Refugees and asylees have work authorization for asylees and refugees built into their immigration status: they can start a job the day their status takes effect, with no separate application, no filing fee, and no waiting for an Employment Authorization Document. The practical questions are which documents to hand an employer on the first day and how to get a Social Security card to go with them.
Why No Separate Application Is Needed
Federal regulation 8 CFR § 274a.12(a) lists categories of noncitizens whose right to work is “incident to status,” meaning it comes automatically with the immigration status itself. Refugees admitted under Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act fall under paragraph (a)(3). Asylees granted protection under Section 208 fall under paragraph (a)(5). Neither group has to file Form I-765 or pay the $560 fee that most other noncitizens face before they can lawfully start a job.
Refugees and asylees may still request a physical EAD card, and they generally qualify for fee exemptions when they do. The card is convenient, but it is only evidence of the authorization, not the source of it. If your EAD expires, that means the card needs renewing. The underlying right to work continues for as long as your refugee or asylee status remains in effect.
What Refugees Show an Employer
When you arrive at a U.S. port of entry as a refugee, Customs and Border Protection issues a Form I-94 (Arrival/Departure Record). Most I-94s are electronic now and can be retrieved from the CBP website using your passport or travel document number. Your admission class will show as “RE.”
For Form I-9 purposes, an I-94 with a refugee admission stamp or “RE” code is treated as a receipt for a List A document. That receipt lets you start work immediately and is valid for 90 days from your hire date. Before those 90 days run out, you have to present either:
- an EAD card (Form I-766), which is a List A document on its own; or
- a List B identity document such as a state driver’s license, paired with a List C employment authorization document such as an unrestricted Social Security card.
A Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571) also works as a List C document when paired with a List B identity document. An expired EAD paired with a Form I-797C showing a pending renewal application is acceptable too.
What Asylees Show an Employer
Asylees are usually already inside the country when they receive their status, so their paperwork looks different from a refugee’s. An asylee’s Form I-94 typically carries a notation such as “asylum granted indefinitely,” an admission class of “AY,” or a reference to 8 CFR 274a.12(a)(5) or INA Section 208. For Form I-9, that I-94 is a List C document with no expiration date. You pair it with any List B identity document, such as a driver’s license, and the verification is complete.
An EAD card (Form I-766) works on its own as a List A document. As with refugees, an expired EAD plus a Form I-797C receipt for a pending renewal is acceptable.
One point catches both asylees and employers off guard: a written order from an immigration judge granting asylum is not an acceptable Form I-9 document, because it wasn’t issued by the Department of Homeland Security. That order is still valuable proof of status for other purposes, including applying for a Social Security card, but it will not satisfy an employer’s I-9 obligations.
Getting a Social Security Number
An unrestricted Social Security card is one of the most useful documents to carry. It serves as a List C document for I-9 purposes and is required for tax filing, banking, and most employer onboarding systems.
Refugees usually receive a Social Security number automatically through a process called Enumeration at Entry. When you are admitted, CBP transmits your enrollment information to USCIS, which forwards it to the Social Security Administration. The SSA assigns a number and mails the card to the U.S. address you gave at the port of entry. If you asked for a number through this process but no card arrives within about three weeks, contact the SSA. Refugees who didn’t request a number during the visa process need to visit a Social Security office in person.
Asylees do not go through Enumeration at Entry, because they are already inside the country when asylum is granted. You apply at a local SSA office, bringing one of the following:
- Form I-94 with an asylum-granted stamp;
- Form I-766 EAD with category code A5;
- Form I-797 with an attached I-94; or
- an immigration judge’s order granting asylum.
The SSA treats asylees the same as permanent residents and issues cards without the “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION” legend.
What the Employer Has to Do and Can’t Do
Every employer must complete Form I-9 for each new hire, verifying identity and work eligibility from the government’s lists of acceptable documents. Section 2 has to be completed within three business days of your first day of work. You get to choose which acceptable documents to present.
Federal law prohibits an employer from demanding a specific document. If you present a valid I-94 with a refugee stamp and the employer insists on seeing a green card or an EAD instead, that is document abuse, an unfair immigration-related employment practice under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b. The employer must accept any document that reasonably appears genuine and relates to you. If this happens, you have 180 days from the incident to file a complaint.
Employers enrolled in E-Verify have one added wrinkle that affects refugees specifically. When a refugee presents an I-94 with a refugee admission stamp or “RE” code, the employer must create the E-Verify case by the third business day after the hire date, even though the I-94 is technically a receipt. This is an exception to the general E-Verify rule and matters because a missed deadline can trigger a Tentative Nonconfirmation that complicates your onboarding.
If Your Asylum Application Is Still Pending
Everything above applies to people who already have refugee or asylee status. If you have filed an asylum application and are waiting for a decision, you are in a different category with different rules. You cannot work based on the application alone. You have to wait until the application has been pending for 180 days, at which point USCIS can approve an EAD, and Form I-765 can be filed after 150 days of pending time. Any delay you request pauses that clock; delays caused by the court or DHS do not.
How Long the Authorization Lasts
Because your right to work is tied to your underlying status, it lasts as long as that status does. Refugees are required to apply for adjustment of status one year after admission, and are notified of the requirement on arrival. Asylees become eligible to apply for adjustment one year after the grant of asylum, though the timing is not mandatory in the same way. Throughout the adjustment process, your work authorization continues; once you have a green card, employment verification gets simpler because a permanent resident card is a standalone List A document.
Status can be lost. Asylum can be terminated if USCIS finds fraud in the original application, if conditions in the home country have fundamentally changed so that the fear of persecution no longer exists, or if the person commits acts that would have been grounds for denial. If asylum is terminated, any employment authorization issued under that status ends with it, and written notice is given. Refugee status can be terminated as well, though this is less common because of the extensive vetting refugees undergo before admission.