Employment Authorizations
An employment authorization is a legal document that entitles an immigrant to work legally in the United States. There are many ways to obtain employment authorization. Some of your options to obtain employment authorization are as mentioned below.
Pending Adjustment of Status
If you are eligible to apply for adjustment of status you will be able to apply for an employment authorization while your adjustment of status case is pending. Normally the process of adjustment of status may take between 12 and 18 months. To help the applicant, the government allows for the applicant to obtain an employment authorization normally within 6 months. Thus, if you apply for the green card and the employment authorization at the same time, you will be able to work legally after 6 months of applying and will be able to wait legally inside the United States until you receive your adjustment of status interview and later your green card.
DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)
Is a special type of protection granted by the government to certain children who came to the United States before the age of 16 many years ago. We call this special category of people “dreamers”. One of the benefits of DACA is the ability to request an employment authorization to work legally inside the United States. DACA protects from deportation but does not allow for a green card. If you are a dreamer and would like to renew your employment authorization please contact our office.
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** No new first time applications are being accepted by USCIS at this time**
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ALERT: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Final Rule Effective Oct. 31, 2022.
TPS (Temporary Protective Status)
Temporary Protected Status is a special type of protection granted by the government at certain times to citizens of specific countries such as El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Siria, etc. TPS is granted after a country suffers a terrible tragedy and normally for a limited period of time. TPS allows a citizen of that foreign country to stay inside the United States and work in the U.S. with an employment authorization. TPS protects from deportation but does not allow for a green card. If you would like to renew your employment authorization through TPS please contact our offices.
U VISA (Victims of Criminal Activity)
The U visa or visa for victims of crimes is a visa that allows a victim the opportunity to remain legally inside the United States. The U visa is valid for 4 years and during those four years the applicant has an employment authorization. In some cases an applicant can request an employment authorization before the U visa is approved. If you would like to explore the possibility of obtaining a U visa or apply for an employment authorization while you wait for a decision on your U visa please contact our office.
VAWA (Violence Against Women Act)
VAWA is the visa for victims of domestic abuse at the hands of their US citizen spouses or children over 21 years of age. It is also the visa for victims of domestic abuse at the hands of their legal permanent resident spouses. When you apply for the protection of this visa you can apply for an employment authorization. For as long as you have VAWA, you can apply for an employment authorization. If you would like to apply for VAWA or to renew your employment authorization please contact our office.
T Visa (Victims of Human Trafficking)
The Trafficking visa protects the victims of sexual or labor trafficking or exploitation. As soon as the T visa is approved, the immigrant is able to work legally in the United States with employment authorization. To obtain a T visa you must demonstrate that you have been trafficked in the United States and you might have to prove that you have cooperated in the investigation of the crime. If you would like to apply for the T visa or would like to investigate more about employment authorization please contact our office.
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Asylum-Based EAD
Qualifications to apply for an employment authorization card through asylum. Did you apply for more than 150 days?
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To apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) based on your pending asylum application under the (c)(8) category for Employment Authorization, 150 days after you file your asylum application. You are not eligible to receive an EAD until your asylum application has been pending for at least another 30 days, for a total of 180 days, commonly referred to as the 180-Day Asylum EAD Clock.
Other
As you can see there are many different kinds of processes that an immigrant can do with the department of immigration that could lead to an employment authorization. At RST Law Group we strive to evaluate each case with the utmost detail to ensure that our clients will obtain the best possible results. Other avenues to obtain an employment authorization include work related visas such as the TN VISA, H1B visa, H2A visa, H2B visa, Religious visa, E-2 visa, L-1 visa, etc.