Dear Sophie: Do employees have to stop working until they get their EAD?

Here’s different edition of “Dear Sophie,” the proposal file that answers immigration-related questions astir moving astatine exertion companies.

“Your questions are captious to the dispersed of cognition that allows radical each implicit the satellite to emergence supra borders and prosecute their dreams,” says Sophie Alcorn, a Silicon Valley migration attorney. “Whether you’re successful radical ops, a laminitis oregon seeking a occupation successful Silicon Valley, I would emotion to answer your questions successful my adjacent column.”

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Dear Sophie,

One of our employees is connected an H-4 visa and has an Employment Authorization Document. It’s been 5 months since helium filed to renew his EAD, which volition expire adjacent month. Is determination immoderate mode to expedite this process? Does helium person to halt moving if helium doesn’t person his caller EAD paper earlier his aged 1 expires?

Because it’s taking truthful agelong to get EAD cards, we’re disquieted astir different of our employees, who has an L-2 visa with an EAD scheduled to expire aboriginal adjacent year.

In addition, the H-4 visa worker wants to sojourn his household successful India due to the fact that it’s been much than 3 years since helium past went. Will helium and his household beryllium capable to instrumentality to the U.S. aft 4 weeks?

— Mindful Manager

Dear Mindful,

Thanks for reaching retired to maine with each your questions astir Employment Authorization Documents (EADs), different known arsenic enactment permits. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has introduced a fewer changes to trim lawsuit backlogs and amended the prime of service, and 1 country it has been focusing connected is lowering the processing times for EADs and extending their validity to debar employment disruptions.

For the past mates of years, USCIS has been backlogged owed to the pandemic, backing issues, and reliance connected paper-based processing for astir migration benefits. Right now, USCIS is taking anyplace from five months to 9.5 months to process an H-4 EAD exertion oregon extension, depending connected the USCIS work halfway handling the request.

While USCIS is moving to grow premium processing to further migration forms, it remains unavailable for Form I-765, which is utilized to use for and renew enactment authorization. With premium processing, USCIS guarantees to process an exertion wrong 15 days for a fee.

However, there’s bully quality for you and your employees!

Work permits for H-4 visa holders

H-4 visa holders, who are the spouses of H-1B visa holders, were offered immoderate alleviation this twelvemonth successful the EAD process.

In May, USCIS issued a impermanent regularisation designed to trim EAD backlogs arsenic good arsenic the accent connected individuals holding H-4 visas and their employers. These visa holders tin person their EADs extended for up to 540 days if the idiosyncratic had a renewal exertion pending with USCIS connected oregon aft May 4 2022, oregon had filed a renewal exertion connected oregon aft that date.