By Marcus Bennett

The US Department of Homeland Security has removed the 540-day grace period that protected immigrants whose work authorisation was pending renewal, according to a report by The Times of India. The decision pulls back one of the longest automatic buffers ever granted to foreign workers in the United States. Workers who relied on that cushion now face a far tighter window between expiry and renewal.

The 540-day measure had allowed immigrants to keep working legally while US Citizenship and Immigration Services processed their employment authorisation renewal applications. Without it, the standard processing gap returns to the centre of every renewal timeline.

Who is affected by the removal?

The change touches immigrants already inside the US employment system rather than new applicants at consulates abroad. Anyone holding a work permit whose renewal application is still pending now depends on how quickly the agency can issue a decision before the existing document expires.

The practical chain works like this:

• A worker files a renewal application for an employment authorisation document.
• The current permit carries an expiry date fixed at issuance.
• Under the 540-day rule, that worker could continue in post while the renewal moved through the queue.
• With the grace period removed, that automatic continuation disappears.

What does this change for workers and employers?

The reader's practical question is straightforward: what does this change for someone whose permit expires soon? The answer is timing. Renewal filing dates become the single most important date on a worker's calendar, because a gap between expiry and approval can now interrupt lawful employment.

Employers carry their own exposure. A staff member whose authorisation lapses mid-renewal may become unauthorised to work through no fault of their own, placing the burden of verification on hiring managers and HR teams.

Immigration analysts have warned for years that processing backlogs, not policy text, decide outcomes for work-permit holders. The 540-day window existed precisely because agency queues ran longer than permit validity in many categories. Its removal returns those workers to the backlog arithmetic.

Where does the decision come from?

The Department of Homeland Security issued the change directly, without requiring new legislation. The agency has not framed the move as a cap on immigration numbers; it adjusts how long a pending renewal protects an existing worker rather than how many permits the government issues.

The Times of India, which first reported the development, framed it as a removal of protection for immigrants after their work authorisation rather than a broader restriction on entry or visas.

What should readers watch next?

Anyone holding or advising on a US work permit should track two things: the official Federal Register notice from the Department of Homeland Security, which sets out the exact effective date and any transition rules, and the current published processing times for renewal applications.

Passport File does not provide individual legal advice. Workers with pending renewals should consult the Department of Homeland Security and US Citizenship and Immigration Services official channels for the authoritative terms of the change before making employment decisions.