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Impacted Employers: All employers with employees holding Temporary Protected Status (TPS)-based Employment Authorization Documents (EADs),
Effective Dates: Policy clarification published March 13, 2026; impacts TPS-based EAD renewal filings made before and after July 22, 2025, as described below.
Summary:United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has clarified that, in light of the “Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R.1), automatic extensions of work authorization for TPS-based EAD renewal applicants are now capped at one year (365 days). USCIS takes the position that the cap is retroactive,
Next Steps:
Employers and TPS beneficiaries should be aware that TPS policy continues to shift rapidly and remains the subject of ongoing litigation. Given the complexity of TPS programs, evolving litigation, and USCIS’s partially retroactive interpretation of H.R. 1, employers should consult counsel regarding particular employee scenarios, appropriate I‑9 notations, and any alternative employment authorization pathways.
ADP® will continue to monitor and report future developments.
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Background
On Oct. 30, 2025, USCIS issued a final rule eliminating automatic extensions of EADs for renewal applicants who timely filed Form I‑765. Prior to that rule, many EAD renewal applicants received automatic extensions of up to 540 days while their renewals were pending.
TPS-based EAD renewals are treated differently. H.R. 1 mandates that all TPS benefits, including renewals and any automatic extensions, be limited to one year. As a result, TPS-based EAD renewal applications filed between July 22, 2025, and Oct. 29, 2025, are limited to a maximum automatic extension of one year (or the remaining duration of the TPS designation, if shorter), instead of the previously available 540 days.
USCIS Clarification - Partial Retroactivity
USCIS posted a brief news update on its I‑9 Central website directed at TPS beneficiaries clarifying how it interprets the interaction between H.R. 1’s one‑year limitation on TPS benefits; and the prior 540‑day automatic extension rule that applied to renewal filings made before the Oct. 30, 2025, final rule. DHS is taking the position that H.R.1 is partially retroactive.
According to USCIS:
“If you have a TPS-based EAD and maintain TPS status, and your renewal application was pending on or filed after July 22 but before Oct. 30, 2025, your automatic extension is limited by H.R. 1 to 1 year or the duration of TPS, whichever is shorter. You cannot claim the full 540-day extension, even if it is listed on your Form I-797C notice. Please note: if the Form I-797C receipt notice has a “Received Date” of July 21, 2025, or earlier, the up-to-540-day automatic extension applies; however, any part of this extension that falls after July 22, 2025, cannot last longer than 1 year from this date or for the duration of the TPS designation period, whichever is shorter.”
Calculating the Automatic Extension for Pre–July 22, 2025, Filings
The brief USCIS news update does not clearly explain how to calculate the revised expiration date for TPS-based EAD automatic extensions tied to applications filed before July 22, 2025. The automatic extension of work authorization in this scenario could, for example, end on the earliest of:
· 540 days after the expiration of the previous EAD;
· July 21, 2026; or
· the end of the country’s TPS designation.
Critically, USCIS indicates that this earlier end date applies even where the Form I‑797C Receipt Notice previously issued to the employee states that the individual is entitled to the full 540‑day automatic extension.
Given the lack of clarity in the USCIS news update, impacted employers should discuss the calculation and handling with legal counsel.
Impact to Form I-9
Employers may have completed Form I‑9s for TPS-based EAD holders using expiration dates calculated under the prior 540‑day automatic extension guidance.
Under the new interpretation, some of those documented expiration dates may now extend beyond the permissible period of work authorization, potentially requiring updates or corrections.
Next Steps
Employers and TPS beneficiaries should be aware that TPS policy continues to shift rapidly and remains the subject of ongoing litigation. Given the complexity of TPS programs, evolving litigation, and USCIS’s partially retroactive interpretation of H.R. 1, employers should consult legal counsel regarding particular employee scenarios, appropriate I‑9 notations, and any alternative employment authorization pathways.
ADP® will continue to monitor and report future developments.