Refugee and asylee documents: work permit, travel and green card

Step 1 — Keep your proof of status safe

Your I-94 (Arrival/Departure Record) is the paper you’ll use most. Refugees get one with a refugee admission stamp or the electronic class “RE”; asylees get one after the grant, with a note such as “asylum granted indefinitely” or the class “AY”; neither expires (USCIS — Handbook M-274, 7.3).

You’ll show it for a work permit (USCIS — Form I-765 instructions), for Form I-730 (USCIS — I-730) and for the green card (USCIS — Green Card for Refugees). See your I-94 record to download it or fix mistakes.

Keep copies of every USCIS letter. Report a new address to USCIS within 10 days of moving (USCIS — Change of Address), so letters with deadlines reach you; see changing your address. Also check Selective Service.

Step 2 — Work from day one; the EAD is optional proof

Refugees may work as soon as they arrive, and the I-94 with a refugee admission stamp is evidence of that (USCIS — Refugees). Asylees are authorized to work as soon as asylum is granted (USCIS — Asylum). USCIS calls this work authorization “incident to status” (USCIS — Form I-765 instructions), and because your status doesn’t expire, you are authorized to work indefinitely (USCIS — M-274, 7.3).

At a new job (Form I-9): a refugee’s I-94 is accepted for 90 days after arrival, then you show an EAD or, for example, a state driver’s license plus an unrestricted Social Security card (USCIS — Green Card for Refugees). Asylees show the I-94 with a document such as a driver’s license (USCIS — Green Card for Asylees). See finding a job.

Getting the card (EAD):

• Refugees who arrive as principals, and family traveling with them: USCIS prepares a digital Form I-765 after arrival, and the card should come within a few weeks (USCIS — Green Card for Refugees). Relatives who join later through Form I-730 file a paper I-765 (USCIS — Green Card for Refugees).
• Asylees granted asylum by USCIS get an EAD at no cost, without filing (USCIS — Green Card for Asylees). If it hasn’t come within 90 days, call the USCIS Contact Center about an “auto EAD”; if an immigration judge granted asylum, you must file Form I-765 (USCIS — Asylum).
• Codes: refugees use (a)(3), asylees (a)(5), even after filing for a green card (USCIS — Form I-765 instructions).
• Fees: none for a refugee’s first or renewal EAD (USCIS — Green Card for Refugees); an asylee’s first EAD is free, but renewals and replacements have a fee (USCIS — Green Card for Asylees).

Renewals have changed. For EAD applications pending or filed on or after December 5, 2025, the longest validity for refugees and asylees is 18 months instead of 5 years (USCIS, December 4, 2025). Since October 30, 2025, filing a renewal no longer extends an expiring EAD, “unless otherwise provided by law or through a Federal Register notice” (USCIS — M-274, 5.0); DHS made this final on October 14, 2026 (Federal Register).

USCIS says you can still work when your EAD looks expired, because you don’t need one to work (USCIS — Green Card for Refugees). But an employer who saw your EAD must recheck when it expires; you may then show another acceptable document (USCIS — M-274, 7.3). Details: work permits explained.

Step 3 — Bring your spouse and children: Form I-730

• Who can file: a principal refugee admitted, or principal asylee granted asylum, within the past 2 years, for a spouse and unmarried children under 21; USCIS may waive the 2-year limit for humanitarian reasons (USCIS — I-730). Don’t count on a waiver. People who got status through a relative can’t file, nor can someone who became a citizen before filing; citizens may use Form I-130 (USCIS — Form I-730 instructions).
• The relationship must have existed when you were admitted as a refugee or granted asylum; a child conceived before that date counts (USCIS — Form I-730 instructions). Under guidance effective March 3, 2025, a marriage must be legally valid where it took place (USCIS, 2025). A child born in the U.S. is a U.S. citizen and needs no I-730 (USCIS — Form I-730 instructions).
• How to file: there is no fee (USCIS — Asylum). File one I-730 for each family member (USCIS — Form I-730 instructions), with a photo of each person (USCIS — I-730). Approval for a relative abroad does not guarantee a visa (USCIS — Form I-730 instructions).

Other family routes: bringing family to the U.S.

Step 4 — Before any trip abroad: a Refugee Travel Document

Without a green card, refugees and asylees, including derivative family members, must have a Refugee Travel Document to come back; without it, you may be unable to re-enter or may be placed in removal proceedings (USCIS — Travel Documents).

• Apply before you leave with Form I-131, and go to any biometrics appointment before you leave (USCIS — Refugees). This request can’t be filed online, and the mailing addresses changed on October 7, 2026 (USCIS — I-131).
• It’s valid for 1 year and can’t be extended (USCIS — Form I-131 instructions).
• Already abroad without one? USCIS may, at its discretion, accept an application filed within 1 year of your last departure, with an explanation (USCIS — Refugees).
• The country you fled. Form I-131 asks whether you plan to go there, whether you have returned, and whether you have received a passport or other benefit since you got your status (USCIS — Form I-131 instructions). USCIS warns asylees who applied on or after April 1, 1997 that asylum may be terminated if they “voluntarily availed themselves of the protection of their country of nationality” (USCIS — Form I-131 instructions). Talk to a legal provider before planning such a trip.
• Trips can delay your green card: only days spent in the U.S. count toward the 1 year of physical presence (USCIS — Policy Manual, refugees; asylees).

USCIS warns that travel “may have severe immigration-related consequences” (USCIS — Travel Documents). With a green card, see traveling abroad as a green card holder.

Step 5 — After one year: apply for your green card

• Refugees: “U.S. immigration law requires refugees to apply for lawful permanent resident status after they have been physically present in the United States for at least 1 year” (USCIS — Green Card for Refugees). This is how USCIS checks your admissibility as an immigrant (USCIS — Policy Manual).
• Asylees: you may be approved for a green card 1 year after being granted asylum (USCIS — Asylum). You can file earlier, but USCIS may ask for more evidence and says your case may move faster if you wait until the year has passed (USCIS — Green Card for Asylees).

USCIS counts the year as of the day it decides your application (USCIS — Policy Manual, refugees; asylees).

Before you file:

• Use the current Form I-485. Since September 18, 2026, USCIS accepts only the 09/18/26 edition, and mailing addresses changed on October 7, 2026 (USCIS — I-485). Each family member files their own (USCIS — Asylum).
• Fees: USCIS’s refugee page says refugees don’t pay the I-485 filing or biometric fees, and for derivative family members points to the Fee Schedule (USCIS — Green Card for Refugees). Asylees pay the fee or ask for a waiver with Form I-912 (USCIS — Green Card for Asylees).
• Separate envelopes: don’t mail Form I-765 or I-131 with your I-485 (USCIS — Green Card for Refugees).
• Past problems: some grounds of inadmissibility don’t apply to refugees, and some can be waived with Form I-602 (USCIS — Green Card for Refugees). Ask a legal provider first.

Your green card’s start date. For refugees, it’s the date you were first admitted as a refugee (USCIS — Policy Manual); for asylees, 1 year before the approval date (USCIS — Policy Manual). That date matters later for citizenship. Next: green card basics and your first 90 days.

Step 6 — Watch for changes and read every USCIS letter

• Refugee re-checks. On January 9, 2026, USCIS announced “Operation PARRIS”, re-examining refugee cases with “new background checks and intensive verification”, starting with 5,600 refugees in Minnesota without green cards (USCIS, January 9, 2026). In March 2026, it described “re-interviews, and merit reviews of refugee claims” (USCIS, March 30, 2026).
• Holds. Memos from December 2, 2025 and January 1, 2026 put on hold asylum applications and requests from people from certain “high-risk countries” (USCIS, March 30, 2026). A court vacated them on June 5, 2026 (USCIS, June 12, 2026); on August 24, 2026, another court blocked them and ordered USCIS to decide applications “in the normal course”. USCIS says it disagrees and will issue updated instructions (USCIS, August 28, 2026).

These announcements can’t tell you how one case will go. If USCIS calls you to an interview, asks for evidence or writes about your status, note the deadline and get legal help right away.