US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), under the Trump Administration, announced on Thursday a new policy that reduces the maximum validity period for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs), commonly known as work permits, from five years to 18 months.
The reduction to an 18-month maximum validity period applies to both initial and renewal work permits for hundreds of thousands of immigrants, including:
- Refugees and individuals granted asylum.
- Those granted withholding of deportation or removal.
- Individuals with pending applications for asylum or other forms of relief.
- Applicants with pending applications for adjustment of status (Green Cards)
- Individuals seeking suspension of deportation
According to USCIS, The new work-permit validity period will be applied to all applications currently awaiting for their request or filed on or after December 5, 2025.
Additionally, separate legislative changes mandated by the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed earlier this year further limits EADs for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders and certain parolees to one year or less.
The decision stemmed from the attack against two West Virginia National Guard members in Washington, D.C last week killing one guard and the other in critical condition.
The suspect was identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021 and was granted asylum earlier this year. It was reported that the Afghan national led a special force that worked directly with U.S. and British forces during the two-decade war in the country.
His colleague, a former Afghan commando, told CBS News on Thursday that Lakanwal was left deeply troubled by the death of a close friend and fellow Afghan commander in 2024, whom he said had unsuccessfully sought asylum in the U.S.
“Reducing the maximum validity period for employment authorization will ensure that those seeking to work in the United States do not threaten public safety or promote harmful anti-American ideologies,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a statement.
“After the attack on National Guard service members in our nation’s capital by an alien who was admitted into this country by the previous administration, it’s even more clear that USCIS must conduct frequent vetting of aliens,” Edlow added.
Following the attack, USCIS on Tuesday halted the processing of all immigration benefit applications for citizens from 19 countries that the Trump administration has labeled as “high-risk” for producing terrorists and other national security threats.
The 19 countries affected by the order were previously singled out by President Trump for travel restrictions including Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.
U.S. officials said on Tuesday that the Trump Administration is considering a significant expansion of the current travel ban to include between 30 to 32 countries. This move marks an intensification of the ongoing crackdown on immigration.