USCIS Guidance on Employment Authorization for Persons Covered by Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberia

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USCIS Guidance on Employment Authorization for Persons Covered by Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberia

September 8, 2022

Effective June 27, 2022, President Biden issued a memorandum that extended and expanded Liberian Deferred Enforced Departure (“DED”), permitting eligible persons to stay and work in the United States, until June 30, 2024. Eligible persons include nationals of Liberia, or individuals with no nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia, who:

Were covered by DED as of June 30, 2022; or
Have been continuously present in the United States since May 20, 2017.

On September 6, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) published a Federal Register notice providing additional guidance on work and travel authorization for persons covered by Liberian DED.

USCIS is automatically extending the validity of certain Liberian DED-related Employment Authorization Documents {“EADs”) until June 30, 2024. This includes EADs with:

A Category Code of A-11; or
An expiration date of either March 30, 2020, January 10, 2021, or June 30, 2022 (even though the “Card Expires” date has passed).

There is no application for DED. Under the Liberian DED, eligible persons may:

Apply for an EAD by filing Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization); and
Seek travel authorization by filing Form I-131 (Application for Travel Document).