H-4 Employment Authorization Documents May Expire a Few Weeks Early

Immigration Services has made additional changes to its Employment Authorization Document (EAD) renewal process. In order to cut down processing times, USCIS is processing some EAD renewal applications in batches. Specifically, spouses of H-1B nonimmigrant visa holders may see changes in the expiration of their Employment Authorization Document.

The government will grant a common end validity date to batches of EAD applications to streamline processing. The result is that the end validity date printed on the EAD card will be the first of the month for all cases where an applicant’s nonimmigrant status ends at any time in that month. For example, an H-4 spouse who has an authorized period of stay until April 15 would receive an EAD valid only through April 1.

Thus, some EADs may expire before one’s nonimmigrant status. It is important to track the expiration date and timely file renewal applications. We will track this information on behalf of our clients and notify them when it is time to renew.