Work Authorization
Lucia has renewed her DACA work permit four times now. Each cycle, she fills out the same forms, pays the same fees, and waits for the same card in the mail, the one that lets her keep her job as a medical assistant. She knows the process cold. What she didn’t know until embarrassingly recently, her word, is that even without that card, California labor law would still protect her from wage theft and retaliation at work. Federal work authorization and California workplace protections are two different systems, and understanding both matters more than most people realize.
What Work Authorization Actually Means
Work authorization is the legal right to hold a job in the United States. It comes in two forms, and the distinction matters more than it should. Some people are authorized to work because of their immigration status itself. Lawful permanent residents, meaning green card holders, don’t need a separate work permit. Their green card is their proof. U.S. citizens, obviously, don’t need one either. But for most other immigrants who can legally work, authorization comes through a specific document: the Employment Authorization Document, or EAD.
The EAD is a credit-card-sized photo ID issued by USCIS. Employers care about it because federal law requires them to verify that every employee they hire is authorized to work. That verification happens through a form called the I-9, which every worker in the country fills out on their first days at a new job. If you don’t have work authorization incident to your status, the EAD is typically the document you’ll present to prove your right to work. It’s the bridge between your immigration situation and your ability to earn a paycheck.
Who Can Get a Work Permit
A wide range of people in different immigration situations can apply for an EAD. This isn’t an exhaustive list, and whether someone in your specific situation can apply is a question for an immigration attorney or accredited representative, not a website. But the common groups include people who have applied for adjustment of status to get a green card, people granted asylum or with a pending asylum case that’s been waiting more than a certain period, DACA recipients, people with Temporary Protected Status, certain visa holders and their spouses, and people with pending applications for cancellation of removal or other forms of relief.
Each of these groups files the same form, the I-765, but under a different category code. The category code tells USCIS why you’re eligible, and it tells employers what kind of authorization you hold. Getting the category wrong on your application can cause delays or denials, which is one reason this is a form worth getting right the first time.
The EAD Card Itself
The EAD looks official because it is. It has your photo, your name, your category code, and an expiration date. That expiration date is the thing that keeps people up at night, because when the card expires, your ability to work on paper can lapse even if your underlying case is still pending. Until October 2025, USCIS offered automatic extensions for many EAD categories, allowing people with timely filed renewals to keep working while their applications were processed. That changed. As of June 2026, an interim final rule effective October 30, 2025 eliminated automatic EAD extensions for most categories (see the Federal Register notice). If you filed your renewal on or after that date, you generally have no automatic extension. Your work authorization ends when your card expires, and it doesn’t resume until USCIS approves your renewal and you have a new card in hand. People who timely filed a renewal before October 30, 2025, and whose category was one of the eligible automatic-extension categories, can still receive an extension of up to 540 days under the prior rules. Limited exceptions also remain where an automatic extension is provided by statute or Federal Register notice, especially in certain TPS situations. But for most people filing today, the safety net is gone. If your EAD is approaching expiration, talk to a legal services provider now, not when the card runs out. A gap in work authorization can mean immediate loss of employment, and USCIS processing times don’t always cooperate with expiration dates. These extension and validity rules have been changing quickly, so confirm the current rule at uscis.gov before you rely on an extension.
In addition, as of June 2026, USCIS has been moving to shorten the maximum validity period printed on EADs in several major categories, which means cards that need to be renewed more often. This can affect people with pending adjustment of status applications, refugees, asylees, and people with pending asylum or cancellation of removal cases, among others. EADs already issued remain valid until the printed expiration date, but newer cards in these categories may carry shorter validity periods than they once did. That can mean more frequent renewals, higher cumulative costs, and tighter planning windows. Because these validity rules have been changing, check the current period for your category at uscis.gov before you plan around a date.
The category codes printed on the card look like alphabet soup, things like C08, C09, C10, and C33, but each one tells a specific story. As a rough guide, C08 is generally tied to a pending asylum or withholding case, C09 to a pending adjustment of status application, C10 to a pending suspension of deportation, cancellation of removal, or certain NACARA-based case, and C33 to DACA. Don’t rely on memory for your own code; confirm exactly what it means on the USCIS Form I-765 page (as of June 2026). Your employer doesn’t need to interpret those codes, and under federal law is not supposed to demand a specific valid document over another. But you should know your own code, because it affects renewal timing, extension rules, and sometimes fees.
California Workplace Protections
Here’s where California diverges from the federal picture in ways that matter. Federal work authorization determines whether you can legally be hired. California’s wage, safety, anti-retaliation, and organizing protections generally apply to workers regardless of immigration status, whether or not you have that authorization. That’s not a typo. Under California law, every worker, documented or not, has the right to be paid the wages they earned, to work in safe conditions, to organize, and to be free from retaliation for asserting those rights.
SB 1818, passed in 2002, declared that the protections, rights, and remedies available under state law apply to workers regardless of immigration status (see the SB 1818 bill text, as of June 2026). More recently, California has continued strengthening these protections. Employers who threaten to call immigration authorities because a worker filed a wage claim or reported unsafe conditions are breaking California law. That threat is itself a violation, separate from whatever the underlying dispute is about. If you’ve experienced retaliation or wage theft at work, California’s protections apply to you, and the workplace rights page covers what that looks like in practice.
This doesn’t mean immigration status is irrelevant at work. Federal I-9 requirements still exist, and employers who knowingly hire people without work authorization face their own penalties. But the floor of labor protections, minimum wage, overtime, safe working conditions, freedom from harassment, that floor exists for everyone working in California. The distinction between “authorized to be hired” and “protected while working” is one most people never hear explained clearly.
Things People Get Wrong
A few misconceptions come up constantly and they’re worth addressing directly. The first is that an expired visa means you can’t work. It doesn’t necessarily. A visa is a travel document. It gets you into the country. Your work authorization depends on your immigration status and your EAD, not on the stamp in your passport. Plenty of people have expired visas and perfectly valid work authorization, and confusing the two creates unnecessary panic.
The second is that once you get a green card, work authorization is settled forever. For most green card holders, it is. But conditional residents, people who got their green card through a marriage that was less than two years old at the time, hold a card that expires after two years. If they don’t file to remove those conditions and that filing lapses, their status and their work authorization can both be affected. A green card is not always the finish line people assume it is.
The third is that having a Social Security number means you’re authorized to work. Not always. Some SSNs are issued for non-work purposes, and the card itself says so. The SSN alone isn’t proof of work authorization, and employers who accept it as such aren’t following the I-9 rules correctly.
Before You Do Anything
If you need a work permit, are renewing one, or aren’t sure whether your current authorization is still valid, the single most important thing is to not wait until the last minute. EAD processing times vary widely, and a gap in authorization can mean a gap in employment, even if your underlying case is fine. Free and low-cost legal help is available across California for people navigating work permit applications, and a brief consultation before you file can prevent problems that take months to fix. The information on this page is general. Your situation may be different. Before making any decisions, talk to a qualified immigration attorney or accredited representative. Free and low-cost legal help is available in California, find a provider near you.
