As the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
continues to operate under the stress of the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic and anticipated budget shortfalls, the production of certain
Employment Authorization Documents (Form I-766, EAD) has become
increasingly delayed. On August 19, 2020, in response to this
situation, USCIS issued guidance providing employers and employees
some flexibility to mitigate the myriad of I-9 compliance issues
associated with the delays in EAD production.
Under the instructions for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility
Verification, employees may present an EAD as an acceptable List A
document to verify identity and employment authorization. The new
guidance temporarily allows employees to present a Form I-797
Notice of Action related to an approved Form I-765 application,
where the application was approved from December 1, 2019, through
August 20, 2020, as a List C document for I-9 verification and
reverification. Although USCIS explicitly
