What Is DHS Proposing?

The proposed rule makes several major changes to employment authorization for asylum applicants, including:

• Extending the waiting period to apply for work authorization from 180 days to 365 days

• Expanding criminal and entry-based ineligibility grounds

• Requiring biometrics for both initial and renewal applications

• Extending processing times for initial work permits from 30 days to 180 days

• Most significantly, pausing acceptance of new asylum-based work permit applications whenever asylum processing times exceed 180 days

Taken together, these changes would drastically reduce access to lawful employment for people with pending asylum cases.

The Most Significant Change: Automatic Pause of New Work Permits

The rule proposes that USCIS will stop accepting initial asylum-based work permit applications whenever the average processing time for affirmative asylum cases exceeds 180 days over a 90-day period.

USCIS acknowledges in the rule that current processing times already exceed 180 days and that an initial pause would likely be triggered shortly after implementation.

In practical terms:

• If asylum processing times are above 180 days, no new asylum applicants can even file for work authorization.

• The pause remains in place until processing times fall back to 180 days or less.

• USCIS estimates it could take many years to reach that threshold, depending on filing volumes.

This ties access to work authorization directly to backlog conditions that asylum applicants do not control.

Waiting Period Extended to One Full Year

Under current law and regulation, asylum applicants must wait 180 days before applying for work authorization from the date of their application receipt by USCIS. 

The proposed rule would extend that waiting period to 365 calendar days from the date a complete asylum application is received.

This means:

• Even if the pause is not in effect, an applicant must wait a full year before applying.

• If the pause is in effect, the applicant cannot file at all, regardless of how long they have waited.

Processing Timeline Expanded from 30 to 180 Days

Current regulations require USCIS to adjudicate initial asylum-based work permit applications within 30 days.

The proposed rule would extend that to 180 days for initial applications filed after the rule’s effective date.

In combination with the 365-day waiting period, this could result in a minimum 18-month delay before a person is authorized to work, even if no pause is in effect.

New Ineligibility Grounds

The rule expands who is barred from receiving work authorization.

Among the proposed ineligibility categories:

• Individuals who may be subject to certain criminal bars to asylum

• Individuals whose asylum applications are denied before the work permit is adjudicated

• Individuals who filed asylum more than one year after entry without an exception

• Individuals who entered without inspection on or after the rule’s effective date, unless narrow exceptions apply

These provisions introduce new screening layers and broaden discretionary denial authority.

Mandatory Biometrics for Initial and Renewal Applications

The rule would require biometrics submission for both initial and renewal asylum-based work permit applications.

Failure to appear would result in denial.

While biometrics are common in other immigration contexts, applying them categorically to renewals increases administrative hurdles and may create additional denials based on missed appointments.

Automatic Termination of Work Authorization

The proposal also expands automatic termination rules.

Work authorization would terminate:

• Immediately after denial by an asylum officer, unless the case is referred to immigration court

• 30 days after an immigration judge denies asylum, unless an appeal is filed

• Immediately upon dismissal of an appeal by the Board of Immigration Appeals

This shortens the period of work authorization stability during litigation.

DHS’s Justification

The rule states that its goals are to:

• Enhance benefit integrity

• Address national security and public safety concerns

• Reduce incentives for frivolous asylum filings

• Alleviate strain on agency resources

DHS argues that asylum-based work authorization has functioned as a magnet encouraging meritless filings and that tightening eligibility will reduce backlog pressure.

Practical Consequences

If finalized as written, the rule would:

• Leave many asylum applicants without lawful income for extended periods

• Increase reliance on family, community, or informal labor markets

• Increase housing and economic instability

• Shift economic burden to local governments and nonprofits

• Create operational instability for employers who rely on asylum applicant labor

Because the pause mechanism is tied to asylum processing times, and because those times currently exceed 180 days, the rule could function as a near-total freeze on new asylum-based work authorization for years.

Broader Structural Shift

Historically, asylum-based work authorization has been treated as a temporary but predictable bridge while cases are adjudicated.

This rule reframes work authorization as:

• Conditional

• Discretionary

• Tethered to system-wide backlog metrics

• Potentially unavailable for extended periods regardless of individual case merit

The result is not simply a longer wait time.

It is a structural redefinition of whether asylum applicants can lawfully support themselves while pursuing protection claims.

Bottom Line

This proposed rule would transform asylum-based work authorization from a delayed administrative benefit into a highly restricted and backlog-contingent privilege.

If implemented as written:

• Many asylum seekers will be unable to work legally for prolonged periods.

• Access to work authorization will fluctuate based on USCIS backlog metrics.

• The economic and humanitarian consequences will extend beyond immigration courtrooms into communities, employers, and state economies.

This proposal warrants careful public scrutiny and substantial policy debate before finalization.