Refugees and Asylees Have the Right to Work Information for Employers

How to Avoid Discrimination When Hiring Workers Granted Asylum or Refugee Status
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Employer Fact Sheet
How to Avoid Discrimination When
Hiring Workers Granted Asylum or
Refugee Status
This fact sheet provides information on employment rights that someone
granted asylum or refugee status has and how employers can avoid
unlawfully discriminating against these workers.
An employer that discriminates based on someone’s citizenship, immigration status, or
national origin might violate the Immigration and Nationality Act’s anti‑discrimination
provision. This law is found at 8 U.S.C. § 1324b.
For questions about this fact sheet, call the Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and
Employee Rights Section at 1-800-255-8155.
Background on asylum and refugee status
The federal government grants asylum and refugee status to people who have been
persecuted or fear persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a
particular social group, or political opinion.
Someone granted asylum or refugee status has permission to live and work in the United
States that doesn’t expire.
Protections against citizenship status discrimination
An employer can’t fire or refuse to hire someone granted
asylum 	or 	refugee 	status 	based 	on 	citizenship 	or
immigration status, unless a law, regulation, government
contract, or executive order requires the employer to do
so. This exception is rare and does not apply to the vast
majority of jobs.
An employer that believes a certain position requires it to
hire someone with a specific citizenship or immigration
status should carefully review the legal support for the
requirement to ensure it falls within the exception.
Denying someone granted
asylum or refugee status
the opportunity to work
based on their citizenship
or immigration status
could violate the law.
Immigrant and Employee Rights Section
justice.gov/ier

How to Avoid Discrimination When Hiring Workers Granted Asylum or Refugee Status
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Completing the Form I-9 for workers granted asylum or refugee status
Form I-9 Section 1
Worker completes Section 1
Someone granted asylum or refugee status should select the fourth box for “Alien
authorized to work” (or “A Noncitizen Authorized to Work” in some versions of the Form I-9)
in Section 1. Because their permission to work does not expire, these workers write “N/A”
in the expiration date field in Section 1.
Form I-9 Section 2
Worker chooses documentation
Like all workers, someone granted asylum or refugee status doesn’t need to prove their
particular citizenship or immigration status when they complete the Form I-9. The purpose
of the Form I-9 is to document a worker’s identity and their permission to work.
Under the Form I-9 instructions, someone granted asylum or refugee status, like all
workers, can choose to present acceptable documentation from List A, or a combination of
documentation from List B and List C.
The 	Form 	I-9 	instructions 	explain 	that 	if 	any 	worker,
including 	someone 	granted 	asylum 	or 	refugee 	status,
decides 	to 	show 	a 	List 	B 	and 	a 	List 	C 	document,
employers are not allowed to ask or require the worker to
present a List A document, such as a Department of
Homeland Security document.
Call the Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee
Rights Section (IER) for more information on workers’ right
to choose which documents to show you for the Form I-9.
Information on Form I-9 documentation workers granted asylum or refugee status
might have
Someone granted asylum or refugee status may choose to show an Employment
Authorization Document (EAD), but they don’t have to.
These workers may have EADs that appear expired but
qualify for an automatic extension and are still valid. If
someone granted asylum or refugee status has applied to
renew their EAD by the expiration date listed on the EAD,
the worker may be able to keep working with the existing
EAD. For a period of time after the EAD expiration date, the
worker can continue working by showing you their EAD
with 	the 	I- 	797C 	receipt 	notice 	(showing 	that 	the
government received their EAD renewal application).
Someone granted
asylum or refugee
status may have a
variety of documents
that show their identity
and their permission to
work.
Requesting a specific
document based on a
worker’s citizenship,
immigration status, or
national origin might violate
the Immigration and
Nationality Act’s anti-
discrimination provision.

How to Avoid Discrimination When Hiring Workers Granted Asylum or Refugee Status
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You can get more information on EAD automatic extensions and completing the Form I-9
in the Handbook for Employers M-274. You can also call IER for more information.
Someone granted asylum or refugee status can show other documentation. For example,
they can show state identification (List B document) together with a Social Security card
without employment restrictions (List C document). These workers are eligible to receive
Social Security cards with no employment restrictions because of their immigration status.
Someone granted refugee status may also have a Form I-94 with a refugee admission
stamp or a computer-generated Form I-94 printout with an admission class of “RE.” Both
versions of the I-94 are a type of Form I-9 document known as a receipt and are valid List
A documents for 90 days from the first day of work, after which the worker must show either
an EAD or a combination of a List B document and an unrestricted Social Security card.
Call IER for more information on refugee Forms I-94.
Someone granted refugee status can also use their unexpired Department of State-issued
Transportation Boarding Letter as an acceptable List B document.
Someone granted asylum may have a Form I-94 with an asylum approval stamp. This Form
I-94 is a permanent List C document that does not expire. The Form I-9 instructions don’t
require employers to reverify this document, and an employer that reverifies a worker when
not required to, based on the worker’s citizenship, immigration status, or national origin
might violate the law.
You can get more information by contacting IER and in the Handbook for Employers
M‑274.
Reverification information
If the Form I-9 instructions require you to reverify the Form I-9 documentation that
someone granted asylum or refugee status presented, you must treat that worker as you
would any other worker during the reverification process.
If someone granted asylum or refugee status presents an
EAD for initial verification, you will reverify the worker’s
permission to work when the EAD expires.
These are just some examples. The rules for when an
employer must ask for documents again are discussed in
the Handbook for Employers M-274. Workers do not have
to show a List B document for reverification.
Follow all Form I-9 rules consistently, regardless of an
employee’s 	citizenship, 	immigration 	status, 	or 	national
origin to avoid violating the law that IER enforces.
Upon reverification,
workers can present any
valid List A document or
List C document, such as
an unrestricted Social
Security card or an
unexpired (including
automatically extended)
EAD. Workers can also
show a valid receipt.

How to Avoid Discrimination When Hiring Workers Granted Asylum or Refugee Status
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Workers granted asylum or refugee status can work while they wait for
a Social Security number
Although the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service require you
to record a Social Security number for wage reporting purposes, a worker may start work
and get paid for that work once the worker has completed the Form I-9, even if the worker
is still waiting for a Social Security number.
According to Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration guidance, you
can use “000-00-0000” or “applied for” in your payroll system until the employee provides
you with the Social Security number.
If you use E-Verify, E-Verify instructs you to delay creating the E-Verify case until the worker
has received a Social Security number. The worker may work during this time if the worker
has completed the Form I-9. E-Verify rules specifically allow for this exception and provide
instructions for creating the case. More information is available at e-verify.gov.
Updated April 2025
Contact
Civil Rights Division, Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER)
Call the Worker Hotline at 1-800-255-7688
1-800-237-2515 TTY
Calls can be anonymous and free language services are available.
To learn more, visit justice.gov/ier