Work authorization & studentsPOLICY UPDATE
Employment Authorization Documents Based on Compelling Circumstances
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to address eligibility criteria and standards for applications for employment authorization involving compelling circumstances.
Effective date and application
This guidance, contained in Volume 10 of the Policy Manual, is effective immediately
Key changes
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to address eligibility criteria and standards for applications for employment authorization involving compelling circumstances.
- Explains the eligibility criteria for initial and renewal applications for an EAD based on compelling circumstances for both the principal applicant and dependents.
- Provides a non-exhaustive list of situations that could lead to a finding that compelling circumstances exist, including serious illness and disability, employer dispute or retaliation, other substantial harm to the applicant, or significant disruption to the employer.
- Provides guidance on evidence an applicant could submit to demonstrate one of these compelling circumstances; for example, a principal applicant with an approved immigrant visa petition in an oversubscribed visa category or chargeability area, who has lived in the United States for a considerable period of time, could submit such evidence as school or higher education enrollment records, mortgage records, or long-term lease records, to support a potential finding of compelling circumstances if, due to job loss, the family may otherwise be forced to sell their home for a loss, pull the children out of school, and relocate to their home country.
- Provides guidance on what adjudication of compelling circumstances-based EADs entails, including the maximum validity periods USCIS may authorize.
- Explains that an individual with a valid compelling circumstances-based EAD is considered to be in a period of authorized stay, and therefore will not accrue unlawful presence. Although they may become ineligible for adjustment of status under INA 245(a), such an individual may subsequently leave the United States to apply for an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa at a consular post abroad, without triggering the unlawful presence grounds of inadmissibility (as long as they have not otherwise accrued periods of unlawful presence).
