How Does a Work Permit Work: Eligibility, Renewal, and Travel

A U.S. work permit — formally called an Employment Authorization Document, or EAD — is a card issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that proves a non-citizen is legally allowed to hold a job in the United States for a fixed period. It exists because the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 requires every employer to verify that each new hire is authorized to work before putting them on payroll.¹ To get one, you file an application with USCIS under a specific eligibility category, submit supporting documents, pay a fee, and wait for the card to arrive. The card only authorizes work. It doesn’t grant immigration status, and it doesn’t let you travel abroad and come back.

Who Actually Needs a Work Permit

Not every foreign national working in the United States needs an EAD, and applying for one you don’t need wastes money and time. U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents already have unrestricted work rights. So do people on H-1B, L-1, and O-1 visas — but only for the employer named on the petition, because the visa itself functions as the work authorization.²

The people who do need an EAD are non-citizens whose status doesn’t automatically include the right to work but who fall into a category that Congress or federal regulation has said may apply for one. Asylum seekers, people with pending green card applications, F-1 students in Optional Practical Training, spouses of certain H-1B workers, and Temporary Protected Status holders are the largest groups. For them, the EAD is the only document that makes employment lawful.

The Main Eligibility Categories

Federal rules split EAD eligibility into dozens of categories, and the one you fall under drives your fee, your evidence, and how long your card is valid. The most common:

Refugees and asylees. People granted asylum or refugee status can work right away. The card documents that right and is now issued for a maximum of 18 months, down from five years under a change that took effect December 5, 2025.³
Pending asylum applicants. You can file the EAD application 150 days after filing for asylum, but USCIS won’t approve it until the asylum case has been pending 180 days, and the clock stops for any delays you cause.⁴
Pending green card applicants. Once you’ve filed Form I-485 for adjustment of status, you can request an EAD under category (c)(9) while USCIS reviews the case. These cards are also capped at 18 months.³
F-1 students. Students can apply for Optional Practical Training for up to 12 months of work related to their field of study, with a 24-month extension available for STEM graduates.⁵
H-4 spouses. Dependent spouses of H-1B workers can apply if the H-1B worker has an approved Form I-140 immigrant petition or has been granted H-1B status beyond the standard six-year limit.⁶
Temporary Protected Status holders. People from countries designated for TPS can work while that designation is active. Their EADs are now valid for the shorter of one year or the end of the TPS period.³

DACA sits in a separate legal position. USCIS still accepts and processes renewal requests from people who already have or had DACA, but initial requests from first-time applicants are accepted without being processed.⁷ Existing DACA-based EADs remain valid until they expire unless individually terminated.

How to Apply

Every EAD application starts with Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization.⁸ Most of it is standard biographical information, but the field that causes the most denials is the eligibility category code. You have to enter the exact alphanumeric code that matches your immigration situation, such as (c)(9) for pending adjustment of status or (c)(3)(C) for a STEM OPT extension. The form instructions list them; use the wrong one and USCIS can deny the application.

Along with the form, you’ll send:

Two identical passport-style color photos with a white background, unmounted and unretouched. USCIS rejects digitally altered images.
Proof of your immigration status. What counts varies by category — commonly a copy of your I-94 arrival record, your prior EAD, or a receipt notice for a pending asylum or adjustment case.
A government-issued photo ID, usually a valid passport.

Leave nothing blank. If a question doesn’t apply to you, write “N/A” or “None.” A missing field or missing document triggers a Request for Evidence, which pauses your case until you respond.

Online or by Mail

Whether you can file online depends on your category. USCIS accepts guided online filings for F-1 OPT, asylum-based (c)(8) applications, TPS (a)(12), parolees (c)(11), and DACA renewals (c)(33), among others.⁹ Pending adjustment-of-status applicants under (c)(9) can upload a completed PDF. Categories that aren’t supported online go by mail to the USCIS Lockbox address for that category and location.

What It Costs

Fees changed on January 1, 2026, and they now vary more by category. Initial EADs for asylum applicants, parolees, and TPS holders are $560. Renewals are $275 for asylum-based EADs and $280 for parole and TPS EADs.¹⁰ Other categories, including student OPT and adjustment-based EADs, are priced differently. Check the current fee schedule on the USCIS I-765 page before you send anything. The wrong amount gets the whole application rejected.

If you can’t afford the fee, most categories allow a fee waiver request on Form I-912, based on receipt of a means-tested benefit, household income at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or financial hardship.¹¹ DACA applicants filing under (c)(33) are not eligible for fee waivers.¹²

What Happens After You File

USCIS mails a Form I-797C receipt notice confirming it has your application. Keep it. The receipt number is how you track the case, and for some categories it serves as temporary proof that your application is pending.

USCIS may schedule a biometrics appointment at a local Application Support Center for fingerprints, a photo, and a signature, which run against federal background and security databases. USCIS can reuse biometrics collected within the previous 36 months, so not every applicant is called in.

If approved, the card arrives by mail. It shows your photo, name, USCIS number, date of birth, eligibility category, and expiration date, and it qualifies as a “List A” document your employer uses to complete Form I-9.¹³

Processing times are the hardest part. They vary widely by category and USCIS workload. Some applicants get a card in a few months; others wait a year or more. Adjustment-based and H-4 spouse EADs are especially prone to long delays.

Premium Processing

For some categories, primarily F-1 OPT and STEM OPT, USCIS offers premium processing on Form I-907, which guarantees a decision within 30 business days.¹⁴ The fee for premium processing of an I-765 is $1,780 as of March 1, 2026, on top of the regular filing fee. It guarantees speed, not approval; a Request for Evidence resets the clock. Not every category is eligible, so confirm before paying.

Getting a Social Security Number at the Same Time

You can’t work without a Social Security number, and Form I-765 has a section where you can ask USCIS to share your information with the Social Security Administration so a card is issued automatically.¹⁵ If you check that box, the Social Security card should arrive by mail within about 14 days after your EAD.

If you didn’t request it on the I-765, or 14 days pass with nothing, visit a local Social Security office in person with your original EAD (not a copy) and a birth certificate or passport. The office typically processes the card about two weeks after verifying your documents with USCIS.

How Long the Card Lasts and How Renewal Works

An EAD is always temporary, and validity periods shrank in late 2025. For refugees, asylees, and pending adjustment applicants, the maximum dropped from five years to 18 months for any application pending or filed on or after December 5, 2025.³ TPS and parole-based EADs are valid for the shorter of one year or the end date of the underlying benefit. Five-year cards issued before that change remain valid until they expire.

You’ll be renewing more often now, and the timing rules got harsher. Until recently, filing a timely renewal automatically extended the existing card and the underlying work authorization for up to 540 days while USCIS processed the new one. That automatic extension largely ended for renewal applications filed on or after October 30, 2025.¹⁶ If your renewal isn’t approved before your current card expires, you can face a gap where you cannot legally work — even if your immigration status hasn’t changed. File early. Consider premium processing if your category qualifies.

If your card is lost, stolen, or damaged, you file a new I-765 marked as a replacement, explain what happened, attach any supporting evidence, and generally pay the full fee again.

What the Card Does Not Do: Travel

This is where people make costly mistakes. An EAD authorizes work. It does not, by itself, authorize you to leave the country and return.¹⁷

If you have a pending green card application and leave without an advance parole document, USCIS can treat the application as abandoned. Some applicants receive a combination EAD/advance parole card, but you need to confirm your card carries the advance parole function before flying.
Asylum applicants who leave without advance parole are presumed to have abandoned the claim.
Refugees and asylees need a refugee travel document before departure; without one, they risk removal when they try to return.
Anyone with unlawful presence or a removal order can trigger inadmissibility bars simply by leaving and asking to be readmitted.

Do not travel internationally on an EAD alone without confirming your specific status and card allow reentry.

What Working Without Authorization Costs You

Working without a valid EAD — expired card, no card, or work outside what your category permits — creates problems that compound. The most serious: unauthorized employment can permanently block you from getting a green card.¹⁸

Federal law imposes one bar for unauthorized work before filing adjustment of status, and a separate bar for anyone who has ever worked without authorization, before or after filing. Both attach to any unauthorized work during your time in the United States, and leaving and reentering does not erase them. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and VAWA applicants are among the exceptions, but for most people the consequences last.¹⁸ Employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers also face civil and, for repeat patterns, criminal penalties under federal law.¹⁹ Keeping your EAD current protects your job and your future immigration options at the same time.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 1.0 Why Employers Must Verify Employment Authorization and Identity of New Employees
2
eCFR. 8 CFR 274a.12 – Classes of Aliens Authorized to Accept Employment
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Reduced Validity Periods for Newly Issued Employment Authorization Documents
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The 180-Day Asylum EAD Clock Notice
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 Students
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-765, Application for Employment Authorization
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Forms Available to File Online
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Announces FY 2026 Inflation Increase for Certain Immigration Related Fees
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-912, Request for Fee Waiver
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 4 – Fee Waivers and Fee Exemptions
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 13.1 List A Documents That Establish Identity and Employment Authorization
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How Do I Request Premium Processing?
15
Social Security Administration. Apply For Your Social Security Number While Applying for Your Work Permit and/or Lawful Permanent Residency
16
eCFR. 8 CFR 274a.13 – Application for Employment Authorization
17
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Travel Documents
18
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Unauthorized Employment (INA 245(c)(2) and INA 245(c)(8))
19
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1324a – Unlawful Employment of Aliens