Section 8 U.S.C. 1157 of the U.S. Code grants employment authorization for eligible individuals awarded refugee status, stating in part that these individuals “ … shall be eligible for resettlement assistance, entitlement programs and other benefits available to refugees admitted under section 207 of Immigration and Nationality Act.” These refugees granted employment authorization (i.e., are employment-eligible “incident to status”) will still need to apply for the employment authorization document (EAD) but will not be charged a fee for the initial application. Under this section, refugees are granted work authorization for the first 90 days upon presenting acceptable I-9 documentation of their choice.
Parolees—non-citizens granted permission to enter or remain temporarily in the United States—are not provided the same classification as refugees and thus, not awarded the same treatment. Generally, they are not employment-authorized incident to their “parolee” status. Congress recently carved out an exception, however, passing laws implementing the statutory language, “other benefits available to refugees” to certain Afghan (Section 2502(b) of P.L. No. 117-43) and Ukrainian (Section 401 of P.L. 117-128) parolees, thus awarding them the same treatment as refugees.
Eligible parolees and their qualifying family members from Afghanistan and Ukraine are considered employment authorized incident to their “parole” status effective November 21, 2022. Thus, although still required...
Cadore dropped his Tribunal challenge, leaving the order standing in a case that falls outside the leniency the Ahuja ruling allows The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) has...