Supporting Documents Needed While Filing the EAD Application

While mailing your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) application to the USCIS, you must also submit:

  • A copy of Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record (front and back), if available. If you are filing the EAD application under the(c)(9) category, an I-94 record need not submitted.
  • A copy of your last EAD. If no prior EAD has been issued, you have to submit a copy of a federal government issued identity document, such as a passport showing your picture, name, and date of birth; a birth certificate with photo ID, a visa issued by a foreign consulate; or a National ID document with photo and/or fingerprint. The identity document photocopy must clearly show the facial features of the applicant and the biographical information.
  • Two identical color photographs of yourself. It should have been taken within 30 days prior to filing of the I-765 application. The photos should be per the specifications mentioned by the USCIS. Lightly print your name and Alien Receipt Number on the back of the photo with a pencil or a felt pen.

If you are required to show economic necessity for your category, you have to submit a list of your assets, income and expenses.

Special Filing Instructions for Those With Pending Asylum Applications ((c)(8)):

Asylum Applicants (with a pending asylum application) who filed for asylum on or after January 4, 1995 have to wait at least 150 days following the filing of his/her asylum claim before he/she is eligible to apply for an EAD. Your EAD application will be denied if you file early. Along with the application, submit:

  • a copy of the USCIS acknowledgment notification that was mailed to you; or
  • evidence that you filed Form I-589 with USCIS; or
  • evidence that you filed Form I-589 with an Immigration Judge at the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR); or
  • evidence that your asylum application is under administrative or judicial review.

Asylum applicants with a pending application who filed for Asylum and for Withholding of Deportation before January 4, 1995 and who are NOT in Exclusion or Deportation Proceedings may file the EAD application at any time. But note that it will be granted only if USCIS understands that the application is not frivolous. Along with your EAD application, submit:

  • a copy of your previously filed Form I-589; AND
  • a copy of your USCIS receipt notice; or
  • a copy of the USCIS acknowledgment notification; or
  • evidence that you filed Form I-589 with EOIR; or
  • evidence that your asylum application is under administrative or judicial review; or
  • a copy of the USCIS acknowledgment notification

Asylum applicants (with a pending asylum application) who filed an Initial Request for Asylum before January 4, 1995, and ARE IN Exclusion or Deportation Proceedings:

If you filed your Request for Asylum and Withholding of Deportation (Form I-589) before January 4, 1995 and you ARE IN exclusion or deportation proceedings, you have to send the following documents along with your EAD application:

  • a date-stamped copy of your previously filed Form I-589; or
  • a copy of Form I-221, Order to Show Cause and Notice of Hearing, or Form I-122, Notice to Applicant for Admission Detained for Hearing Before Immigration Judge; or
  • a copy of EOIR-26, Notice of Appeal, date stamped by the Office of the Immigration Judge; or
  • a date-stamped copy of a petition for judicial review or for habeas corpus issued to the asylum applicant; or
  • evidence that you filed an asylum application with EOIR.