The American Immigration Council does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office. We aim to provide an analysis of the election’s impact on the U.S. immigration system.
On December 13, the Biden administration announced a permanent rule that automatically extends the validity of certain work permits by up to 540 days if renewed in a timely manner. The U.S. Immigration Council and many other organizations and companies are calling this an important move to the outgoing administration to protect workers from job gaps as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues to grapple with processing backlogs. I made this request. This final rule is effective January 13, 2025.
Working through backlogs is nothing new for USCIS, but their size has increased significantly in recent years. In 2016, USCIS updated its regulations to allow an automatic 180-day extension period for certain work permits that are renewed in a timely manner. At the time, USCIS reported that most work permits were processed within three months. But operational issues under the Trump administration, including more onerous benefit review policies, outdated fees, and fewer applications due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to hiring freezes and an overall backlog. increased. Applications for work permits also surged during the first two years of the Biden administration, while examiners were reassigned to conduct protection screening interviews at the U.S.-Mexico border.
As a result, USCIS has introduced two interim regulations, most recently extending the 180-day extension to 540 days in April 2024, to avoid large-scale job forfeitures solely due to USCIS processing delays. However, this temporary extension will put 260,000 workers at risk of having their work permits expire before Immigration and Immigration Services can rule on their renewal applications. To provide a long-term solution to prevent uncertainty for workers and employers, USCIS has now permanently changed the 180-day automatic extension period to 540 days.
The agency also made other changes to the rules to address confusion reported by employers and workers. This includes clarifying:
This rule applies both to work permits that are nearing expiration and to work permits that have already expired. Although most renewal requests must be submitted by the expiration date to be eligible for automatic extension, renewals based on the Temporary Protected Status designation can be submitted after the expiration date but must be submitted during the applicable reenrollment period. there is. The first day of the 540-day automatic extension is the day after the expiration date printed on the face of your work permit.
Unfortunately, in this new rule, USCIS did not expand the categories of individuals subject to the automatic extension provision to include DACA recipients and those who may not have timely submitted their renewal applications. The agency noted that DACA recipients are ineligible because the underlying deferred action must be approved before employment is permitted. It also pointed out that this provision cannot be extended to untimely work permit renewal applications, given the procedures and laws governing fraudulent employment.
Nevertheless, USCIS estimates that the permanent extension will save workers and employers billions of dollars. For example, the overall policy would protect workers from $10 billion in lost income, generate $1.1 billion in federal taxes, and save up to 39,000 employers $3.5 billion in revenue due to uninterrupted business operations. We estimate that we can save money. Alternatively, between July 2023 and March 2026, between 306,000 and 468,000 work permit renewal applicants would have had their employment permits expire without an automatic extension of up to 540 days. USCIS estimated that he would have experienced this.
The Biden administration’s decision to make the automatic 540-day extension permanent comes as the U.S. continues to suffer from chronic labor shortages and comes just over a month before the new administration takes office as it seeks to reduce legal immigration. It was done at the time. The data highlights that immigration, including those who entered the country in the past few years, is essential to the current strength of the economy. “A big part of the story of a return to better balance in the labor market is that immigration has returned to typical pre-pandemic levels,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said.
Over the past four years, USCIS has implemented several other important changes to work permit processing to limit labor market disruption. This includes extending the validity period of work permits for certain categories of applicants from two to five years, streamlining the processing of refugee work permits, and improving work permit applications for asylum seekers and parolees. These include expanding online filing and increasing application fees. Notably, due to overall operational changes, USCIS last year achieved a milestone in reducing its net overall case backlog for the first time in years.
With this new rule, the Biden administration is not only taking steps to continue protecting workers throughout the economy, but also recognizing the importance of the immigrant workforce to collective life.
Apply to: USCIS
