Employee Authorization Card Expiring Soon....What do I do?

scaldwell_bankatcnb

We have an employee whose employee authorization card is expiring soon...She forwarded me a fax of her US Dept. of Homeland Security letter with her applicant/ petition # that shows where they received her response for their request for additional information on 12/16/13 that says her case is being processed....is this sufficient enough information to continue having her work for us even when her card expires? What do I do about reverifying her I-9 form when all her information is expired? Should she have filed for an extension on her employee authorization card as well as filling for permanent residency?

Elaine Young

It's not clear what the situation is here, but it sounds like your employee has both an EAD and a green card in process? When you complete an I-9 with an EAD, you must reverify no later than the date the EAD expires. If the EAD has already expired, and the employee has no other immigration status allowing them to work, then you must terminate them. The receipt rule does not extend to applications to extend an EAD. If you rehire when they get the new EAD, you would complete the I-9 as you would another re-hire. For a thorough overview of how to do that, you can see page 24 of the M-274 Handbook for Employers (available online).

Normally, if there was a request for additional information and a response sent in December, the EAD is about to be issued. USCIS usually acts within a couple of weeks of receiving responses to requests for evidence.

If the person is also in the process of applying for a green card, it's possible the green card might issue first and that you would use it to reverify employment authorization in section 3 of the I-9.

If you have questions, feel free to contact me: [email]eyoung@kmclaw.com[/email] or (801) 323-5940.

scaldwell_bankatcnb

Thank you for your help!