3 Reverification Facts That Surprise Even Experienced HR Teams
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On April 29, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security published an interim final rule (Federal Register doc 2026-08333) titled "USCIS Immigration Fees and Related Procedures Required by H.R.1 Reconciliation Bill." Most of the coverage that followed focused on fees: a $100 Annual Asylum Fee, a $24 Form I-94 fee at the land border, a higher ESTA fee. The fees are real, but the changes that matter most to employers are buried elsewhere.
Three provisions in the rule rewrite how employment authorization works for asylum-pending and TPS workers — and they operate outside the normal Form I-9 and E-Verify signals HR teams rely on. All three take effect May 29, 2026. Comments are accepted through June 29, 2026 (docket USCIS-2026-0133).
Concrete steps to put on the calendar this week.
The largest practical change in the rule is the new mechanism for terminating EADs issued under 8 CFR 274a.12(c)(8) — the category covering applicants with a pending Form I-589, Application for Asylum.
Under new 8 CFR 208.7(b)(1), a (c)(8) EAD terminates immediately if USCIS rejects the underlying asylum application. A new trigger for that rejection: failure to pay the new $100 Annual Asylum Fee within 30 days of USCIS notice.
The mechanics: an asylum applicant whose Form I-589 has been pending for more than one year owes the Annual Asylum Fee for each calendar year the application remains under review. USCIS issues a notice. The applicant has 30 days to pay. If the fee is not paid, the application is rejected. The rejection terminates the EAD on the rejection date — not on the printed expiration date stamped on the card.
For employers, this means a (c)(8) EAD card in an existing employee's I-9 file may no longer reflect a valid work authorization. The card looks the same. Section 2 of Form I-9 still shows the printed expiration date. The internal reverification reminder set when the EAD was first issued is still pointed at that printed date. None of those signals reflect the change.
The compliance workflow built for Form I-9 and E-Verify was designed around document expiration dates and the moment of hire. The new termination pathway operates outside both.
| Detection mechanism | Catches AAF-driven termination? |
|---|---|
| Form I-9 reverification reminder (printed EAD expiration date) | No. Termination occurs before the printed expiration date by definition. |
| E-Verify (case run at hire) | No. Cases close after initial verification. There is no continuous verification of the existing workforce. |
| E-Verify Status Change Notification | Limited. The system covers a narrow set of post-hire events; USCIS has issued no public guidance that AAF-driven terminations are flagged. |
| Direct USCIS notification to employer | No. AAF notices are sent to the asylum applicant only. No employer-facing channel exists. |
| Employee disclosure | Voluntary, but the only practical signal. Set the workforce-wide expectation that employees report status changes through normal HR channels. |
For new hires, the picture depends on USCIS implementation. If an applicant whose AAF-driven termination has already occurred presents a still physically valid-looking EAD for a new job, E-Verify will query USCIS and DHS systems against the document number and A-Number. Whether that query returns a Tentative Nonconfirmation depends on whether USCIS keeps internal records current and whether the E-Verify backend queries the AAF-status flag. Neither has been publicly specified.
"The compliance workflow was built around document expiration dates and the moment of hire," says Patricia, Director of Compliance at i9 Intelligence. "When a termination happens between those signals, the existing workflow doesn't see it. The operational fix isn't more aggressive monitoring of any one group — it's tightening reverification cycles overall and making status-change disclosure a normal part of HR check-ins, the same way you'd handle a name change or address update."
Knowing what you have on file is the foundation of every other compliance decision. If your current I-9 binder includes employees on (c)(8) asylum-pending EADs or TPS-based EADs, that population is now exposed to a termination pathway that did not exist 30 days ago. Request a compliance audit to review your I-9 files against the new rules, or schedule a free compliance call to walk through the changes with our team.
Reverification volume just jumped for every HR team employing TPS workers. Under the prior rule, TPS-based EADs were issued for the duration of the country's TPS designation period — sometimes 18 months. Under new 8 CFR 244.5(d) and revised 8 CFR 244.12(a), TPS-based EADs are now capped at one year or the remaining duration of the TPS designation, whichever is shorter.
"Initial employment authorization provided under this section to an applicant afforded temporary treatment benefits based on a prima facie showing of eligibility will be valid for a period of 1 year or for the remaining duration of the country's designation of Temporary Protected Status, whichever is shorter." (New 8 CFR 244.5(d))
Practical effect: every TPS-based EAD issued on or after May 29, 2026 will trigger a Form I-9 reverification within 12 months. The new rule also imposes a renewal requirement during the TPS designation period. If the country's TPS designation has not terminated by the EAD's expiration, the worker must obtain a renewal — and the renewed EAD will again be capped at one year.
For an HR team employing TPS workers, this represents a step change in reverification volume. A workforce of 100 TPS holders that previously generated reverification cycles every 18 months will now generate them every 12 months, plus the renewal-application administrative load. The change applies prospectively — TPS EADs issued before May 29 retain their original validity period — but every renewal after that date drops to the new 12-month ceiling.
Beyond the AAF-driven termination, the rule establishes additional EAD termination triggers tied to the asylum adjudication chain:
None of these events change the printed expiration date on the physical EAD card. None generate notice to the employer. The reverification calendar set when the EAD was first issued continues to point at the printed date.
The fee provisions of the rule are real but narrower than the press coverage suggests. Of the new fee structure, two items show up in employer compliance work; the rest fall on the individual.
| Fee | Amount | Triggered by | Who pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Asylum Fee | $100/year | Each calendar year an asylum application remains pending | The asylum applicant. Nonpayment within 30 days of notice triggers application rejection and (c)(8) EAD termination. |
| Asylum application fee | $100 | Filing Form I-589, Application for Asylum | The asylum applicant. |
| USCIS Form I-94 fee | $24 (added to existing Form I-102 filing fee) | Filing Form I-102 to replace or correct an existing I-94 | The applicant. As a matter of industry practice, sponsoring employers (H-1B, L-1, TN) typically cover this as part of the immigration package. |
Statutorily, every fee is the obligation of the alien — not the employer. As a matter of industry practice, sponsoring employers typically cover USCIS and CBP filing fees as part of the immigration package. For asylum applicants, who are typically not employer-sponsored, the fees fall to the individual.
The rule is effective May 29, 2026. The 60-day comment period closes June 29, 2026 (regulations.gov, docket USCIS-2026-0133). We will publish updated analysis as USCIS issues operational guidance on how the new termination pathways will be reflected in E-Verify and how affected employers will be notified, if at all.
For questions about how the rule affects your I-9 files or your existing compliance program, our team can help. Schedule a compliance call or contact us directly.
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