Green cards, visas at risk as US cuts work-permit validity to 18 months

USCIS will now issue 18-month work permits instead of five-year cards, raising the risk of disruption for green card applicants already stuck in long queues

US President Donald Trump’s administration has moved to restrict employment authorisation for asylum seekers and other immigrants, a decision that could create further complications for green card applicants. The step marks the latest effort to increase scrutiny of migrants entering the country.

 

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Thursday reduced the validity of work permits for asylum seekers and others with temporary legal status to 18 months. The current framework allows up to five years of employment authorisation.

 

The agency said the shorter validity period will create more frequent opportunities to re-vet applicants. “It’s clear that USCIS must enforce more frequent vetting of aliens,” said Joseph Edlow, director of USCIS. “All aliens must remember that working in the United States is a privilege, not a right.”

 

 

What does the change mean for immigrants?

 

Employment-based I-485 applicants will now receive EADs valid for 18 months instead of five years, starting December 5, 2025.

 

“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,” wrote Emily Neumann, an immigration attorney and managing partner at Reddy Neumann Brown PC, on X.

 

Houston-based immigration attorney Steven Brown said that individuals with delayed green card applications may now face a greater risk of losing work authorisation. “Going to be a bad cycle too. Part of the reason they moved to 5 years is because they kept being over burdened with the same extensions and it caused delay. So made a smart decision to make things efficient. Just moving backwards now,” he wrote on X.

 

Why is the Trump administration tightening scrutiny?

 

The proposal forms part of broader steps by the Trump administration to terminate or restrict humanitarian benefits for immigrants. It follows the recent charging of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national living in the United States, in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC.

 

Earlier this week, USCIS said it would pause all immigration requests from 19 countries included in a travel ban imposed this summer, covering Afghanistan, Myanmar, Haiti, Sudan and others. The administration is expected to expand that list to about 30 countries. The United States will also begin a “comprehensive re-review” of approvals granted to people from those countries who entered the US on or after the start of former President Joe Biden’s term in 2021, according to a USCIS memorandum.

 

Following the shooting, Trump wrote on social media that he would move to “permanently” pause migration from “all Third World Countries.”

 

How will work visas and other applicants be affected?

 

USCIS had already halted processing of some green card applications as it sought to increase scrutiny of those seeking permanent residency.

 

The policy change announced on Thursday will not affect foreign workers, including H-1B visa holders, who receive employment authorisation automatically through their status. Earlier this year, the administration announced plans to introduce a $100,000 application fee for those high-skilled visas.

 

Shorter work-permit validity will require asylum seekers and others to renew their documents more often, adding pressure on USCIS to keep pace. This could leave applicants without employment authorisation if their cases remain stuck in backlogs.

 

Are delays likely to worsen?

 

Delays for immigrant petitions, work permits and other applications at USCIS reached a 10-year high this year as the agency shifted more of its resources towards enforcement. Case completion rates through the third quarter of 2025 remain below levels seen during Biden’s tenure, according to agency data.