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OMB Control No: 1615-0040	ICR Reference No: 201511-1615-011
Status: Historical Inactive	Previous ICR Reference No: 201509-1615-007
Agency/Subagency: DHS/USCIS	Agency Tracking No: I-765, I-765WS
Title: Application for Employment Authorization
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Comment filed on proposed rule and continue	Conclusion Date: 02/04/2016
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 12/02/2015
Terms of Clearance: USCIS must send a request to collect this information after reviewing public comments.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	02/28/2018	36 Months From Approved	02/28/2018
Responses	4,463,032	0	4,463,032
Time Burden (Hours)	8,185,043	0	8,185,043
Cost Burden (Dollars)	602,380,864	0	602,380,864

Abstract: USCIS will use the information collected to determine eligibility for work authorization and for the issuance of an employment authorization document.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 8 USC 1153 Name of Law: Immigration Nationality Act

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
1615-AC05	Proposed rulemaking	80 FR 81899	12/31/2015

Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	80 FR 81899	12/31/2015
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? Yes

Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 4

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
Application for Employment Authorization	I-765	Application for Work Authorization
Biometric Processing
Passport-Style Photographs
Work Sheet	I-765 Work Sheet	I-765WS

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Increase Due to: Changing Regulations

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: The current burden hour inventory approved for this form is 8,185,043 hours, and the requested new total burden is 18,832,854.98 hours, which is an increase of 56,828,801.98 annual burden hours. The new proposed estimate for the total number of I-765 respondents is 4,618,099 respondents. USCIS is now reporting a new I-765 population (155,067 respondents), an estimate that the proposed rule discussed. The table provided under question 12 contains more information on this topic. USCIS is revising the instructions to Form I-765 to include information for the newly added groups of applicants – beneficiaries of approved employment-based immigrant visa petitions who are in the United States on E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, or O-1 nonimmigrant status but who cannot obtain an immigrant visa number due to current backlogs and are experiencing compelling circumstances. The rule proposes to allow such beneficiaries, and their spouses and children, to apply for employment authorization for a limited period if there are compelling circumstances that, in the discretionary determination of DHS, justify the consideration of such employment authorization. The eligibility categories stated in the form instructions are (c)(35) for principal beneficiaries and (c)(36) for spouses and children. The Form I-765 was amended to include check boxes that require the applicant to disclose any such criminal convictions. The applicant is further instructed on the Form and in the Instructions, to include evidence of any relevant dispositions. USCIS is revising the instructions to Form I-765 to require aliens in the new, proposed eligibility categories (c)(35) and (c)(36) to submit to collection of biometrics information and pay the biometric services fee of $85. Unlike most categories, the spouses and children of approved employment applicants, do not necessarily have a “principal” or “primary” benefit request that evaluates the alien’s risk to U.S. public safety and national security through background and/or security checks. USCIS believes that requiring biometrics for these applicants will mitigate the risk to USCIS of providing employment authorization to individuals who may be a risk to public safety or national security. USCIS is also revising the instructions to Form I-765 to delete information regarding the granting of interim Employment Authorization Documents to applicants when USCIS has failed to adjudicate Form I-765 within 90 days of USCIS’s receipt of the application. The response provided under question 2 also contains information about this change. USCIS continues to consider the time burden and costs described above under questions 12 and 13; it will provide a more detailed accounting of the effects on the total burden of this information collection resulting from these activities in future information collection request to OMB.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $1,792,028,570

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Is the Supporting Statement intended to be a Privacy Impact Assessment required by the E-Government Act of 2002? No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

Agency Contact: Michelle Young 202 272-0202

View ICR - OIRA Conclusion