Form I-9 Verification During EAD Production Delays Due to COVID-19

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has announced that anyone who has a form I-797 approval notice for an employment authorization card can use this approval notice as evidence of work authorization. This applies to approval notices issued between 12/1/19 through 8/20/20. This announcement comes after reported long delays in the production of employment authorization documents (EADs.) The USCIS announcement advises employers that this approval notice can be used for form I-9 purposes, rather than the physical EAD, which is usually required. Employers will need to re-verify the employment eligibility of these individuals by December 1, 2020.

Unfortunately, this only applies to those with an I-797 approval notice. It does not provide work authorization to a person with a pending (in-process) EAD application.