Mind The Gap: Automatic Work Authorization Extensions Help Foreign National Employees Stay Productive Following EAD Expiration

In the last months of President Barack Obama's administration many regulatory changes were made that were meant to improve the functioning of the business immigration system, including changes to the process for Employment Authorization Document (EAD) extensions. One of the new regulations that went into effect on January 17, 2017, allows certain applicants for EAD extensions to continue to work in the United States with authorization for 180 days after the expiration of the previous EAD while the extension request is pending, as long as the extension was timely filed before the EAD expired. This change provides welcome relief for employers and employees caught in situations where an EAD extension request has been filed, but the old EAD expires before USCIS completes processing and approves the extension.