Can Refugees or Asylees Work in the U.S.?

When individuals are successful in applying for asylum or refugee status, they become eligible to legally work in the U.S. as a result of their legal status. The U.S. government will grant an individual asylum if he or she is present in the U.S. and proves that he or she has been persecuted or has a reasonable fear of future persecution based on his or her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Refugee status is granted to an individual for the same reasons, but the individual is still living outside of the U.S. Asylees and refugees have the right to work indefinitely in the U.S. They can obtain social security cards without any employment restrictions, and they do not have to indicate an expiration date when filling out an I-9 form for an employer. Even if there is a delay in an asylee or refugee getting a social security card, he or she still can go ahead and begin working. Additionally, applicants for asylum whose petition for asylum has been pending for 150 days or more do have the right to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). If an immigrant’s asylum application is still pending 180 days after he or she filed it, then U.S. government will go ahead and make a decision on the immigrant’s request for an EAD. When you or a loved one is facing deportation, you face the potential for a family separated by international borders, an inability to reunite, and the loss of the place that you may have called home for many years. The prospect for deportation can be terrifying, particularly if you must return to a country where violence, crime, and poverty are widespread, and one in which you may no longer have family and friends. Our goal is to avoid that possibility at all costs by developing a strong case on your behalf to defend you against deportation. Call Landerholm Immigration, A.P.C., today at (510) 756-4468, or contact us online in order to schedule a consultation with one of our skilled and experienced deportation defense attorneys. The sooner you contact us, the better we can represent your interests in your deportation case.