When will I get my work permit and travel permit?

If you are eligible to apply for a Green Card (typically through a family or employment-based application, but there are other eligible categories), you may be eligible to apply for the interim benefits of a work permit and authorization to travel internationally. These benefits may be available while your green card is pending adjudication with USCIS.

Prior to COVID, USCIS routinely approved the I-765 (Employment Authorization Document) and I-131 (Advance Parole) together in a “combo card” within 90 days of receiving the applications. This means that, when your work permit was issued, the bottom of the card had the sentence “Serves as I-512 Advance Parole.” This means that your work permit (EAD) simultaneously functions as your authorization to work and your authorization to leave the US and be re-admitted at a port of entry.

As of February 1, 2022, in response to the significant delays that USCIS was encountering with approving work permits and Advance Parole, USCIS has begun to separate the two documents. This has allowed USCIS to more quickly approve and issue work permits. USCIS has announced that, upon the approval of the EAD, it will then turn its time and attention to the I-131 (Advance Parole application) and approve it at a later date.

What does this mean? For most of our clients with pending green cards, the need to work has a higher priority than the need to travel. This is not the case for all of our clients. Some of our clients have an urgent need to travel. In those cases, they may need to seek an expedited I-131 in order to safely leave the US and return.

If you have a pending green card, check with a lawyer to determine whether you can apply for both the work permit and the travel authorization. These benefits are free additions to your green card application and can greatly reduce the stress of waiting for your green card to be approved.