Congressman Dan Goldman Pushes to Speed Up Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Process

‘Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act’ Will Shorten Eligibility Wait Period from 180 Days to 30 Days
 
Allow Asylum Seekers to Apply for Approval as Soon as Claim is Filed

Washington, DC – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) today announced he is cosponsoring the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act, to reduce the current 180-day waiting period for work authorization eligibility to only 30-days, allowing any asylum seeker to apply for a work permit as soon as 30 days after applying for asylum.  
 
“As New York and the nation continues to welcome a growing number of asylum seekers, and as many businesses suffer from labor shortages, we must do everything we can to expedite the process through which new arrivals can begin to work in our city,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “When I visited the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center in my district, the most common request from migrants staying there was to get lawful work. Likewise, the business community has expressed a need for more workers. This legislation will cut through burdensome red-tape and address a core issue in our immigration process and our economy.”
 
This legislation will make no changes to any laws or regulations relating to the asylum process, but would have a major impact on new asylum seekers allowing them to obtain work quicker, support themselves and their families while building ties within their community, and contribute to the economy. This  legislation also addresses the bureaucratic backlog by eliminating the unwieldy two-year renewal schedule.
 
Current federal law passed in 1996, requires asylum seekers to wait half-a-year after filing an asylum petition before being able to get authorization to work. The law also requires that, once a person has filed an asylum claim, they must wait a minimum of 150 days before applying for a work authorization, which can be granted no earlier than 180 days after the filing of the asylum claim. Usually, because of technical issues and delays in processing work authorization requests, this time period is often longer.  
 
In May 2022, US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that certain Employment Authorization Document Renewal Applicants’ work permits would be automatically extended for 540 days, as opposed to 180 days which had proven inadequate. This announcement was intended to help avoid gaps in employment for noncitizens with pending work permit renewal applications and stability the continuity of operations for employers.

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