US Brings Major Change to Immigrant Work Permit Duration

The Trump administration continues to tighten the immigration procedures. In a latest move, it has reduced the period of time that work permits are valid for refugees, asylees and other immigrants granted legal protection in the US.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services said it will issue work permits to these categories of populations that would last for a maximum of 18 months, against the current five-year period. The change of rules apply to immigrants with pending applications for asylum or permanent US residency, called green cards. The new policy will apply to work permit applications filed after December 5, as well as those pending as of that date.

The  USCIS cited attack against two National Guard members in Washington D.C. last week as the reason behind slashing of work permit validity. This will allow the authorities concerned to vet and screen immigrants more frequently when they file for renewal of their work permits. The suspect in the attack on the National Guard members was found to be an Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal (29), who entered the US in September 2021 under the Biden administration. His asylum application was approved in April 2025, after President Trump took office for a second term.

The agency announced that the shorter work permit windows will force more frequent background checks on noncitizens working in the US. The US officials argue that this frequent checking will help detecting fraud, identifying security threats and removing individuals who pose a risk to the nation’s security, law and order.

The Trump administration has frozen all asylum requests overseen by USCIS, paused visa and immigration applications filed by any Afghan national and also halted all legal immigration cases, including citizenship ceremonies, for nationals of the 19 countries listed on Trump’s travel ban.

US authorities said that the Trump administration is considering expanding the travel ban to include a total of 30 nations, in response to the shooting at the National Guards in Washington.