A Form I-766 employment authorization document (EAD; ) or EAD card, known popularly as a work permit, is a document issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that provides temporary employment authorization to noncitizens in the United States.

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (November 2010)

Example EAD cards from 2017 (left) and 2011 (right)

Currently the Form I-766 Employment Authorization Document is issued in the form of a standard credit card-size plastic card enhanced with multiple security features. The card contains some basic information about the immigrant: name, birth date, sex, immigrant category, country of birth, photo, immigrant registration number (also called "A-number"), card number, restrictive terms and conditions, and dates of validity. This document, however, should not be confused with the green card.

To request an Employment Authorization Document, noncitizens who qualify may file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. Applicants must then send the form via mail to the USCIS Regional Service Center that serves their area. If approved, an Employment Authorization Document will be issued for a specific period of time based on alien's immigration situation.

Thereafter, USCIS will issue Employment Authorization Documents in the following categories:

• Renewal Employment Authorization Document: the renewal process takes the same amount of time as a first-time application so the noncitizen may have to plan ahead and request the renewal 3 to 4 months before expiration date.
• Replacement Employment Authorization Document: Replaces a lost, stolen, or mutilated EAD. A replacement Employment Authorization Document also replaces an Employment Authorization Document that was issued with incorrect information, such as a misspelled name.^[1]

For employment-based green card applicants, the priority date needs to be current to apply for Adjustment of Status (I-485) at which time an Employment Authorization Document can be applied for. Typically, it is recommended to apply for Advance Parole at the same time so that visa stamping is not required when re-entering US from a foreign country.

An interim Employment Authorization Document is an Employment Authorization Document issued to an eligible applicant when U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has failed to adjudicate an application within 90 days of receipt of a properly filed Employment Authorization Document applicationwithin 90 days of receipt of a properly filed Employment Authorization Document application^{[citation needed]} or within 30 days of a properly filed initial Employment Authorization Document application based on an asylum application filed on or after January 4, 1995.^[1] The interim Employment Authorization Document will be granted for a period not to exceed 240 days and is subject to the conditions noted on the document.

An interim Employment Authorization Document is no longer issued by local service centers. One can however take an INFOPASS appointment and place a service request at local centers, explicitly asking for it if the application exceeds 90 days and 30 days for asylum applicants without an adjudication.

The eligibility criteria for employment authorization is detailed in the Federal Regulations section 8 C.F.R. §274a.12.^[2] Only aliens who fall under the enumerated categories are eligible for an employment authorization document. Currently, there are more than 40 types of immigration status that make their holders eligible to apply for an Employment Authorization Document card.^[3] Some are nationality-based and apply to a very small number of people. Others are much broader, such as those covering the spouses of E-1, E-2, E-3, or L-1 visa holders.

Undocumented immigrants have been considered a source of low-wage labor, both in the formal and informal sectors of the economy. However, in the late 1980s with an increasing influx of un-regulated immigration, many worried about how this would impact the economy and, at the same time, citizens. Consequently, in 1986, Congress enacted the Immigration Reform and Control Act "in order to control and deter illegal immigration to the United States" resulting increasing patrolling of U.S. borders.^[7] Additionally, the Immigration Reform and Control Act implemented new employment regulations that imposed employer sanctions, criminal and civil penalties "against employers who knowingly [hired] illegal workers".^[8] Prior to this reform, employers were not required to verify the identity and employment authorization of their employees; for the very first time, this reform "made it a crime for undocumented immigrants to work" in the United States.^[9]

The Employment Eligibility Verification document (I-9) was required to be used by employers to "verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States".^[10] While this form is not to be submitted unless requested by government officials, it is required that all employers have an I-9 form from each of their employees, which they must be retain for three years after day of hire or one year after employment is terminated.^[11]

Undocumented Immigrants are individuals in the United States without lawful status. When these individuals qualify for some form of relief from deportation, individuals may qualify for some form of legal status. In this case, temporarily protected noncitizens are those who are granted "the right to remain in the country and work during a designated period". Thus, this is kind of an "in-between status" that provides individuals temporary employment and temporary relief from deportation, but it does not lead to permanent residency or citizenship status.^[1] Therefore, an Employment Authorization Document should not be confused with a legalization document and it is neither U.S. permanent resident status nor U.S. citizenship status. The Employment Authorization Document is given, as mentioned before, to eligible noncitizens as part of a reform or law that gives individuals temporary legal status

• Work permit