USCIS temporarily extends immigrant work permits

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Tuesday that immigrant workers would be allowed to use their expired work permits for an additional 18 months.

The extension outlined in a Temporary Final Rule that took effect Wednesday and is part of a government effort to reduce backlogs of 1.5 million applications.

Work permits are typically valid for two years and are automatically extended for 180 days to allow immigrants to work while they wait for renewals. The Temporary Final Rule will increase the extension period for certain work permits by an additional 360 days. The new policy will last for 18 months until Oct. 27 of next year, when the extension period will return to 180 days.