On December 28, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting expedite requests from qualifying healthcare workers with pending Employment Authorization Document (EAD) renewal applications (Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization).

You may request expedited processing if:

• You are a qualifying healthcare worker (see the “Healthcare/Public Health” section on pages 7-9 of this Department of Homeland Security advisory memorandum to see if you qualify), and
• Your EAD will expire within 30 days or has already expired.

To request an expedite, call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833). You should be prepared to provide evidence that you are a qualifying healthcare worker. If the evidence you provide is insufficient, USCIS may not expedite your Form I-765.

If USCIS agrees to expedite your pending Form I-765, it will prioritize your form and issue a decision faster than published processing times. It does not guarantee that USCIS will approve your form.

More Information

Visit USCIS’ Expedite Request page for detailed information about how to expedite the adjudication of a benefit request and the USCIS Response to COVID-19 page for details about flexibilities to assist the public in responding to agency requests.

The CIS Ombudsman is committed to meeting with stakeholders and USCIS to address concerns related to expedite requests. We will share additional updates on this topic when available. For more information on our office, please visit www.dhs.gov/cisombudsman or follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Please complete the CIS Ombudsman Customer Satisfaction Survey. We appreciate your feedback.

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