The work permit is Form I-766, the Employment Authorization Document, requested on Form I-765. For most of the categories that matter, filing a renewal on time used to extend the expiring card by up to 540 days. That ended on October 30, 2025, and the consequences are only now reaching the people who filed after the cutoff.
The rule
DHS published an interim final rule that day, "Removal of the Automatic Extension of Employment Authorization Documents," 90 FR 48799, signed by Secretary Kristi Noem. It took effect on publication, with no advance notice and comment; DHS invoked both the good cause and the foreign affairs exceptions to the Administrative Procedure Act. Comments closed December 1, 2025 with 653 filed.
The rule adds 8 CFR 274a.13(e): unless an extension is provided by law, by the old paragraph (d), or by a Federal Register notice covering TPS documentation, filing a renewal no longer extends an expired or expiring card. The old paragraph (d) survives, retitled "Renewal application filed before October 30, 2025."
The line is the filing date
A renewal filed before October 30, 2025 keeps its extension. Proof is the expired card presented with the Form I-797C receipt notice showing a received date earlier than the "Card Expires" date and a matching eligibility category. Spouses in A17, A18 and C26 must also show an unexpired Form I-94.
A renewal filed on or after that date carries no extension. When the printed date passes, work authorization ends until the new card arrives.
Which categories lost it
Every category that qualified under the December 2024 final rule: refugees (A03), asylees (A05), people granted withholding of removal (A10), pending asylum applicants (C08), pending adjustment applicants (C09), cancellation and suspension applicants (C10), VAWA self-petitioners (C31), the legacy legalization categories (C16, C20, C22, C24), and the spouses of E, L and H-1B principals (A17, A18, C26).
One point causes constant confusion. Asylum applicants in (c)(8) are governed by 8 CFR 208.7 rather than by general discretion, and people have read that as a carve-out. It is not. Nothing in 208.7 restores the automatic extension.
Which kept one
TPS holders (A12) and prima facie TPS applicants (C19) still get extensions, but from each country's Federal Register notice rather than from the act of filing. STEM OPT students in (c)(3)(C) keep theirs under 8 CFR 214.2(f)(11)(i)(C), which is an extension provided by law and outside the rule.
Spouses of E and L principals whose Form I-94 is annotated E-1S, E-2S, E-3S or L-2S are authorized to work incident to status and do not need the card at all. H-4 spouses have no equivalent annotation, which is why they are the group most visibly harmed by the change.
Shorter cards, and the gap that follows
On December 4, 2025 USCIS cut the maximum validity of these documents from five years to 18 months for A03, A05, A10, C08, C09 and C10, applying to any I-765 pending or filed on or after December 5. Under H.R. 1, parole and TPS cards last one year or the length of the underlying status, whichever is shorter.
The fiscal 2026 national median for an adjustment-based I-765 is 5.1 months, and for a parole-based one 5.9 months, against 2.2 and 0.9 a year earlier. A card valid for 12 or 18 months, renewed against a five-month adjudication with no bridge, produces a gap by arithmetic.
The money
The base fee is $520 on paper or $470 online. The H.R. 1 fees stack on top, are paid separately, and cannot be waived. For requests postmarked on or after January 1, 2026 the initial asylum, parole and TPS EAD fee is $560, the parole and TPS renewal fee $280, and the asylum renewal fee $275, which the statute does not adjust. An online asylum renewal therefore costs $745.
Form I-9
An employer must reverify no later than the date printed on the card, using Supplement B of Form I-9. The employee presents any List A or List C document showing current authorization, including an unrestricted Social Security card; a restricted card must be refused. An employer cannot keep someone on the payroll without that proof, and there is no receipt-notice substitute for post-cutoff filings.
What to do
- File on day 180. USCIS accepts a renewal up to 180 days before expiry and rejects earlier ones. That window is now the whole cushion.
- Check the Form I-94 annotation before assuming the card is required.
- An expedite request needs more than the loss of a job. The published standard excludes the need for employment authorization standing alone, so pair it with employer evidence of wider harm.
- Tell the employer the printed date, not the receipt date.
A lawsuit filed January 8, 2026 in the Central District of California, Doe v. Department of Homeland Security, asks for nationwide vacatur on behalf of seven H-1B spouses, arguing the security rationale is pretextual given the continuous vetting DHS already runs. No court has disturbed the rule. Until one does, the printed date on the card is the only date that counts.