USCIS has begun implementing a simplified process for Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, to more efficiently provide Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) to eligible refugees after they are admitted to the United States. This simplified process shortens the wait time for an EAD to approximately 30 days instead of several months. All individuals admitted to the United States as refugees on or after December 10, 2023 will receive an EAD under this new process.

Under US law, a refugee is legally allowed to work as soon as he or she arrives in the United States. However, obtaining evidence of this employment authorization in the form of an EAD was previously a tedious process based on paper documents that caused excessive delays. The new process is fully automated and no longer requires refugees to apply for an EAD, allowing for more efficient processing and adjudication of Form I-765 and faster delivery of EADs once approved.

With this new process, USCIS will digitally create a Form I-765 for each arriving refugee and begin adjudicating it as soon as they are admitted to the United States. After USCIS approves a refugee's Form I-765, they will generally receive their EAD within one to two weeks. USCIS will ship your EADs via USPS Priority Mail service to the address on file. The time frame for a refugee to receive their EAD may vary depending on the delivery time. Please allow 30 days before submitting an inquiry.

USCIS will also provide the Social Security Administration with the information required to assign a Social Security number to each refugee and mail them a Social Security card.

USCIS recognizes that documents such as an EAD and Social Security card are critically important to a newly arrived refugee's ability to integrate, and this new process is the result of coordination between the federal government to support the Admissions Program. United States Refugee Agency and refugee integration. We remain committed to increasing efficiency by simplifying and digitizing our processes. We launched this process on December 10, 2023, following a successful pilot program.

This simplified process does not apply to family reunification (following-to-join) refugees admitted to the United States based on an approved Form I-730, Petition for Refugee/Asylee Family Member. Additionally, refugees seeking an EAD replacement or renewal will still need to complete and submit Form I-765.