comes first.

DOS said it will make available a maximum of 20,000 application slots during this pilot program. Approximately 2,000 per week will be for applicants whose most recent H-1B visa was issued by U.S. Mission Canada with an issuance date of January 1, 2020, through April 1, 2023, and approximately 2,000 per week will be for applicants whose most recent H-1B visa was issued by U.S. Mission India with an issuance date of February 1, 2021, through September 30, 2021.

Participation in the pilot program is voluntary. DOS said that individuals who do not meet the requirements for participation in the pilot program, or those who choose not to participate in the pilot program, may continue to apply for visa renewal at a U.S. embassy or consulate overseas.

There are several steps to apply for this pilot program:

1. Select the country where your most recent H-1B visa was issued (Note: this initial pilot is limited to renewal of visas issued in India and Canada).  Then follow the online navigator tool to assess your qualifications for participation in the pilot.
2. If you meet the requirements for participation, follow the instructions in the portal to complete and submit an Online Non-immigrant Visa Application (form DS-160).
3. Use the online portal to pay the required, non-refundable, non-transferable Machine-Readable Visa (MRV) application processing fee of $205.00.
4. Follow the instructions on the portal to mail your passport and other required documents for processing.

Are you eligible for domestic renewal? What documents should you include? For more details on processing, FAQs and other related information refer here

As sweeping immigration reform is highly unlikely, there are certain targeted reforms that are both urgently needed and potentially achievable; such as:

== To protect DREAMers, we propose a new, indefinite “conditional residence status” to DREAMers with protection from deportation, work authorization, and the right to travel abroad

== State-based Immigration Programs: This proposal would authorize state governors to ask DOL and/or DHS to approve additional worker petitions to authorize the hiring of immigrants by employers in their respective states

== Border Management and Asylum Reform

== Improve access to refugee resettlement to the United States and other countries in the Western Hemisphere for those who qualify

== Expand other avenues to legal migration

== Reform asylum for border arrivals

== Explore demands for both asylum and border reforms that would partially be ameliorated by new immigrant worker programs

== Build on Current Proposals for Essential Workers

== Help the healthcare services industry to recruit foreign national workers from countries in the Western Hemisphere for those who qualify

For more on these proposals see here

On September 13, 2023, Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is unlawful and in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

This decision aims to terminate the DACA program and will leave thousands of undocumented youth in legal limbo without the ability to apply for work authorization, drivers licenses, and other protections that the DACA program offers.  

The following statement is from Jorge Loweree, managing director of programs at the American Immigration Council: 

“This decision was a major blow to thousands of our friends, neighbors, and colleagues that benefit from DACA’s protections, and the families and communities who rely on them. While the decision won’t have an immediate impact on people who currently rely on the program to live and work in the U.S. without the constant threat of deportation, it will continue to sow fear and distrust across the country. If Congress continues to sit on its hands, waiting to be forced into action, the Republican-led state effort to kill DACA by a thousand cuts will succeed. The time to act is now.”

The American Immigration Council has a range of research and other resources on DACA, including policy experts available to speak on policies designed to protect Dreamers and what is at stake for over 650,000 DACA beneficiaries across the country. The Council also has data on demographic and economic contributions of DACA recipients in each U.S. state and nationwide.  

This will be effective 12/12/2022 and will have a notation on the N-400 Application for Naturalization receipt notice that can be presented with the expired Green Card as evidence of continued status as well as identity and employment authorization under List A for form I-9, the Employment Eligibility Verification form, if presented before the expiration of the 24-month extension period provided in the notice.

This is expected to help naturalization applicants who experience longer than usual processing times.

For more on this please refer here: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20221209-ExtendingPRC.pdf

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For Employees: Your employer may inform you that your E-Verify case received a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and/or Social Security Administration (SSA) Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC) case result. A DHS and/or SSA TNC means that the information your employer entered in E-Verify from your Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, did not match records available to DHS and/or SSA. A DHS and/or SSA TNC case result does not necessarily mean that you are not authorized to work in the United States.

The process description here explains the types of TNC’s and guides you through the resolution process.

For Employers: Employers whose employees receive a TNC must provide them with the further Action Notice from E-Verify and discuss it privately with them. Please review here for the steps in the process.