On February 20, the Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule that would fundamentally restructure how asylum seekers get work authorization in the United States. The rule hasn't been finalized. There's a 60-day public comment period. But if it goes through as written, it would be one of the most significant changes to asylum-based employment authorization in decades.
The practical impact: hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers who currently qualify for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) would face dramatically longer waits, new eligibility bars, and a built-in pause mechanism that DHS itself estimates could freeze new applications for 14 to 173 years. The agency wrote that number into its own filing.
What the Rule Actually Does
The proposal has four major components, each of which independently restricts access to work permits. Together, they would effectively shut down asylum-based employment authorization for new applicants.
1. The waiting period more than doubles. Under current rules, asylum seekers can apply for an EAD 150 days after filing a complete asylum application and typically receive one at 180 days. The proposed rule would extend the waiting period to 365 days, a full year before you can even submit the application.
2. USCIS gets six months to decide instead of 30 days. Currently, USCIS must process initial asylum-based EAD applications within 30 days. The proposed rule would give the agency 180 days to make a decision. Combined with the one-year wait to apply, an asylum seeker could realistically wait 18 months or longer before receiving work authorization.
3. The automatic pause. If USCIS's average processing time for affirmative asylum cases exceeds 180 days over any 90-day period, the agency would be required to pause acceptance of all new initial EAD applications from asylum seekers. Current affirmative asylum processing times are well beyond 180 days. The backlog stands at roughly 1.2 million cases. DHS acknowledged in the filing that this pause could last anywhere from 14 to 173 years, depending on future filing volumes.
In practical terms, the pause would take effect almost immediately upon finalization and remain in place indefinitely.
4. New eligibility bars. The rule would deny work authorization to asylum seekers who:
- Entered the U.S. without inspection and did not express fear of persecution to border authorities within 48 hours. (Local enforcement cooperation is also expanding rapidly in the Houston area.)
- Filed their asylum application more than one year after arrival without an accepted exception.
- Have certain criminal histories or "derogatory information," even without convictions.
DHS estimates at least 96,000 people per year would be newly barred from work eligibility under these expanded restrictions alone.
The Numbers DHS Published About Its Own Rule
The Federal Register filing includes DHS's own estimates of the economic harm to asylum seekers. The agency acknowledged that affected individuals could lose billions of dollars in aggregate earnings. It also acknowledged that asylum seekers denied work authorization may face "homelessness, hunger, or pressure to return to dangerous conditions."
The filing frames these outcomes as acceptable trade-offs, arguing that jobs held by asylum seekers would instead go to American workers. Whether that actually happens depends on labor market dynamics that the filing doesn't deeply analyze. But the fact that the agency published these projections gives a clear picture of what the rule is designed to do.
Between the extended wait times, the pause mechanism, the biometrics requirements, and the new eligibility bars, DHS estimates the rule would affect between 266,000 and 938,000 asylum-based EAD applicants per year.
What This Means for Pending Cases
The rule is a proposed regulation, not a final one. The 60-day public comment period opened when it was published in the Federal Register on February 23. Finalization typically takes months or longer, and legal challenges are expected.
For asylum seekers with pending EAD applications or existing work permits, the immediate impact is limited. (If you're facing removal proceedings, the calculus is different.) The rule would apply prospectively to new applications filed after the effective date. But for anyone who hasn't yet applied, the timeline just got significantly more uncertain.
The biometrics requirement adds another layer. Under the proposal, all initial and renewal applicants must complete biometrics or face automatic denial. For asylum seekers without stable addresses or reliable access to USCIS offices, that's a procedural hurdle that could be difficult to clear.
What to Do Now
If you have a pending asylum case, three things matter right now.
File your EAD application if you're eligible. If you've passed the 150-day mark and haven't yet applied for work authorization, do it now. Applications filed under the current rules before any final rule takes effect would still be processed under the existing framework.
Don't let your EAD lapse. If you have a current work permit and it's approaching expiration, file your renewal as early as possible. The proposed rule's biometrics and processing changes would apply to renewals as well.
Submit a public comment. The 60-day comment period is the formal channel for opposing or supporting the rule. Comments that include specific factual information about how the rule would affect real people carry more weight than form letters. You can submit comments through the Federal Register page.
This rule isn't final, but for asylum seekers who depend on work authorization to survive while their cases move through a system with a million-case backlog, the window to act under current rules is narrowing.
Chris Hammond is a Houston immigration attorney. If you have questions about your asylum case or work authorization, schedule a consultation.