What Is the A05 EAD Category? Asylee Work Permit Guide

An A05 EAD is the work permit card for a person who has already been granted asylum in the United States. Unlike most EAD categories, it does not create your right to work. Asylees are employment authorized incident to status under 8 CFR 274a.12(a)(5), which means the grant of asylum itself is your permission to work, and the card is simply the most convenient proof of it.

That distinction matters more in 2026 than it has in years. DHS ended the automatic extension of EADs for renewals filed on or after October 30, 2025, in an interim final rule published at 90 FR 48799, and made that rule permanent in a final rule published October 14, 2026 (91 FR 65306). USCIS then cut the maximum validity of an asylee EAD from five years to 18 months under Policy Alert PA-2025-27, effective December 5, 2025. Put together, an asylee who relies on the card alone now faces a hard expiration date every 18 months with no grace period.

The good news is that the expiration date on an A05 card is not the end of your work authorization. In the automatic extension rule itself, DHS wrote that asylees “may have immigration status that confers employment authorization that continues past the expiration date stated on their EADs.” You can keep working and prove it with other documents while a renewal is pending. This guide explains how.

The money also differs from what many asylees expect. USCIS charges no filing fee for an initial A05 EAD, but a renewal costs $520 on paper or $470 online under Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26. Refugees in category (a)(3) renew for free; asylees do not. No Public Law 119-21 fee applies to category (a)(5), so the inflation-adjusted H.R. 1 fees that take effect October 16, 2026 do not change what an asylee pays for a work permit.

If your asylum case is still pending, you are in a different category. See our guide to the C08 EAD category for asylum applicants, which covers the 150-day and 180-day clocks. For the full list of codes, see the USCIS EAD category codes guide.

This guide covers who files under A05, what the card costs, how long it lasts, what evidence USCIS wants, and how to protect your job when the card runs out. Companion guides explain the C33 EAD category for DACA recipients and the C26 EAD category for H-4 spouses.

Who Qualifies for the A05 EAD Category?

You file Form I-765 under category (a)(5) if any of these describe you:

• You were granted asylum by a USCIS asylum office. Your evidence is the asylum approval letter or your stamped Form I-94 showing asylee status.
• You were granted asylum by an immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals. Your evidence is the order granting asylum signed by an Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) immigration judge.
• You are a derivative asylee who was in the United States when your Form I-730 was approved. Your evidence is the Form I-797 notice approving derivative asylee status based on a Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition.
• You are an asylee who has applied for a green card under INA section 209. The I-765 instructions say to keep filing under (a)(5), not under (c)(9) as an adjustment applicant.

A spouse or child included in a grant of asylum is also an asylee and files under (a)(5) with the same kind of proof. The category is not for people with a pending Form I-589, who file under (c)(8), and it is not for people granted withholding of removal by a judge, who file under (a)(10). Withholding is a narrower protection than asylum and carries its own category code.

An Asylee Can Work Without the Card

This is the single most useful fact about A05, and many asylees and employers miss it. Because your work authorization comes from your status, you do not have to wait for an EAD to start a job, and an expired EAD does not by itself make you unauthorized to work.

What changes is the paperwork. On Form I-9, an unexpired EAD is a List A document that proves both identity and work authorization on its own. Without it, you can present a List C document plus a List B identity document. DHS gave the example in the automatic extension rule: a Form I-94 with the asylee stamp or notation paired with an identity document such as a state-issued driver’s license or ID card. An unrestricted Social Security card is another List C document.

Employers who need the detail can find it in section 7.3 of the USCIS M-274 Handbook for Employers, which covers refugees and asylees. If your employer insists that only a new EAD will do, show them that section.

How Long Is the A05 EAD Valid?

The maximum is 18 months. USCIS Policy Alert PA-2025-27, issued December 4, 2025, reduced the maximum validity period for initial and renewal EADs from five years to 18 months for categories (a)(3), (a)(5), (a)(10), (c)(8), (c)(9) and (c)(10). It took effect December 5, 2025 and applies to any Form I-765 pending on that date or filed after it.

A card USCIS issued before December 5, 2025 keeps the expiration date printed on it. USCIS said the shorter period lets it review an applicant’s background more frequently. For an asylee, the practical effect is a renewal roughly every year and a half if you want to keep a current card in your wallet.

The Automatic Extension Ended on October 30, 2025

Before October 30, 2025, a timely A05 renewal kept your expiring card valid for up to 540 days while USCIS processed it. Asylees were on the list of eligible categories. The interim final rule at 90 FR 48799 removed that benefit for any renewal filed on or after October 30, 2025, and DHS made the rule permanent, without changes, in a final rule published October 14, 2026 (91 FR 65306). A renewal timely filed before that date and still pending keeps its extension under the old 8 CFR 274a.13(d).

For most EAD holders, losing the extension means losing the right to work on the day the card expires. For asylees it does not, for the reason explained above. What you lose is the convenience of handing an employer a single card. Plan for that conversation before the expiration date, not after it. Our news desk covered the rule when DHS ended automatic EAD extensions beginning October 30, 2025.

What an A05 EAD Costs in 2026

The figures below come from Form G-1055, Fee Schedule, edition 10/07/26, Appendix C. An initial A05 EAD is on USCIS’s list of fee-exempt categories. Renewals and replacements are not, so they fall under the general I-765 fee.

Asylees can ask USCIS to waive the filing fee. The Form I-912 instructions list asylees among the groups who may request a fee waiver for any application related to that status, if not otherwise fee exempt. You generally cannot request a fee waiver when filing online, so a fee waiver request goes on paper.

The October 16, 2026 fee changes do not touch category (a)(5). The Federal Register notice at 91 FR 62540 raises the initial EAD fee for asylum applicants, parolees and TPS applicants from $560 to $570 and the Annual Asylum Fee from $102 to $105. That annual fee applies only while an asylum application is pending. Once you are granted asylum, it no longer applies to you.

What Are the Steps to Apply for an A05 EAD?

1. Confirm your category. You need a final grant of asylum, or an approved Form I-730 while you were in the United States. Enter (a)(5) in Part 2, Item 27 of Form I-765.
2. Use the accepted edition. USCIS is accepting the 08/21/25 edition of Form I-765 and is not accepting the 09/15/26 edition while a September 14, 2026 court order in Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration v. DHS remains in place. Check the edition date at the bottom of every page.
3. Gather your proof of asylee status. One of: your stamped Form I-94 showing asylee status, the USCIS asylum approval letter, the immigration judge’s signed order granting asylum, or the Form I-797 approving derivative asylee status.
4. Add identity documents and photos. Include a copy of your last EAD, front and back, if you had one. If not, include a government-issued photo ID such as a passport. Add two identical 2 by 2 inch color passport-style photos, unmounted and unretouched.
5. Pay the right fee. $0 for an initial card, $520 on paper or $470 online for a renewal, unless you file Form I-912.
6. Mail it to the correct address. USCIS changed I-765 filing locations on October 7, 2026. It will accept forms postmarked on or before November 9, 2026 at a prior location, but check the Direct Filing Addresses page before you mail.
7. Calendar your renewal the day the card arrives. USCIS generally recommends filing a renewal up to 180 days before the current card expires.

What Happens After You Apply?

• USCIS sends a Form I-797C receipt notice. Keep it with your other status documents.
• USCIS may schedule a biometrics appointment at an Application Support Center.
• After approval, USCIS says the card should be produced within two weeks and mailed by USPS Priority Mail. Allow 30 days from approval before you submit an inquiry.
• The card shows category A05 and an expiration date no more than 18 months out.
• USCIS generally does not backdate or postdate a renewal card to the end of your old card’s validity, so a card approved early starts its 18 months early.

Who Does Not Qualify Under A05?

• Pending asylum applicants. If you have not received a final grant, you file under (c)(8) and follow the 150-day clock.
• People granted withholding of removal or protection under the Convention Against Torture. Withholding is category (a)(10). Deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture falls under (c)(18).
• Refugees. People admitted as refugees file under (a)(3), which carries a free renewal.
• Asylees who became permanent residents. Once your green card is approved, you no longer need an EAD. Your Form I-551 is your proof.
• People whose asylum was terminated. Termination ends asylee status and the work authorization that comes with it.

Examples to Help You Decide

• Example 1: Amina was granted asylum by the asylum office in October 2026. She starts a job the next week using her approval letter’s I-94 and her state ID card for Form I-9. She files an initial A05 EAD at no fee so she has a single document for future employers.
• Example 2: Jorge’s A05 card expires on March 31, 2027. He files his renewal in December 2026 and pays $470 online. USCIS has not decided it by March 31. Because he filed after October 30, 2025, the card is not extended, but Jorge is still authorized to work as an asylee. At reverification he gives his employer his asylee I-94 and his driver’s license.
• Example 3: Lina is a derivative asylee whose Form I-730 was approved while she was already in the United States. She files under (a)(5) with a copy of the Form I-797 approval notice.
• Example 4: Tomas filed his green card application under INA section 209 a year after his grant. He files his next EAD under (a)(5), not (c)(9), and pays the asylee renewal fee.

Hold and Re-Review Policies Were Blocked in Court

On December 2, 2025, USCIS issued Policy Memorandum PM-602-0192, which put pending asylum applications on hold, and on January 1, 2026 it issued PM-602-0194, which extended holds and called for re-review of approved benefits for people from countries named in Presidential Proclamations 10949 and 10998. Both memos reached asylees and people waiting for asylum decisions.

On June 5, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island vacated both memos and Policy Alert PA-2025-26 in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS, and USCIS says the vacatur applies agency-wide. On August 24, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California separately enjoined both memos in Red Eagle Law v. Edlow and certified a class of applicants from the listed countries. USCIS says it disagrees with both orders but will follow them while further review is possible.

If you are from one of the listed countries and your EAD, green card or travel document application has been sitting without action, an immigration attorney can check whether you fall within the certified class.

Other Benefits That Come With Asylee Status

• A green card after one year. Asylees can apply to adjust status under INA section 209 after one year of physical presence following the grant. Our guide on whether refugees and asylees pay different I-485 fees covers the cost.
• Bringing family. You have two years from your grant to file Form I-730 for a spouse or unmarried children under 21, unless USCIS excuses the delay for humanitarian reasons. See our Form I-730 guide.
• Travel. An asylee generally travels on a Refugee Travel Document requested on Form I-131, not on the passport of the country they fled. Our Refugee Travel Document guide explains the steps.
• Health coverage changed on October 1, 2026. Under Section 71109 of Public Law 119-21, asylees lost full federally funded Medicaid and CHIP from that date, with exceptions. We explained who is affected and what to do.

How to Protect Your Work Authorization

• Keep your asylee I-94 and grant letter safe. They are your proof of work authorization when no current card exists. Store copies separately from the originals.
• File your renewal early. Up to 180 days before expiration is the USCIS recommendation, and at least 90 days before.
• Get an unrestricted Social Security card. It is a List C document that does not expire.
• Brief your employer before reverification. Point to M-274 section 7.3 if HR thinks only an EAD is acceptable.
• Do not file under the wrong code. A green card application does not move you to (c)(9). Filing under the wrong category can bring a rejection or the wrong fee.

Where to Get More Information

Start with the USCIS Form I-765 page, which carries the current form edition, the filing-location change of October 7, 2026, and links to the fee schedule. The fee for your exact situation is in Form G-1055, Appendix C. Employers can find the asylee I-9 rules in section 7.3 of the M-274 Handbook for Employers.

Takeaway

The A05 EAD is the easiest work permit in the system to get and the one you need least. The grant of asylum is your work authorization; the card is a convenience that now lasts 18 months, costs $520 on paper or $470 online to renew, and no longer extends itself while USCIS works. File the initial card for free, renew early, and keep your asylee I-94 and an unrestricted Social Security card ready so an expired card never costs you a paycheck.

Frequently Asked Questions