The United States Government (more specifically, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS) often issues a document called an Employment Authorization Document, or EAD, to foreigners currently located in the US. For those that are fortunate enough to be approved for an EAD, this document (which comes in the form of a card) allows its holders to work in any job in the United States. This freedom to work in any job in the US is obviously highly desired, and it provides even more work freedom than any other work visa in the US. That is, each work visa in the US is approved based on a specific US employer. Therefore, each foreigner that has a work visa is only allowed to work for that specific US employer that was approved by the US Government. Conversely, a holder of an EAD may work for any employer at any time and does not require any prior approval from the US Government to work for such employer.
This freedom of work movement is a huge advantage of the EAD when compared to a work visa. For example, if a foreigner holding a work visa is fired or quits his or her job, then such foreigner would need to apply for another work visa in the US and be approved for it prior to legally start working for another company in the US. However, if a holder of an EAD is fired or quits his or her job, then such foreigner can immediately apply for a new job and start working immediately without any prior US Government approval.
So the question then becomes who is eligible for an EAD? Somewhat surprisingly, the list is actually quite long, and the typical recipients are the following: spouses of those who hold certain work visas, foreign students that just finished their Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in the US, approved refugees or asylum seekers currently located in the US, and, as of 2013, certain illegal immigrants that have been living in the US for many years, and more.
However, one very surprising aspect of the EAD is that it is not available to the spouses of those who hold an H-1B work visa. The reason that this is surprising is because H-1B status is the most popular work visa in the United States. Nonetheless, if a foreigner is approved for an H-1B work visa, and then the foreigner’s spouse accompanies him or her to the US, such spouse is not eligible for an EAD (even though the H-1B can be valid for 6 years or even more). In such a case, if the spouse wishes to work in the US, then a separate work visa will need to be approved for the spouse, which is quite difficult.
Hiring a good immigration attorney will ensure that your potential EAD options are exhausted prior to applying for any type of work visa, as the EAD provides benefits which do not exist for any other work visa (as explained above). The importance of checking one’s eligibility for EAD status cannot be overstated.
All said and explained in this article does not constitute a legal opinion and does not replace legal advice. Responsibility for using the wordings and opinions conveyed in this article relies solely and entirely on the reader.
This article was written by Dotan Cohen Law Offices, working in the field of immigration law in the United States, Canada, Australia and England.
