Where Can I File for a Work Permit

Alert: USCIS mistakenly rejected bona-fide-determination-related Forms I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, submitted without a fee or fee waiver from June 14 through Sept. 29, 2021.

USCIS mistakenly rejected bona-fide-determination-related Forms I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, submitted without a fee or fee waiver from June 14 through Sept. 29, 2021. Other Forms I-765 may have been accepted with an unnecessary fee.

On June 14, USCIS implemented a bona fide determination process for certain U nonimmigrant status principal petitioners and qualifying family members living in the U.S. to receive employment authorization and deferred action. Under this policy, there is no fee associated with the initial bona-fide-determination-related Form I-765 filed under 8 CFR 274a.12(c)(14).

USCIS is working to identify applicants whose fee we accepted in error, and we expect to issue refunds by March 22, 2022. If you believe we accepted your fee in error and you do not receive a refund by March 22, 2022, you may contact USCIS here:

• Vermont Service Center: HotlineFollowupI918I914.vsc@uscis.dhs.gov
• Nebraska Service Center: NSC765C14inquiries@uscis.dhs.gov

We will issue refunds at our discretion.

If we rejected your Form I-765 filed under the (c)(14) eligibility category between June 14 through Sept. 29, 2021 and you did not refile:

Please resubmit the Form I-765 along with the following notices:

• Rejection Notice; and
• Notice informing you of the bona fide determination decision for your case.

If you need to file a Form I-765 to receive a bona fide determination Employment Authorization Document:

We will notify you if you must file a Form I-765 when we determine your pending Form I-918, Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status, is bona fide. You (and your family members) also may file your Form I-765 when we are reviewing petitions from the fiscal year when you filed your Form I-918. We will post which fiscal year we are reviewing for bona fide determinations on the Form I-918 webpage. You should only file Form I-765 after you have received notification from us, or when this page indicates we are reviewing petitions for the fiscal year of your receipt date. This will make the Form I-765 and U visa bona fide determination process more efficient.

For more information on the bona fide determination process, please visit the USCIS Policy Manual.

Alert: The settlement agreement in Vangala v. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 4:20-cv-08143 (N.D. Cal.), provides that any filing fees, including those for accompanying requests (such as Form I-765), will be the fee that would have been required at the time of the Original Receipt Date, the date on which USCIS received a benefit request that was then rejected pursuant to the No Blank Space Rejection Policy.

The settlement agreement in Vangala v. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 4:20-cv-08143 (N.D. Cal.), provides that any filing fees, including those for accompanying requests (such as Form I-765), will be the fee that would have been required at the time of the Original Receipt Date, the date on which USCIS received a benefit request that was then rejected pursuant to the No Blank Space Rejection Policy.

If you wish to submit a Form I-765 associated with a filing in which the receipt date is backdated in accordance with Vangala, you must submit the current version of Form I-765. Eligibility requirements as of the date of your backdated Form I-589 receipt notice will apply to your request and you must also include a copy of your new backdated Form I-589 receipt notice reflecting the earlier date.

For applicants submitting Form I-765 requesting an initial employment authorization document under category (c)(8), Applicant for Asylum and for Withholding or Removal, after Aug. 25, 2020, a biometric services fee of $85 is required, unless you are a CASA or ASAP member (see the "Update: Preliminary Injunction Impacting CASA and ASAP Members" section below). If you would have been eligible to submit Form I-765 under category (c)(8) before Aug. 25, 2020, based on your new receipt date under Vangala, the biometric services fee is not required.

Mail your completed Form I-765 and supporting documents, including a copy of your backdated Form I-589 receipt notice (or, if you are a dependent included on your parent or spouse's Form I-589, a copy of the backdated Form I-589 receipt notice sent to the principal asylum applicant), to the applicable filing address in the "Where to File" section below. Each Form I-765 must contain its own copy of the backdated Form I-589 receipt notice.

Alert: USCIS is implementing the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland's Sept. 11 preliminary injunction in Casa de Maryland Inc. et. al. v. Chad Wolf et. al.

Certain aliens who are in the United States may file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, to request employment authorization and an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Other aliens whose immigration status authorizes them to work in the United States without restrictions may also use Form I-765 to apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for an EAD that shows such authorization.

File Online

What This Form Can Help You Do

Form Details

Dates are listed in mm/dd/yy format.

The filing address depends on your reason for applying and the eligibility category you entered in Question 27. Please check the filing locations for Form I-765  for a list of addresses. If you are a replacing a card that has incorrect information, please see the Special Instructions provided below. If you file at a lockbox, read our filing tips.

Don't forget to sign your form.We will reject and return any unsigned form.

$410.

You may be exempt from paying the filing fee. See the form instructions for more information.

You must pay an $85 biometric services fee if you are filing with one of the following eligibility categories:

• (c)(8) An applicant with a pending asylum application requesting an initial or renewal EAD;
• (c)(33) Requesting consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA);
• (c)(35) A beneficiary of an approved employment-based immigrant petition and you are facing compelling circumstances;
• (c)(36) A spouse or unmarried dependent child of a beneficiary of an employment-based immigrant petition who is facing compelling circumstances; or
• (c)(37) An applicant for Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) long-term resident status.

Note to (c)(33) and (c)(37) filers: There is no fee waiver for your Form I-765 base fee ($410) or biometric fee ($85).

There is no biometric services fee for any other eligibility category.

You may pay the fee with a money order, personal check or cashier's check.  When filing at a USCIS Lockbox facility, you may also pay by credit card using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions. If you pay by check, you must make your check payable to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Service centers are not able to process credit card payments.

When you send a payment, you agree to pay for a government service. Filing and biometric services fees are final and non-refundable, regardless of any action we take on your application, petition, or request, or if you withdraw your request. Use our Fee Calculator to help determine your fee.

View the checklist of required initial evidence.

Replacing a Card That Has Incorrect Information

• If the card we issued to you contains incorrect information that is not due to our error, you must use the filing locations for Form I-765 associated with your eligibility category.
• If the card we issued to you contains incorrect information that is due to our error, you do not need to file a new Form I-765 and filing fee. Instead, you must submit a letter explaining the error and evidence to show what the correct information should be, along with the card containing the error, to the service center or National Benefits Center that approved your most recent Form I-765. Your approval notice will indicate which location approved your application.  Please check the filing locations for Form I-765 under the heading "Replacement for Card Error" for a list of addresses.

Note to LRIF Applicants: If you are filing Form I-765 as an adjustment of status applicant based on Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF), you should write "(c)(9)" as your eligibility category in Part 2, Item Number 27 on your Form I-765. See our LRIF page for more information on adjustment of status based on LRIF.

Note to DACA requestors: To be considered for DACA, you must file:

• Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals;
• Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization;
• Form I-765 Worksheet; and
• The correct fee.

Note to U Petitioners: If you are a principal U nonimmigrant petitioner, you are authorized to work based on your status. After we approve the underlying petition for U nonimmigrant status, we will issue you an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). This means you will not need to file Form I-765.

If you are a derivative family member residing inside the United States, you are also authorized to work based on your status. After we approve the underlying petition for derivative U nonimmigrant status, we will not issue you an EAD. This means you will need to file Form I-765.

We can only issue EADs for principals and derivatives after we approve the underlying U nonimmigrant status petition, regardless of when you file Form I-765.

If you live in the U.S., you may receive employment authorization and deferred action if you have a pending bona fide petition and meet certain discretionary standards. We will issue a notice if you need to file a Form I-765 for employment authorization associated with a bona fide determination.

If the statutory cap is reached in a fiscal year and we use the waiting list process described at 8 CFR 214.14(d)(2), petitioners for U nonimmigrant status and derivatives in the United States can apply for employment authorization using Form I-765 based on deferred action. We can only approve an application for employment authorization based on deferred action after DHS has deferred action in your case, regardless of when you file Form I-765.

Note to Asylum Applicants: If you are an asylum applicant, please refer to our Asylum page for more information, including information about the effect of applicant-caused delays on your Form I-765 adjudication.

E-Notification: To receive a text message and/or email when we accept your Form I-765, complete Form G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance, and attach it to the front of the first application in the package.

Where Can I File for a Work Permit

Source: https://www.uscis.gov/i-765

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