Can I Work While Waiting for Work Permit Renewal?

If you are asking whether you can work while waiting for a work permit renewal, the answer for most people in 2026 is no. A Department of Homeland Security interim final rule that took effect on October 30, 2025, eliminated the automatic extension of work authorization that used to let renewal applicants keep working past their card’s expiration date. If you filed your Form I-765 renewal before October 30, 2025, and it is still pending, the older 540-day extension may still cover you. Everyone else needs the new Employment Authorization Document (EAD) physically in hand before returning to work.

What the October 30, 2025 Rule Changed

Under the new regulation at 8 CFR 274a.13(e), filing a renewal application no longer extends your EAD’s validity or your underlying work authorization. Your card expires on the date printed on it. That’s it.¹

The Form I-797C receipt notice USCIS sends after you file a renewal now explicitly states that it is not evidence of employment authorization and cannot be paired with an expired EAD to prove work eligibility.² The only carve-outs are extensions specifically provided by statute or through a Federal Register notice for Temporary Protected Status employment documentation.³

The Exception: Renewals Filed Before October 30, 2025

The rule change is not retroactive. If you properly filed your Form I-765 renewal before October 30, 2025, and your case is still pending, the old rules still apply and your work authorization was automatically extended for up to 540 days past the expiration date on your card.⁴

That extension ends the moment USCIS decides your case (approval or denial) or when the 540 days run out, whichever comes first. A denial stops your work authorization immediately.

To be covered, all three conditions must be true:

You filed Form I-765 before the expiration date on your current EAD. (TPS holders who filed during the applicable Federal Register re-registration period qualify even if they filed after their EAD expired.)
The eligibility category on your I-797C receipt notice matches the category shown on the front of your expiring EAD.
Your category is on the list of qualifying codes.⁵

Eligible EAD Categories

The automatic extension only ever applied to these category codes: A03 (refugee), A05 (asylee), A07 (N-8 or N-9 nonimmigrant), A08 (citizen of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, or Palau), A10 (withholding of deportation or removal granted), A12 (TPS granted), A17 (E dependent spouse), A18 (L-2 dependent spouse), C08 (asylum application pending), C09 (adjustment of status pending), C10 (cancellation of removal applicant), C16 (adjustment based on continuous residence since January 1, 1972), C19 (prima facie eligible TPS applicant), C20 (Section 210 legalization applicant), C22 (Section 245A legalization applicant), C24 (LIFE legalization applicant), C26 (H-4 dependent spouse), and C31 (VAWA self-petitioner).⁶

If your code is not on this list, you never had an automatic extension. F-1 STEM OPT extensions and DACA-based EADs, for example, were not included.

For A17, A18, and C26 (E, L-2, and H-4 dependent spouses), the extension cannot outlast the expiration date on your Form I-94. If your I-94 expires before the 540 days are up, your extension ends on the I-94 date.

Proving You Can Work During a Grandfathered Extension

If you are covered by the pre-October 2025 extension, you show your employer two documents:

Your expired EAD card, and
The Form I-797C receipt notice showing a timely-filed renewal in the same eligible category.

Together these are acceptable as a List A document for Form I-9 purposes.⁶ If your category is A17, A18, or C26, you also need an unexpired Form I-94 showing your dependent nonimmigrant status with the appropriate class-of-admission code (E-1S, E-2S, E-3S, L-2S, or H-4).⁵

If Your Employer Refuses Your Documents

Some employers are not familiar with the automatic extension rules and may refuse an expired EAD plus a receipt notice. The Department of Justice’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section runs a free worker hotline that will contact the employer directly to explain the rules. The number is 1-800-255-7688, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time.⁷

If You’re Filing Now, File Early

For anyone filing on or after October 30, 2025, the gap between your EAD’s expiration and the arrival of the new card is a gap in your right to work. The only way to shrink it is to file as early as USCIS allows.

USCIS accepts Form I-765 renewals up to 180 days before the current EAD expires and recommends filing at least 90 days out.⁸ Filing at 180 days gives USCIS the most runway. Even so, processing times at many service centers regularly exceed 180 days, so a gap is possible no matter how early you file. If the new card does not arrive before the old one expires, you cannot legally work until it does.

What Happens If You Work Without Authorization

Working after your EAD expires, without a valid automatic extension, is unauthorized employment. The consequences reach well past losing your paycheck.

Unauthorized employment can bar you from adjusting to lawful permanent resident status. Anyone who has worked without authorization in the United States since January 1, 1977, is generally ineligible to adjust status through most employment-based and family-preference categories. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are exempt from this bar. For everyone else, even a single day of unauthorized work can create a lasting problem.⁹

USCIS counts each day of unauthorized work, part-time or full-time. Leaving the country and coming back does not erase the bar.¹⁰

Your employer faces exposure too. Knowingly continuing to employ someone whose work authorization has expired carries civil penalties, which is why most employers will simply stop scheduling you the day your EAD lapses.

Tracking Your Renewal

Whether you are living inside a grandfathered extension or waiting on a card you need before you can work again, check your status often. USCIS offers a free Case Status Online tool at uscis.gov; enter the 13-character receipt number from your I-797C (three letters followed by ten numbers) to see the last action taken and any next steps.¹¹

A personal account at my.uscis.gov shows up to the last five actions on your case and lets you manage electronic filings. If your case appears stuck, use the site’s e-Request tool to send an inquiry directly to USCIS.

1
Federal Register. Removal of the Automatic Extension of Employment Authorization Documents
2
USCIS. Interim Final Rule Published to End the Practice of Automatically Extending Certain Employment Authorization Documents
3
USCIS. DHS Ends Automatic Extension of Employment Authorization
4
eCFR. 8 CFR 274a.13 – Application for Employment Authorization
5
USCIS. 5.1 Automatic Extensions Based on a Timely Filed Application to Renew Employment Authorization
6
USCIS. Automatic Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Extension
7
U.S. Department of Justice. Immigrant and Employee Rights Section Hotline
8
USCIS. I-765, Application for Employment Authorization
9
eCFR. 8 CFR Part 245 – Adjustment of Status to That of Person Admitted for Permanent Residence
10
USCIS. USCIS Policy Manual – Chapter 8 – Inapplicability of Bars to Adjustment
11
USCIS. Checking Your Case Status Online