End of EAD Automatic Extensions (RIN 1615-AD05) Tracker: Who Is Affected, the Final Rule, Litigation

Current status (October 14, 2026): The final rule ending automatic extensions of work permits was published in the Federal Register on October 14, 2026 (document 2026-20955, Federal Register text) and took effect the same day. It adopts paragraphs (d) and (e) of 8 CFR 274a.13 from the October 30, 2025 interim rule (RIN 1615-AD05, document 2025-19702) as final, "without change."

This page tracks RIN 1615-AD05 and nothing else. The same number is used from the interim rule through the final rule. For a more detailed look at where the rule draws its lines and whether your category is affected, see this article. Here we only record how far it has gotten.

What will this rule change?

This isn't a change that's coming; it has already happened, and on October 14, 2026 it was locked in as a final rule, word for word. The Interim Final Rule (IFR) said the following, and the final rule carries it over as is:

EAD renewals filed on or after October 30, 2025, no longer get an automatic extension. Once the expiration date printed on the card passes, your work authorization stops, and it stays stopped until the new card is approved. Before, filing a renewal let you keep using the card for up to 540 more days.
What counts is the date the renewal was filed, not the card's expiration date. Renewals filed before October 30, 2025, still get the original up to 540 days. The rule is not retroactive.
It does not affect extensions provided separately by law or by Federal Register notice, mainly TPS (Temporary Protected Status)-related EADs.
The regulation changed is 8 CFR 274a.13: paragraph (d) now limits the 540 days to renewals filed before that date, and a new paragraph (e) states that renewals filed after it get no automatic extension.

There were 18 categories that used to get automatic extensions. The ones that matter most to Chinese readers are c09 (EAD while an I-485 green card application is pending) and c26 (H-4 EAD for H-1B spouses), plus a17 / a18 (spouses of E and L-1 workers).

The final rule is the same as the interim version. The White House review outcome in September was "Consistent with Change," but in the text published on October 14 the two paragraphs are unchanged; what changed is the responses to the 653 comments.

Timeline

2025-10-29: The interim final rule was sent to OIRA for review and concluded the same day, outcome "Consistent with Change" (OIRA review record)
2025-10-30: The interim final rule was published in the Federal Register and took effect the same day: 90 FR 48799, document number 2025-19702, docket number USCIS-2025-0271 (Federal Register text)
2025-12-01: The public comment period closed. As of the May 8, 2026 sync, regulations.gov showed 653 comments (comment docket)
2026-04-20: An EAD renewal applicant, suing under a pseudonym, sued USCIS in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, case number 1:26-cv-01336, challenging this interim rule (court docket)
2026-05-19: The plaintiff asked the court to stay the rule and to restore the 540-day automatic extension for people who filed renewals after October 30, 2025 (motion)
2026-06-02: The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case. The court made no ruling on the rule itself (court docket)
2026-06-23: The final rule was sent to OIRA for review, marked economically significant and a "Major" rule (OIRA review record)
2026-08-14: The 2026 Unified Agenda was published. 1615-AD05 is listed at the "Final Rule Stage," with final action expected in July 2026 (agenda entry)
2026-09-09: The final rule cleared OIRA review, outcome "Consistent with Change" (OIRA review record)
2026-09-24: A Federal Register search by RIN still returned only the 2025 interim rule. That day's Public Inspection list had no USCIS documents (Federal Register Public Inspection)
2026-10-13: The final rule (document 2026-20955) was filed with the Federal Register and appeared on the Public Inspection list, scheduled for publication on October 14 (Public Inspection PDF)
2026-10-14: The final rule was published and took effect the same day. The text says it "adopts as final, without change" the interim rule, after DHS reviewed 653 comments (Federal Register)

Which sources we checked

Source	What we checked	Result (2026-09-24; final rule row: 2026-10-14)
Federal Register API	All documents under RIN 1615-AD05	1 document: 2025-19702 (interim final rule)
Federal Register full-text search	Documents since 2025 mentioning automatic extension of employment authorization	5 documents. Other than 2025-19702, all are TPS notices and the F/J fixed-period-of-stay rule; none changes this rule
Federal Register Public Inspection	Documents queued for publication today	No USCIS documents
reginfo.gov OIRA review	All review records for this number	2 records: interim rule concluded 2025-10-29; final rule received 2026-06-23, concluded 2026-09-09
reginfo.gov Unified Agenda	Agenda entries	Listed at the final rule stage in the 2026 agenda; this number does not appear in the Spring 2025 agenda
reginfo.gov EO 12866 meetings	Whether outside groups met with OIRA	None found, 0 entries
regulations.gov (via Federal Register API)	Number of comments	653 (synced 2026-05-08)
CourtListener federal court dockets	Lawsuits directly challenging this rule	Found 1 case specifically challenging it (1:26-cv-01336), voluntarily dismissed 2026-06-02. Filings in several other cases cite this rule; the one we spot-checked (Massachusetts, 1:26-cv-13038) is about other policies such as the annual asylum fee. We did not verify the rest one by one
Final rule text (document 2026-20955)	What was changed	Published 2026-10-14; paragraphs (d) and (e) unchanged; effective on publication

How does this affect you?

The final rule is unchanged and took effect the day it was published, so plan exactly as you have for the past 11 months: you must stop working the day your card expires, with no buffer, so file as soon as the window opens (180 days before expiration).

H-4 spouse working on an H-4 EAD (c26): you are in an affected category. File your renewal as early as possible. USCIS recommends filing within 180 days before expiration; the earlier the better. Paying for premium processing on the principal's H-1B does not speed up your EAD.
I-485 pending and working on an EAD (c09): also affected. If everyone in your family works on I-485-based EADs, everyone needs to time their renewals carefully.
The H-1B worker themselves: your work authorization comes from your H-1B status, not an EAD. This rule doesn't touch you.
L-2 and E spouses: your work authorization already comes with your status. The rule text uses L-2 as an example: after the EAD expires, you can keep working as long as you are still in L-2 status, and you can use an I-94 annotated L-2S as proof. The expired EAD itself just can no longer serve as proof.
Renewal filed before October 30, 2025: you still get up to 540 days. Check the Received Date on your I-797C receipt.
Employer HR: an "expired EAD plus renewal receipt" used to be acceptable for Form I-9. That no longer works for renewals filed after October 30.

What to watch next

Effective date: already passed. The final rule took effect on publication, October 14, 2026. The text waives the usual 60-day wait because it only makes permanent an interim rule already in force.
Whether anything was reversed: nothing was. The text says "without change" for paragraphs (d) and (e). Any claim from before publication that the final version would be looser or stricter should be checked against this text.
New lawsuits: someone may sue now that the final rule is published. The text's severability clause says that if a court finds it can apply only to one category of renewal applicant, the rest should stay in place. We will check federal court dockets and only report cases with a case number.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.