President Extends EADs for Qualified Liberian Nationals

On Sept. 28, President Barack Obama issued a memorandum to Secretary of Homeland Security  Jeh Johnson directing him to extend for an additional 18 months the deferred enforced departure (DED) of certain Liberians and to provide them with work authorization during that period. The DED extension runs from Oct. 1, 2016, through March 31, 2018. If your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) has an expiration date of Sept. 30, 2016, and states ‘‘A–11’’under ‘‘Category,’’ it has been extended automatically for 6 months. You may choose to present your EAD to your employer as proof of identity and employment authorization for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, through March 31, 2017.

After Sept. 30, 2016, your employer will need to ask you about your continued employment authorization. However, your employer does not need a new document to reverify your employment authorization until March 31, 2017, which is the expiration date of the automatic extension. Instead, you and your employer must make corrections to the employment authorization expiration dates in Section 1 and Section 2 of Form I–9. For more information on correcting Section 1 and Section 2 of Form I-9, please visit I-9 Central at www.uscis.gov/i-9-central.

Completing Section 1

New Employee

Employees should:

• Check “An alien authorized to work;”
• Write their Alien Number (USCIS number or A-Number) in the first space. (Alien numbers are printed on EADs and also can be found on notices from USCIS); and
• Write the date that the automatic extension of employment authorization ends (March 31, 2017) in the second space.

Existing Employee

If a DED beneficiary previously completed Form I-9 and presented an EAD that has been automatically extended, have the employee correct Section 1 by:

• Drawing a line through the expiration date of his or her employment authorization noted in the attestation;
• Writing the date the automatic extension of employment authorization ends (March 31, 2017) as the expiration date; and
• Initialing and dating the correction in the margin of Section 1.

Completing Section 2

 New Employees

If a new employee presents an unexpired EAD, employers should follow the procedure in Completing Section 2 on I-9 Central.

If a DED beneficiary presents an EAD with an expiration date that has passed but the EAD has been automatically extended, the employer should:

• Record the document title;
• Record the document number; and
• Record the date the automatic extension of employment authorization ends (March 31, 2017) as the expiration date.

Existing Employees

If an existing employee who is a DED beneficiary presented an EAD when first completing Form I-9 and the EAD has been automatically extended, the employer should:

• Draw a line through the expiration date for the EAD written in Section 2;
• Write the new date that the automatic extension of employment authorization ends (March 31, 2017) above the previous date;
•  Initial and date the correction in the margin of Section 2; and
• Write “DED Ext.” in the margin of Section 2.

The Handbook for Employers: Instructions for Completing Form I-9 (M-274) (PDF) provides additional guidance.

Completing Section 3 at the End of the Automatic Extension

Once the automatic extension of the EAD expires (March 31, 2017), employers must reverify the employee’s employment authorization in Section 3. The employee may choose to present his or her new EAD, or any document from List A or C of Form I-9 that shows he or she continues to be authorized to work in the United States.

E-Verify Employers

E-Verify will automate the verification process for employees whose DED will be automatically extended. If you have an employee covered under DED who provided a DED-related EAD when he or she first started working for you, you may receive a “Work Authorization Documents Expiring” case alert when the automatic extension of this EAD is about to expire. By March 31, 2017, you must reverify employment authorization in Section 3 of your employee’s Form I-9. Employers should not use E-Verify for reverification.