If you have been granted humanitarian parole under Uniting For Ukraine, effective November 21, 2022 you are eligible to work in the United States immediately while you wait for your Employment Authorization Document (EAD). If you were paroled into the U.S. after November 23, 2023 you must apply for and receive employment authorization from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) BEFORE you can work.
This policy applies to Ukrainian parolees whose unexpired Form I-94:
Is marked“UHP”
or
Is marked “DT” and was issued between February 24, 2022, and September 30, 2023
and
Indicates Ukraine as the country of citizenship on the document
While you can work immediately if you were granted parole status before November 23, 2023, to continue to work legally, you still need to submit Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). If your application is approved, you will be issued an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). If you already have an EAD, you do not need to do anything.
How to Apply for an EAD
To apply for employment authorization, you can submit Form I-765 either by mail or online through the USCIS website. To file online visit my.uscis.gov, create a USCIS online account and submit Form I-765. There is no cost to create an account, which offers a variety of features, including the ability to communicate with USCIS about your application through a secure inbox. Effective November 21, 2022, there is no fee to submit an INITIAL Form I-765 by mail and effective December 5, 2022, there is no fee to submit the form online.
Information on Applying for Jobs
When you apply for a job, you will be required by the employer to fill out form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Form I-9 includes a list of documents a prospective employee can provide to verify they are eligible to work. Under the new rules, your unexpired Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, with a class of admission (COA) of “UHP” can be substituted for an EAD as a List A document. Within 90 days of hire you must provide your employer with your unexpired Employment Authorization Document (EAD). When your EAD expires, you must provide an updated document to show your eligibility to continue working in the United States. USCIS will provide additional guidance to employers about completion of Form I-9.
If a potential employer insists they need your EAD or isn’t aware of this new change, parolees can share this link to the USCIS website that explains the change: https://www.e-verify.gov/about-e-verify/whats-new/certain-afghan-and-ukrainian-parolees-are-employment-authorized-incident.
If they still do not accept the substitute document, call the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section's (IER) toll-free Worker Hotline at 1-800-255-7688 [Voice] or 1-800-237-2515 [TTY]. IER helps workers by calling employers and explaining proper verification practices. Interpretation is available on the hotline upon request.
https://www.justice.gov/crt/immigrant-and-employee-rights-section
For more information, visit: https://www.uscis.gov/ukraine
If you need help or have any questions, you can call the International Rescue Committee's Virtual Resettlement Line at +1 (212) 551-3010 to speak with Ukrainian-speaking staff or email VRL@rescue.org. The support line hours are Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time (EST/EDT).