Healthcare Workers may apply for expedited EAD processing

Published: January 4, 2022

Healthcare workers play a critical role as the nation faces the COVID-19 pandemic. A large portion of the United States’ survivability and stability depends on their safe, continuous, and productive operations. As such, the government, including the USCIS, promotes measures that support citizen and immigrant healthcare workers’ employment and overall well-being.

Expedited Processing, Meaning

Please note that expedited processing means that the USCIS will process the application faster. It does not mean that an applicant may skip procedural or documentary requirements. For inquiries, please get in touch with an immigration lawyer.

Applicable Circumstances

As of December 28, 2021, the USCIS allows the expedited processing of healthcare workers’ Employment Authorization Document (EAD). This rule applies to healthcare workers with the following circumstances:

• pending EAD renewal application
• EAD expiring in 30 days or less
• expired EAD

To qualify for the expedited processing, an applicant healthcare worker must provide proof of profession or current employment. USCIS may not accommodate applicants who cannot provide sufficient evidence.

Eligible Healthcare Workers

The healthcare workers eligible for expedited processing include the following but are not limited to:

• Physicians (MD/DO/DPM); dentists; psychologists; midlevel practitioners; nurses; emergency medical services personnel, assistants and aids; infection control and quality assurance personnel; phlebotomists; pharmacists; physical, respiratory, speech and occupational therapists and assistants; social workers; optometrists; speech pathologists; chiropractors; diagnostic and therapeutic technicians; and radiology technologists.
• Healthcare workers who perform critical clinical, biomedical and other research, development, and testing needed for COVID-19 or other diseases.
• Healthcare workers who perform services needed for effective clinical, command, infrastructure, support service, administrative, security, and intelligence operations across the direct patient care and full healthcare and public health spectrum.

For a complete list of eligible healthcare workers, please check the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) August 10, 2021 Advisory Memorandum on Ensuring Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers’ Ability to Work during the COVID-19 Response, especially the Healthcare / Public Health section on pages 7 to 9.

You Are America’s Hero

We consider healthcare workers as valiant modern-day heroes. If you are one, we will be more than proud to serve you! ALG Lawyers has a team of Los Angeles immigration attorneys you can rely on. Our several years of service and long list of satisfied clients prove our unmatched quality as a legal service provider.