The Employment Authorization Document And Travel Document Application

1. The Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Application

When you send the I-485 application to USCIS, you may also submit an I-765 form for Employment Authorization Document (EAD) application, if you want to work in the United States while your I-485 application being processed.

The Immigration and Nationality Act is a law that governs the admission of all persons to the United States. Part of the law about Employment Authorization Documents defines the employment authorization responsibilities of both employers and employees. USCIS issues Employment Authorization Documents to prove you are allowed to work in the United States.

The specific categories that require an Employment Authorization Document include applicants adjusting to permanent residence status; asylees and asylum seekers; refugees; students seeking particular types of employment; people in or applying for temporary protected status; fiancés of American citizens; and dependents of foreign government officials.

2. The Travel Document (Advance Parole) Application

If you need to travel outside the United States while your I-485 application being processed, you need to send an I-131 form to USCIS for Travel Document application. The legal foundation for requiring these travel documents comes from the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which defines documents required to admit aliens and control their travel. Any immigrant who does not have the correct travel documents will not be admitted to the United States.

For non-citizens, you need permission to return to the United States after traveling abroad. This permission is granted through a travel document. Travel documents are also given to people who want to travel, but cannot get a passport from their country of nationality. You must file USCIS Form I-131, Application for a Travel Document, complete with supporting documentation, photos and applicable fees.

Travel outside of the United States may trigger the three or ten year bar to admission for adjustment applicants. This ground of inadmissibility is triggered if you were unlawfully present in the United States (i.e., you remained in the United States beyond the period of authorized stay) for more than 180 days before you applied for adjustment of status and you traveled outside of the United States while your adjustment of status application was pending.

3. The "Single-Document Work Permit and Advance Parole" for I-485 Applicants

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will issue employment (EAD) and travel authorization (AP) on a single card for certain applicants filing an Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, Form I-485. This card represents a significant improvement from the previous practice of issuing paper Advance Parole documents.

The card looks similar to the previous Employment Authorization Document (EAD) but will include text that reads, “Serves as I-512 Advance Parole.” A card with this text will serve as both an employment authorization and Advance Parole document. The new card is also more secure and more durable than the paper Advance Parole document. 

An applicant may receive this card when he or she files an Application for Employment Authorization, Form I-765, and an Application for Travel Document, Form I-131, concurrently with or after filing Form I-485. USCIS will continue to issue separate EAD and Advance Parole documents as warranted. Employers may accept the new card as a List A document when completing the Employment Eligibility Verification, Form I-9.

As with the current Advance Parole document, obtaining a combined Advance Parole and employment authorization card allows an applicant for adjustment of status to travel abroad and return to the U.S. without abandoning the pending adjustment application. Upon returning to the U.S., the individual who travels with the card must present the card to request parole through the port-of-entry. The decision to parole the individual is made at the port-of-entry. Individuals who have been unlawfully present in the U.S. and subsequently depart and seek re-entry through a grant of parole may be inadmissible and ineligible to adjust their status.

 

 

 

 

 

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