WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced major reductions to the maximum validity period of Employment Authorization Documents, a move that will significantly affect hundreds of thousands of Indian professionals and families navigating the U.S. immigration system. The agency said the change is intended to strengthen security vetting and better identify potential risks among individuals working in the United States.
USCIS said the revised policy will “result in more frequent vetting of aliens who apply for authorization to work in the United States,” allowing officials to “deter fraud and detect aliens with potentially harmful intent so they can be processed for removal from the United States.”
Director Joseph Edlow linked the decision to public-safety concerns, citing a recent attack involving service members in Washington. “Reducing the maximum validity period for employment authorization will ensure that those seeking to work in the United States do not threaten public safety or promote harmful anti-American ideologies,” he said. “After the attack on National Guard service members in our nation’s capital by an alien who was admitted into this country by the previous administration, it’s even more clear that USCIS must conduct frequent vetting of aliens.”
The shift directly affects categories heavily used by Indian nationals, including employment-based green card applicants and H-1B workers with pending adjustment-of-status cases. Under the new guidance, EADs issued to refugees, asylees, individuals granted withholding of removal, applicants with pending asylum or withholding claims, and applicants for adjustment under INA 245 will now be valid for 18 months instead of five years.
The policy applies to all applications “pending or filed on or after December 5, 2025,” according to a USCIS Policy Alert.
Additional restrictions mandated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) impose even tighter limits on those paroled into the country, individuals granted Temporary Protected Status, those with pending TPS cases, and spouses of entrepreneur parolees. Their work permits will be capped at one year or the end of the underlying parole or TPS period, whichever is shorter. Those rules apply to Forms I-765 “pending or filed on or after July 22, 2025.”
A Federal Register notice detailing the changes also establishes new statutory fees: $550 for certain initial applications and $275 for renewals. USCIS is prohibited from waiving these fees under H.R. 1, with most of the revenue directed to the U.S. Treasury.
For Indian applicants stuck in decades-long green card backlogs, the shorter validity periods could introduce new uncertainty. Many rely on long-duration EAD and Advance Parole documents to remain employed while awaiting permanent residency — a process often slowed by per-country limits.
Immigration attorney Emily Neumann warned that the compressed validity periods will strain the system. “Employment-based I-485 applicants will now see EADs issued for 18 months instead of 5 years, effective December 5, 2025,” she said. “This likely means the same for Advance Paroles. It would not be a big deal if renewals were processed timely. Unfortunately, it just creates more filings, which increases the backlog of cases, which increases processing times. This, coupled with the elimination of the automatic EAD renewal for pending applications, will just cause people to have to stop work for no good reason.”
USCIS said the change is needed to “enhance its screening and vetting efforts, enable detection of aliens with potentially harmful intent, deter fraud, and place removable aliens into proceedings,” adding that the update “rescinds aspects of USCIS’ guidance of September 27, 2023” to ensure more frequent review.
The Indian diaspora — one of the largest groups affected by employment-based visa delays — is expected to feel the impact acutely. Many depend on uninterrupted work authorization to maintain careers in technology, healthcare, academia and research while waiting for green card availability.
USCIS backlogs have grown sharply in recent years as applications for asylum, parole, TPS and adjustment of status have surged. The new workload created by shortened EAD validity periods is expected to add further pressure.
The 18-month limits take effect December 5, and the one-year limits mandated under H.R. 1 take effect July 22, covering both pending and newly filed work-permit applications. (Source: IANS)
