Can I Get Fired If My Work Permit Expires?

Yes, you can be fired if your work permit expires. Federal law requires your employer to stop employing you once they know your work authorization has ended, so an expired Employment Authorization Document (EAD) with nothing to replace it generally means the job stops. What the law does not require is instant termination the moment the date on your card passes. Your employer has to try to re-verify your status first, and depending on when you filed your renewal, you may still be authorized to work for a period after the printed expiration date.

Why Your Employer Has to Act

The rule comes from a single federal statute. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1324a, it is unlawful for an employer to “continue to employ the alien in the United States knowing the alien is (or has become) an unauthorized alien with respect to such employment.”¹ The expiration date on your work permit is the moment your employer gains that knowledge for documented workers. From that point, they must either confirm you are still authorized or end the employment relationship.

The financial and criminal exposure sits on the employer, not you, which is why most companies treat re-verification deadlines seriously and act quickly when a card is about to expire.

The Re-verification Step Before Any Firing

Every employer completes a Form I-9 when they hire you. When your work authorization document carries an expiration date, a second step kicks in later: re-verification, done on Supplement B of Form I-9 (formerly called Section 3). Your employer must complete it on or before the date your authorization expires.²

To keep working, you present a valid, unexpired document from either List A (documents that prove both identity and work authorization) or List C (work authorization alone) on the Form I-9 acceptable documents list. Your employer records the new document in Supplement B, and you continue on the job.²

One point matters here: your employer cannot tell you which document to bring. If you present any valid document from the acceptable lists and it reasonably appears genuine, the employer must accept it.² Demanding a specific document is treated as an unfair documentary practice under federal anti-discrimination law.

Does a Pending Renewal Keep You Working?

This is where the rules changed significantly, and the answer depends on when you filed your renewal.

If You Filed Before October 30, 2025

Renewal applications filed before October 30, 2025, in an eligible EAD category may still qualify for an automatic extension of up to 540 days. The extension runs from the expiration date on your EAD and lasts until USCIS decides your application or 540 days pass, whichever comes first. To prove it to your employer, you present your expired EAD together with your Form I-797C receipt notice for the pending renewal. That combination counts as a valid List A document for the Form I-9.³

Not every category qualifies, and the code on your I-797C must match the code on your expiring EAD.³

If You Filed On or After October 30, 2025

DHS eliminated automatic extensions for new renewal applications on October 30, 2025.⁴ If you file on or after that date, your EAD expires on the date printed on the card. Filing a renewal does not extend it.⁵ Any gap between your expiration date and the arrival of your new EAD is a period when you are not authorized to work and your employer cannot legally keep you employed.

Two narrow exceptions still exist. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders can still receive EAD extensions through country-specific Federal Register notices or individual USCIS notices. F-1 students applying for a STEM OPT extension still get an automatic 180-day extension of their employment authorization while the application is pending.⁵ Outside these two situations, you need your new EAD in hand before you can work.

USCIS allows you to file a renewal up to 180 days before your current EAD expires.⁶ With automatic extensions gone for most applicants, that 180-day head start is the main protection you have against a gap.

What Happens If You Cannot Prove Authorization

If your permit expires and you have nothing valid to present, your employer has to stop letting you work. The statute is clear, and there is no grace period written into the law.

Some employers explore placing an employee on unpaid leave rather than terminating, hoping the new EAD arrives soon. DHS has not issued formal guidance on whether this is lawful. The argument in favor is that someone on unpaid leave is not providing services for wages and therefore may not be an “employee” under the statute. Many immigration attorneys still consider full termination the safer route for the employer. If yours takes that approach, the relationship is not necessarily over.

Getting Rehired After the Gap

Once you have valid work authorization again, your former employer can rehire you. When the rehire happens within three years of the original Form I-9, the employer has two options: complete a new Form I-9, or use Supplement B of the existing one.² Either way, you will present an unexpired List A or List C document showing your renewed authorization.

Your employer is not required to hold your position or bring you back. Many prefer to rehire a known, trained employee over recruiting someone new, especially when the gap is short, but that is a preference, not a right you can enforce.

What Your Employer Cannot Do

Federal anti-discrimination law protects you throughout re-verification. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b, employers with four or more workers cannot discriminate against work-authorized people based on citizenship status or national origin in hiring, firing, or document verification.⁷ In practice, your employer cannot:

Demand a specific document when you have offered a valid one from the acceptable lists.
Ask for more documents than the form requires. One List A document, or one from List B plus one from List C, is enough.
Fire you before your authorization actually expires because they assume you will not re-verify in time.
Retaliate against you for pushing back on improper document requests or filing a complaint.⁷

If you believe your employer has crossed one of these lines, you can file a charge with the Department of Justice’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER). Available remedies include back pay and reinstatement.⁸

Health Coverage and Income If You Are Let Go

COBRA Health Insurance

If you had group health coverage through your job, termination because of an expired work permit is a qualifying event for COBRA continuation coverage. The Department of Labor defines a qualifying event as termination “for any reason other than gross misconduct,” and losing work authorization is not gross misconduct.⁹ Your employer must offer you the option to continue coverage at your own expense, generally for up to 18 months. Premiums are high because you are paying the full cost the employer used to share, but the option is there.

Unemployment Benefits

Unemployment is harder. Federal guidance requires a claimant to be “able and available” to work, and for non-citizens, being “available” means holding current, valid work authorization.¹⁰ If your permit has expired and you have not yet received a renewal, you generally will not qualify for benefits during the gap, even if you were fully authorized the entire time you were working. Authorization has to be valid when you claim, not just when you earned the wages. Once your new EAD arrives, you may become eligible from that point, assuming you meet your state’s other requirements.

How To Keep the Gap From Happening

With automatic extensions gone for most applicants, planning ahead matters more than it used to.

File your renewal as early as USCIS allows. The 180-day window before expiration is your best protection. Processing times move around, and waiting until the last month is how people end up out of work.

Tell your employer early. Ninety to 120 days before your expiration date gives both sides time to prepare. If an attorney is handling your renewal, share the expected timeline. Employers who see it coming tend to work with you on timing and rehire logistics far more readily than those caught off guard.

Keep copies of everything: your renewal application, the Form I-797C receipt notice, your expiring EAD, and any USCIS correspondence. If you qualify for the grandfathered 540-day extension because you filed before October 30, 2025, your I-797C paired with your expired EAD is your proof of continued authorization. Losing either document creates a problem you do not need.

If a gap looks unavoidable, talk to your employer about the rehire process before you leave. Confirm they are willing to bring you back once your new EAD arrives, and settle whether they will use Supplement B on your existing Form I-9 or start a new one.² Clarity going into a gap makes the return simpler.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1324a – Unlawful Employment of Aliens
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Completing Supplement B, Reverification and Rehires
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 – 5.1 Automatic Extensions Based on a Timely Filed Application to Renew Employment Authorization
4
Federal Register. Removal of the Automatic Extension of Employment Authorization Documents
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Automatic Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Extension
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment Authorization Document
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1324b – Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices
8
Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. IER’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
9
U.S. Department of Labor. FAQs on COBRA Continuation Health Coverage for Workers
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Eligibility of Aliens for Unemployment Compensation Under Section 3304(a)(14)(A), FUTA