All employers in the United States must ensure that their employees are authorized to work in the country.
To prove that a person is authorized to work in the United States for a specific period of time, an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) is required. This document is processed through the Citizenship and Immigration Service by filling out Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization.
The workers who need to apply for an EAD are the following:
- People who are authorized to work in the United States based on their immigration status or circumstances, for example, asylees, refugees, or U nonimmigrants (victims of criminal activity).
- People who have proceedings before USCIS for Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, need to apply for an EAD. As well as people with pending procedures for form I-589, Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal.
- On the other hand, people with nonimmigrant status who can stay in the United States, but cannot work, are also required to apply for EADs. For example, students with an F-1 or M-1 visa.
Lawful permanent residents do not need to apply for an EAD, since the Green Card becomes sufficient evidence to be authorized to work. Similarly, people with nonimmigrant visas such as H-1B, L-1B, O. or P, who are going to work for a specific employer, also do not require an EAD.
The filing fee for Form I-765 is $410. In addition, the request can be made online through the USCIS web platform: https://www.uscis.gov/es/i-765
