Effective 5 December, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has cut the maximum validity of most Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) from five years to just 18 months. Refugees, asylees, adjustment-of-status applicants and several humanitarian categories are affected immediately; TPS holders and certain parolees are limited to one-year cards under language in the administration-backed H.R. 1.
USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said more frequent renewals will permit ‘enhanced, real-time vetting’ using new biometric and database-matching tools. Employers, however, face a surge in Form I-9 reverifications, onboarding delays and greater audit exposure. HR software firm i-9 Intelligence calculates that a 1,000-employee company with 10 percent EAD holders will see its reverification workload triple in 2026.
![USCIS slashes Employment Authorization Document validity from 5 years to 18 months]()
Legal advocates argue the rule will swamp an agency already struggling with 1.5 million backlogged I-765 applications. Past data show that even modest USCIS processing slow-downs lead to downstream ICE work-site fines when cards expire before renewals are approved. Business groups are urging Congress to restore longer validity or at least authorize automatic extensions beyond the current 540-day stopgap.
Foreign nationals must now file renewals as early as 180 days before expiration, pay repeat biometrics fees and arrange multiple rounds of fingerprinting. Universities warn that international graduates using Optional Practical Training could lose work eligibility mid-program if USCIS cannot keep pace.
In the short term, immigration counsel recommend that employers audit all current EAD expiration dates, budget for higher legal spend and train managers not to take adverse action during renewal-related lapses protected by automatic-extension rules.
USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said more frequent renewals will permit ‘enhanced, real-time vetting’ using new biometric and database-matching tools. Employers, however, face a surge in Form I-9 reverifications, onboarding delays and greater audit exposure. HR software firm i-9 Intelligence calculates that a 1,000-employee company with 10 percent EAD holders will see its reverification workload triple in 2026.
Legal advocates argue the rule will swamp an agency already struggling with 1.5 million backlogged I-765 applications. Past data show that even modest USCIS processing slow-downs lead to downstream ICE work-site fines when cards expire before renewals are approved. Business groups are urging Congress to restore longer validity or at least authorize automatic extensions beyond the current 540-day stopgap.
Foreign nationals must now file renewals as early as 180 days before expiration, pay repeat biometrics fees and arrange multiple rounds of fingerprinting. Universities warn that international graduates using Optional Practical Training could lose work eligibility mid-program if USCIS cannot keep pace.
In the short term, immigration counsel recommend that employers audit all current EAD expiration dates, budget for higher legal spend and train managers not to take adverse action during renewal-related lapses protected by automatic-extension rules.
