Data / Federal rules / 2026-03595
Employment Authorization Reform for Asylum Applicants
The Homeland Security Department published this proposed rule in the Federal Register on February 23, 2026. Comments closed on April 24, 2026.
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What the agency says
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to modify regulations governing applications for asylum and withholding of removal (asylum applications) and employment authorization based on a pending asylum application. The proposed rule would change filing and eligibility requirements for aliens requesting employment authorization and an employment authorization document (EAD) based on a pending asylum application. The changes include pausing acceptance of EAD applications from asylum applicants during periods when affirmative asylum average processing time exceeds 180 days, extending the waiting period to apply for employment authorization to 365 days, changing EAD application processing time requirements, and adding eligibility requirements.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2026-03595
- Type
- Proposed rule
- Action
- Notice of proposed rulemaking
- Agency
- Homeland Security Department
- Published
- February 23, 2026
- Comments due
- April 24, 2026
- Dates
- Comments on this proposed rule, including the proposed information collections, must be received on or before April 24, 2026. The electronic Federal Docket Management System will accept comments prior to midnight Eastern time at the end of that day.
- Docket
- CIS No. 2799-25; DHS Docket No. USCIS-2025-0370
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 1615-AC97
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 8 CFR 208; 8 CFR 274
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Aliens; Employment; Immigration; Penalties; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements
- Significant
- Yes, under Executive Order 12866
- Pages
- 85
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Everything from the Homeland Security Department · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on aliens · Rules on employment · Published in February 2026
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.