Thanks to Advocacy Efforts, Department of Homeland Security Grants Permanent Work Permit Extension

Today, we are excited to celebrate the final regulation issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extending work permits for 540 days. This permanent extension of work permits will help hundreds of thousands of immigrants, including asylum seekers, refugees, green card applicants, and many more people who were previously at risk of losing their work authorization because of processing delays. Previously, work permits were extended for 180 days.

In April 2024, DHS had issued a temporary regulation that extended work permits for immigrants for 540 days, but that regulation was set to expire on September 30, 2025, which would have left hundreds of thousands of immigrants at risk of losing their work authorization. Today, the DHS permanently extended those work permits, providing relief to hundreds of thousands of people. 

With the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) as the lead, Oasis and many other advocates supported the advocacy to make this happen. 

Although we are happy about this decision, unfortunately, governmental backlogs delay the adjudication of not just work permit applications, but many other immigration applications. 

Due to bureaucratic and systematic barriers, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has not kept up with the demand of asylum requests they receive, resulting in an asylum backlog. Currently, more than 900 of our clients are stuck in this asylum backlog, waiting for a decision on their case.

Published December 10, 2024