The extension period of up to 180 days will automatically be extended to up to 540 days from the expiration date stated on the current EADs, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The Biden administration has announced an automatic extension of expiring work permits for certain categories of immigrants, including those seeking green cards and spouses of H-1B visa holders who get employment authorisation cards (EAD), for a year-and-a-half, a report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
The move, announced by the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday, is likely to benefit thousands of Indian immigrants.
The extension period of up to 180 days will automatically be extended to up to 540 days from the expiration date stated on the current EADs, the Department of Homeland Security said.
“As USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) works to address the pending EAD caseloads, the agency has said the current 180-day automatic extension for employment authorisation is currently insufficient,” said USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou.
“This temporary rule will provide those non-citizens, otherwise eligible for the automatic extension, an opportunity to maintain employment and provide critical support for their families, while avoiding further disruption for US employers,” he said.
According to USCIS, non-citizens with a pending EAD renewal application whose 180-day automatic extension has lapsed and whose EAD has expired will be granted an additional period of employment authorisation and EAD validity beginning May 4, 2022, and lasting up to 540 days from the expiration date of their EAD.
They may resume employment if they are still within the up to 540-day automatic extension period and are otherwise eligible.
Non-citizens with a pending renewal application still covered under the 180-day automatic extension will be granted an additional extension of up to 360 days, for a total of up to 540 days past the expiration of the current EAD.
“This temporary rule will provide those non-citizens, otherwise eligible for the automatic extension, an opportunity to maintain employment and provide critical support for their families, while avoiding further disruption for US employers,” he said.
Non-citizens with a pending renewal application and a valid EAD on May 4, 2022, or who timely file an EAD renewal application before October 27, 2023, will be granted an automatic extension of up to 540 days if their EAD expires before the renewal application is processed.
“The change will immediately help about 87,000 immigrants whose work authorisation has lapsed or is set to in the next 30 days. Overall, the government estimates that as many as 4,20,000 immigrants renewing work permits will be protected from losing their ability to work for the duration of the policy,” Indian-American community leader Ajay Jain Bhutoria told PTI.
The policy is meant to address the unprecedented backlog of 1.5 million work permit applications at the nation’s legal immigration agency, leaving tens of thousands unable to work legally and exacerbating labour shortages.
Welcoming the change in policy, Bhutoria said this is great news for employers.
“This policy change allows employers to continue their workers and eligible immigrants to work on expired documents for up to 540 days, rather than 180. That means even the tens of thousands of people past their 180-day window have as much as another year of work authorisation as of Wednesday,” he said.
Asserting that India had joined the likes of the US and Israel in hitting back at those meddling with their borders, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday, May 3, that cross-border surgical strikes inside Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack was an example of this, a report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
*****************************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com