Effective immediately, USCIS will consider requests to expedite processing of applications to renew Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for health care workers.
Who Qualifies?
Qualifying health care workers may request expedited issuance of their EAD if they have:
- A pending EAD renewal application filed on Form I-765; and
- An EAD that expires within 30 days or less, or has already expired.
A qualifying health care worker is defined very broadly in the DHS advisory memorandum (“Healthcare / Public Health” section, pages 7-9). In addition to individuals providing direct patient care, it includes, but is not limited to:
- Workers, including laboratory personnel, that perform critical clinical, biomedical and other research, development, and testing needed for COVID-19 or other diseases;
- Workers required for effective clinical, infrastructure, support services, and administrative operations, among other functions, across the direct patient care and full health care and public health spectrum;
- Workers needed to provide laundry services, food services, reprocessing of medical equipment and waste management;
- Workers that manage health plans, billing and health information and who cannot work remotely;
- Workers at manufacturers including biotechnology companies and distributers of medical products and equipment, and pharmaceuticals;
- Pharmacy staff; and,
- Home health workers.
Please refer to the DHS advisory memo referenced above for a comprehensive list.
How to Request Expedite
According to the USCIS guidance for requesting an expedite , requestors may contact USCIS by phone to request the expedite and should be prepared to provide evidence of their profession or current employment as a health care worker. USCIS does not indicate how quickly it will process the expedite request; only that it will process the application faster than its standard posted processing times, which are typically numerous months.
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