If you have a pending Form I-485, you can apply for a work permit under USCIS employment authorization category (c)(9), often written as the C09 EAD. You file Form I-765, pay $260 unless you qualify for an exemption or waiver, and wait for USCIS to issue the card before starting any job. The category covers family-based, employment-based, and humanitarian adjustment applicants alike, and the EAD stays valid only as long as the underlying I-485 does.
Who Qualifies
The eligibility test is simple: you must have an I-485 pending under Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Optional Checklist for Form I-765 (c)(9) Filings The route that got you to that pending application doesn’t change your eligibility for (c)(9). Qualifying groups include:
- Family-based applicants, including spouses, children, parents, and siblings of U.S. citizens, and spouses and children of lawful permanent residents.
- Employment-based applicants across all preference categories, and their spouses and children.
- Humanitarian applicants, including asylees and refugees adjusting to permanent resident status.
If USCIS has not yet accepted your I-485, you cannot file for (c)(9) work authorization. And if your I-485 is later denied or withdrawn, any EAD issued under this category becomes invalid.
What to File
You’ll submit Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. When you file it separately from the I-485 (rather than concurrently), you also need proof that your I-485 is already pending. The usual proof is a copy of the I-797C receipt notice USCIS sent when it accepted your adjustment application, though other evidence showing the pending case can work.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-765, Instructions for Application for Employment Authorization
Round out the package with:
- A copy of a government-issued photo ID, such as a passport. If USCIS has issued you an EAD before, include a copy of that card, front and back, instead.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checklist of Required Initial Evidence for Form I-765
- Two identical passport-style color photos on a white or off-white background, printed on glossy thin paper, unmounted and unretouched.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-765, Instructions for Application for Employment Authorization
- A copy of your Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record, or a printout of the electronic version.
- Form G-28, only if an attorney or accredited representative is filing for you.
Filing Fee
The filing fee for a (c)(9) applicant with a pending I-485 is $260.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Frequently Asked Questions on the USCIS Fee Rule Some (c)(9) applicants are fee-exempt depending on when their I-485 was filed and the circumstances of the case. If you think an exemption applies, file by mail rather than online, because the online system will demand payment or a waiver request regardless.
If you cannot afford the fee, you can request a waiver using Form I-912. USCIS grants waivers on three grounds: you receive a means-tested public benefit, your household income is at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, or you have extreme financial hardship such as unemployment, medical emergencies, eviction, or homelessness that consumes substantially all of your income and assets for basic living expenses.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 4 – Fee Waivers and Fee Exemptions
How to File
You have two options: file online by uploading a completed PDF through your USCIS online account, or mail a paper application to the appropriate USCIS lockbox.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Forms Available to File Online The correct lockbox depends on your state, so check the USCIS filing addresses page before mailing.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization If you’re fee-exempt, use paper to preserve the exemption.
Filing concurrently with your I-485? Submit both forms together as one package. Filing later? Include your I-485 receipt notice as proof of the pending application.
USCIS will mail you an I-797C receipt notice with a unique receipt number, which you can use to track the case online. To receive an email or text confirming that a paper filing reached the lockbox, clip a completed Form G-1145 to the front of the package.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Lockbox Filing Locations Chart for Certain Non-Family-Based Forms
Getting a Social Security Number Through the Form
Form I-765 has an option to have the Social Security Administration assign you a number and mail you a card once the EAD is approved. Items 10 through 13 handle it. Answer “Yes” to Items 10 and 11 and give your parents’ names in Items 12 and 13. It’s optional, and if you skip it you can still apply for an SSN directly with SSA once the card arrives.
How Long It Takes
A USCIS officer reviews Form I-765 and the supporting documents for completeness, accuracy, and consistency with your pending I-485. If something is missing, USCIS issues a Request for Evidence. Respond quickly and completely; a late or incomplete response can result in denial.
Processing times fluctuate. Historically they have ranged from a few months to well over six months, depending on which service center handles your case and the overall workload. You can check current estimates through the “Check Case Processing Times” tool on the USCIS website by selecting Form I-765 with your category and filing location.
Expedite Requests
If the normal wait would cause you serious harm, you can ask USCIS to expedite. Severe financial loss is a recognized ground, but USCIS is clear that simply needing to work is not enough on its own. You’d need something more specific: for example, that losing your job because of an EAD gap would leave you unable to pay rent, or that a business you run would have to shut down or lay off employees.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 5 – Expedite Requests Emergencies, humanitarian reasons, and U.S. government interests also qualify. Document whatever you claim.
Renewals: The October 30, 2025 Change
This part matters if you already hold a (c)(9) EAD and need to renew. If you filed a timely renewal before October 30, 2025, your existing EAD and work authorization were automatically extended for up to 540 days past the expiration date, or until USCIS decided the renewal, whichever came first. To prove the extension to your employer, you’d show the expired card together with the I-797C receipt notice for the renewal, and the category on both had to match.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Automatic Extensions Based on a Timely Filed Application to Renew Employment Authorization and/or Employment Authorization Document Before Oct. 30, 2025
For renewals filed on or after October 30, 2025, DHS ended the automatic extension, with limited exceptions for Temporary Protected Status cases.11U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. DHS Ends Automatic Extension of Employment Authorization If you’re filing a renewal now, your current card will not extend while USCIS processes the new one. That opens the door to a gap between expiration and issuance. File as early as USCIS will accept the renewal, and consider an expedite request if a gap would cause real financial harm.
Travel Warning
Do not leave the United States while your I-485 is pending unless you have advance parole. Federal regulations treat departure without an advance parole document as abandonment of your adjustment application, which terminates it.12eCFR. 8 CFR 245.2 – Application USCIS states this plainly on its own guidance page.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. While Your Green Card Application Is Pending with USCIS
Narrow exceptions exist. Applicants in valid H-1, L-1, H-4, L-2, K-3, or K-4 status can travel and return without advance parole if they keep the underlying status and hold a valid visa where one is required.12eCFR. 8 CFR 245.2 – Application Everyone else needs advance parole in hand before travel.
You apply for advance parole using Form I-131. USCIS sometimes issues a combo card that serves as both an EAD and an advance parole document. The card will read “Serves as I-512 Advance Parole.” USCIS may still issue separate documents in some situations, such as when it approves the I-765 but denies the I-131.14U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Issue Employment Authorization and Advance Parole Card for Adjustment of Status Applicants – Questions and Answers
Report Address Changes Within 10 Days
If you move while your I-765 or I-485 is pending, you have 10 days to notify USCIS.15U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 10 – Changes of Address That legal requirement applies to all noncitizens in the United States, not only those with pending cases. The practical reason lines up with the legal one: USCIS mails RFEs, biometrics notices, and approvals. If those go to the wrong address and you miss a deadline, the consequences land on you. Update your address through your USCIS online account or by filing Form AR-11.
Do Not Work Before the EAD Arrives
Working before you receive your EAD can undo the very green card application you’re waiting on. Under INA 245(c), unauthorized employment can bar you from adjusting status to permanent resident.16U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 6 – Unauthorized Employment (INA 245(c)(2) and INA 245(c)(8))
One exception matters: immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of adult citizens) are not subject to the unauthorized employment bars under INA 245(c)(2) and 245(c)(8).17U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 4 – Status and Nonimmigrant Visa Violations (INA 245(c)(2)) That doesn’t make unauthorized work consequence-free for those relatives, but it won’t automatically sink the adjustment case the way it can for others.
For everyone else, the risk is severe. Unauthorized employment can also trigger removal proceedings. Employers who knowingly hire workers without authorization face civil penalties and, for repeat offenders, criminal prosecution.18U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 – 11.8 Penalties for Prohibited Practices Wait for the card.
When to Talk to an Attorney
Most (c)(9) applications are routine enough to file on your own, especially when the underlying I-485 is straightforward and your documents are complete. Some situations are different. Get legal help if you receive an RFE you don’t fully understand, if you have prior immigration violations or entries that could complicate the case, if you need to travel urgently without advance parole in hand, or if you’ve done any work before receiving your EAD and aren’t sure whether the immediate-relative exception protects you. Immigration mistakes are often irreversible, and the cost of good advice is almost always lower than the cost of a denied adjustment application.