What Does Valid for Work Only With DHS Authorization Mean?

A Social Security card printed with “Valid for Work Only with DHS Authorization” means you have a genuine Social Security number, but you are only allowed to work in the United States while you also hold current, separate work permission from the Department of Homeland Security. The card confirms that DHS approved your employment at the moment the card was issued. It does not prove your work authorization is still in effect today, and by itself it cannot be used to get hired.¹

The number itself stays valid for everything outside of employment. You use it to file federal and state tax returns, and banks accept it as a taxpayer identification number when you open accounts or apply for credit. Losing work authorization does not cancel the number for those purposes.

Why the Card Carries a Restriction

Two federal agencies share responsibility here. The Social Security Administration assigns your number and prints your card. The Department of Homeland Security decides whether you are allowed to work. SSA issues three card types to reflect that split: an unrestricted card with no legend for U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, a “Not Valid for Employment” card for people who need a number for a non-work reason, and the restricted card in the middle for people lawfully in the country on a temporary basis with DHS work permission.¹

The middle category exists because temporary work permission changes. Employment authorization documents expire. Immigration statuses end or shift. The plastic card, once printed, stays the same. That gap between what the card says and what your current status is drives most of the rules that follow.

Who Gets This Card

The restricted card goes to non-citizens who are lawfully present on a temporary basis and have DHS permission to work. Common categories include:

DACA recipients, who receive employment authorization for renewable periods and are issued the restricted card when they apply for a Social Security number.²
People granted Temporary Protected Status, with work authorization tied to the length of the TPS designation for their country.
F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors approved for on-campus work or holding an Employment Authorization Document for off-campus work.
Certain H-4, L-2, and E-visa dependents who have applied for and received employment authorization.

The common thread is conditional, time-limited permission. If the underlying status ends, the right to work ends with it, even though the card in your wallet looks unchanged.

What to Show an Employer Instead

Every U.S. employer has to verify a new hire’s identity and work eligibility on Form I-9.³ Federal rules bar employers from accepting a Social Security card marked “Valid for Work Only with DHS Authorization” as an I-9 document.⁴ If you offer it, the employer must refuse it and ask for a different document.

The document most people in this situation present is the Employment Authorization Document, Form I-766. It appears on the I-9’s List A, which means it proves identity and work authorization together, and no second document is needed.⁵ Other List A options include a foreign passport with an I-94 arrival record endorsed for work, and, for permanent residents, a Green Card. You choose which acceptable document to present; the employer cannot demand a specific one. What you cannot do is satisfy the requirement with the restricted Social Security card.

When Your Work Permit Expires

An expired Employment Authorization Document means you have to stop working. Your employer is required to reverify your work authorization by the expiration date on the EAD using Supplement B of Form I-9, and if you cannot show a current List A or List C document, you cannot stay on the payroll.⁶ The restricted Social Security card cannot fill that gap either.

The Rule Change on Automatic Extensions

Renewal timing matters more than it used to. If you filed an EAD renewal before October 30, 2025, and met the qualifying conditions, your expired EAD could be automatically extended for up to 540 days while USCIS processed the case. The renewal had to be based on the same eligibility category as the expiring card, and you had to show your employer the Form I-797C receipt notice alongside the expired EAD.⁷

That automatic extension was eliminated for renewal applications filed on or after October 30, 2025.⁸ If your EAD expires while a renewal filed after that date is still pending, you must stop working until USCIS approves the application and issues a new card. File as early as you are allowed to, and plan around a possible unpaid gap.

If E-Verify Flags a Mismatch

If your employer uses E-Verify and the system returns a Tentative Nonconfirmation, that does not by itself mean you lack authorization. Mismatches often come from an unreported name change, a status update that has not reached the databases, or a data entry error. You have 10 federal working days to tell your employer whether you want to contest the mismatch, and while you work through it the employer cannot fire you or cut your hours on that basis alone.⁹ Keeping your SSA record current after any status or legal name change is the best way to avoid these delays.

What Unauthorized Work Costs You

Working without current authorization can close off the path to a Green Card. Under federal immigration law, a person who accepts or continues in unauthorized employment before filing for adjustment of status is generally barred from becoming a permanent resident through that process.¹⁰ The bar reaches unauthorized work at any point during your U.S. stay, not only the most recent entry, and leaving the country and returning does not erase it.¹¹ Some categories are exempt, including immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and certain special immigrants, but the exceptions are narrow.

Beyond that bar, unauthorized employment can trigger removal proceedings, make you ineligible to extend or change your visa status, and factor into denial of future visa applications. A short period of unauthorized work can follow you for years.

Removing the Restriction

The legend comes off your card when your immigration status changes permanently. Two events qualify: becoming a lawful permanent resident, or naturalizing as a U.S. citizen. Once either happens, you are eligible for an unrestricted card with no legend, and you keep the same Social Security number you already have.

To apply, file Form SS-5 at a Social Security office with original documents proving your new status.¹² What you bring depends on which status you gained:

If you are now a permanent resident, bring your Form I-551 (Green Card). SSA uses it to verify your status for the unrestricted card.¹³
If you have naturalized, bring your Certificate of Naturalization or a U.S. passport.

You will also need one identity document, such as a current driver’s license or state ID. Most people apply in person so they don’t have to mail original immigration documents. SSA typically mails the new card within 7 to 10 business days after the office has everything it needs, and mail-in applications currently take two to four weeks.¹⁴ Timelines stretch when SSA has to verify a document with the issuing agency.¹⁵

1
Social Security Administration. Types of Social Security Cards
2
Social Security Administration. Social Security Number and Card – Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employers – Are You Accepting a Restricted Social Security Card
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9 Acceptable Documents
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 6.1 Reverifying Employment Authorization for Current Employees
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USCIS. Automatic Extensions Based on a Timely Filed Application to Renew Employment Authorization
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eCFR. 8 CFR 274a.13 – Application for Employment Authorization
9
E-Verify. Tentative Nonconfirmation (Mismatch) Overview
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1255 – Adjustment of Status
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Unauthorized Employment (INA 245(c)(2) and INA 245(c)(8))
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Social Security Administration. Form SS-5 – Application for a Social Security Card
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Social Security Administration. How Long Will It Take to Get a Social Security Card
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Social Security Administration. Social Security Numbers and Immigrant Visas