A new auto-extension rule does not affect work permit renewals filed before October 30, 2025

In recent years, many people have received an automatic extension of their current work permit after they applied to renew their work permit. On October 30, 2025, the government stopped issuing new auto-extensions of work permits. However, if you received an auto-extension of your work permit on or before October 29, 2025, your extension is still valid!

How do I know if I have already received an auto-extension of my work permit? 

Your work permit has already been automatically extended for 540 days if:

• Your work permit is based on a pending asylum application, AND 

• You applied to renew your work permit before the expiration date printed on the card, AND 

• You applied to renew your permit on or before October 29, 2025.

If you have already received an auto-extension of your work permit, your extension is still valid today. The new rule does not apply to you. Some other types of work permits have already received auto-extensions, too, in addition to work permits based on a pending asylum application. Learn more about the auto-extension.

What happens if I apply to renew my work permit on or after October 30, 2025? 

If you apply to renew your work permit on or after October 30, 2025, your work permit will expire on the expiration date, without any extensions. 

You can submit your renewal work permit application at least one year before the expiration date, to increase the chance that you will receive your new work permit before your current one expires. Learn how to renew your work permit.

Why are work permits based on seeking asylum not immediately impacted by this rule? 

Thanks to ASAP members’ advocacy, from October 1, 2023 to December 4, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued 5-year work permits to asylum seekers. Asylum seekers with 5-year work permits should still have about 3 years or more left on their work permits and should not yet need to renew.

Before October 1, 2023, asylum seekers received 2-year work permits. This means the last 2-year work permits for asylum seekers already expired in September 2025. An asylum seeker would have had to submit their renewal application before the expiration date to receive the auto-extension. 

When will this rule impact asylum seekers?

If you received a 5-year work permit on or before December 4, 2025, you should still have a few years left before your work permit expires. If the new rule continues for several years, asylum seekers will be impacted as their 5-year work permits near their expiration dates in 2028 or later. At that point, if they renew their work permits, they will not receive an auto-extension. 

If you receive an 18-month work permit after December 4, 2025, this new rule may impact you sooner. Because there is no automatic extension, you may want to renew your work permit a year or more before the expiration date. Currently, USCIS says they are processing most work permit renewals in about 7 months, but sometimes takes longer. You can apply a year in advance to make it more likely that you receive a new work permit before your current one expires. That would mean renewing your work permit 6 months after you first receive it.

What other types of work permits are not immediately impacted by this rule? 

First, the new rule does not impact work permits based on TPS (categories A12 and C19). Those work permits follow a different rule when it comes to extensions. Learn about extensions for work permits based on TPS. 

Second,  like asylum seekers, some other immigrants should not yet need to renew their work permits. Here is a list of work permit types that should not be immediately impacted by this rule: 

• Asylum seekers (category C08)

• People who won asylum (category A05)

• People who won withholding of removal (category A10)

• Refugees (category A03)

• Applicants for permanent residence (green cards) (category C09)

• Applicants for cancellation of removal (category C10)

• Applicants for relief under NACARA (category C10)

Like asylum seekers, immigrants in these categories also received 5-year work permits between October 1, 2023 and December 4, 2025. Immigrants in these categories with 5-year work permits should still have about 3 years or more left on their work permits and so should not yet need to renew.

Before October 1, 2023, immigrants in these categories received 1- or 2-year work permits. This means the last work permits for immigrants in these categories already expired in September 2025 if not sooner. An immigrant in one of these categories would have had to submit their renewal application before the expiration date to receive the auto-extension. 

After December 4, 2025, immigrants in these categories will receive work permits that are valid for 18 months.

What types of work permits could be immediately impacted by this rule?

Some other work permit types could potentially be immediately impacted by this rule, because they were previously eligible for the auto-extension. ASAP is not an expert in these types of work permits, so we do not know how they will be impacted by the rule. For example, we do not know the history of when and for what validity period work permits have been issued in these categories. 

• VAWA self-petitioners (category C31)

• Spouses of H1B visa holders (category C26)

• N-8 and N-9 visa holders (category A07)

• Citizen of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, or Palau (category A08)

• Spouses of E visa holders (category A17)

• Spouses of L visa holders (category A18)

• People who have been living in the U.S. since January 1, 1972 (category C16)

• People who have submitted Form I-799 (category C20)

• People who have submitted Form I-687 (category C22)

• People applying for permanent residence under the LIFE Act (category C24)

There are also other categories of work permits, but those other categories of work permits did not qualify for automatic extensions.