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When to renew your work permit: calculate a reference date

The short answer: USCIS generally describes that a Form I-765 renewal can be filed up to 180 days before your current work permit expires. Enter your card's expiration date below to see that reference date. It is a calendar reference: it does not authorize you to file, it does not authorize you to work, and it is not the automatic extension of an expired work permit, which is a separate matter.

Calculate your reference date

The calculation happens in your browser. We don't ask for an email or an account, and the date never leaves this device: no data is sent or stored.

Before the result
Expiration date of your current work permit

It is the date shown on your EAD card as “Card Expires.” Do not confuse it with the edition or the OMB number printed on Form I-765: those are not dates of your work permit.

How it is calculated

We subtract 180 calendar days from the expiration date on your EAD card, counting whole days and without depending on the time of day or your time zone. Example with real dates: if your card expires on June 1, 2027, the reference date is December 3, 2026.

The expiration date is on your EAD card, on the “Card Expires” line. It is not the form edition or the OMB number printed on Form I-765: those identify the document, not your work permit.

Three things that are not the same

  • Preparing the application: you can do it whenever you want, before any date.
  • Filing with USCIS: this is what the 180-day reference helps you place, and it depends on your case meeting the conditions.
  • The automatic extension of an expired work permit: a separate matter. As of October 30, 2025, DHS ended it with limited exceptions, and that does not affect extensions already granted before that date.

And if this is your first application based on a pending asylum case, the clock is different: 150 days to file plus 30 more days of waiting. That count is not this one.

Email reminder enrollment remains unavailable.

Sources

Official Form I-765 page (USCIS) · consulted on September 16, 2026

DHS announcement on the end of the automatic extension · consulted on September 16, 2026