How to fill out Form I-765 (work permit), line by line
Form I-765 is USCIS’s application for employment authorization and an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), often called a work permit. This guide explains the current seven-page form after you have identified the USCIS eligibility category that applies to you. It does not determine whether you qualify; use USCIS’s Who May File Form I-765 instructions for your category, evidence, and timing rules.
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Start with the filing reason and eligibility category
Before entering your name or address, settle two decisions: why you are filing in Part 1 and the single eligibility category you will enter in Part 2, Item 27. Those choices organize the rest of the application. Form I-765 is not for lawful permanent residents, conditional permanent residents, or people authorized to work only for a specific employer under 8 CFR 274a.12(b).
Choose one Part 1 reason
Part 1 asks for the type of EAD request, not your immigration category. Select exactly one box: Item 1.a. for initial permission to accept employment; Item 1.b. for a lost, stolen, or damaged EAD, or a correction that was not caused by USCIS; or Item 1.c. for renewal. If you select renewal, attach a copy of your previous EAD.
Which Part 1 reason should you select?
Select | Use it when | Extra step |
|---|---|---|
1.a. Initial | You are requesting initial permission to accept employment. | Continue with the category and evidence that apply. |
1.b. Replacement | Your EAD was lost, stolen, damaged, or needs a non-USCIS-error correction. | Use the replacement route. |
1.c. Renewal | You are renewing employment authorization. | Attach a copy of the previous EAD. |
A USCIS-error correction is different
Do not file a new Form I-765 or filing fee solely to correct an EAD error caused by USCIS. The form directs applicants to the USCIS I-765 page for that process.
Identify Item 27 before completing later fields
Item 27 is the controlling Part 2 entry. Enter one letter-and-number eligibility category from USCIS's Who May File Form I-765 section, rather than a general description of your immigration situation. A pending benefit can have a different category from an already granted benefit; USCIS uses pending asylum, category (c)(8), and granted asylum, category (a)(5), as an example. Identify the category before completing Items 28 through 31 because those later fields apply only to specified categories.
Keep the eligibility decision separate
This page explains what the visible fields request. USCIS's Who May File Form I-765 section is the source for determining an individual category, its evidence, and its category-specific timing.
Part 2: Your identity, addresses, and immigration history
Part 2 combines records that do different jobs: identifying you, delivering the EAD, and recording immigration history. Read each question for its time period and use the record that supplies that fact. Do not substitute a related identifier, country, or status.
Names, mailing address, and physical address
For Items 1.a.-1.c., enter your full legal name as shown on your birth certificate or legal name-change document. Items 2.a.-4.c. are separate: list every other name you have ever used, including aliases, maiden names, and nicknames. Use Part 6 if they do not fit. USCIS also calls for evidence of other names used, such as a birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce document, government ID, or passport identity page.
Items 5.a.-5.f. need a valid U.S. mailing address because USCIS sends the EAD there. It may be a residence, APO, commercial address, or PO Box where you receive mail. Use the In Care Of line if mail goes to someone else. Then answer Item 6 accurately: when your mailing and physical addresses differ, select No and provide your U.S. physical address in Item 7.
Safe mailing-address exception
If you have a pending or approved VAWA-based matter, T nonimmigrant matter, or U nonimmigrant matter and do not feel safe receiving mail at home, USCIS permits a safe mailing address. If it is not where you live, still provide your physical address in Item 7. Do not use an attorney's or representative's address unless you want the EAD sent there.
Identifiers, birth details, and arrival records
Items 8-13 ask for identifiers and current filing-date details. An A-Number begins with A and identifies immigration records; enter N/A if you do not have one. A USCIS Online Account Number is different. You have one only if a prior filing has a receipt number beginning with IOE; it appears in your online account profile or Account Access Notice. Do not turn an A-Number or another receipt number into an Online Account Number. Select marital status as of the filing date. If you filed Form I-765 before, answer Yes and provide copies of earlier EADs if available.
Items 14 and 15: Citizenship or nationality is not necessarily your country of birth. For birthplace, use the country name in effect when you were born.
Items 16 and 22: Enter your date of birth and last-arrival date in mm/dd/yyyy format.
Items 17-23: Use the I-94, most recently issued passport or travel document, and last-arrival record. Enter passport or travel-document information if you used it to travel to the United States, even if it has expired.
Items 24 and 25: Item 24 asks about your status at your last arrival; Item 25 asks for your current immigration status or category. They may differ.
Item 26: Enter a SEVIS number only if one was issued.
If CBP or USCIS issued you an I-94, provide its number and the authorized-stay expiration date shown on it. An electronic I-94 may be available through CBP's I-94 website. If you cannot obtain it there, USCIS identifies Form I-102 as the route to request a replacement or initial arrival-departure record. If you are stateless, enter “stateless” for citizenship or nationality and explain in Part 6.
Part 2, Items 27-31: Complete only the fields your category triggers
Items 28 through 31 are not a general checklist. Each is activated only by the exact category entered in Item 27. Complete the triggered field, then use the named USCIS instruction section for specialized evidence or procedure; the form itself does not decide category eligibility.
Item 27 category triggers for Items 28–31
Item 27 category | Complete | What the field asks for |
|---|---|---|
(c)(3)(C) STEM OPT | Item 28.a.-28.c. | Degree level and major; employer name as listed in E-Verify; employer E-Verify Company or valid Client Company ID number. |
(c)(26) H-4 spouse | Item 29 | Receipt number from the H-1B spouse’s most recent Form I-797 for Form I-129. |
(c)(8) pending asylum | Item 30 | Answer the arrest-or-conviction question; follow the named special instructions if Yes. |
(c)(35) or (c)(36) | Item 31.a.-31.b. | Required Form I-140 receipt number and the arrest-or-conviction question. |
Only an applicant who entered (c)(3)(C) completes Item 28. That information connects a STEM OPT request to the degree and the employer's E-Verify record. Only an applicant who entered (c)(26) completes Item 29, using the receipt number from the H-1B spouse's most recent Form I-797 for Form I-129. The related category instructions control the remaining documentation and timing, so do not complete either item merely because it appears beside Item 27.
Item 30 belongs to category (c)(8). Item 31 belongs to categories (c)(35) and (c)(36), and also requests the relevant Form I-140 receipt number. If the applicable answer is Yes, the form is not the complete instruction: Item 30 directs you to the Special Filing Instructions for Those With Pending Asylum Applications (c)(8), while Item 31 directs you to Employment-Based Nonimmigrant Categories, Items 8-9, for court-disposition information.
Applies only to the specified pending-asylum route
For a (c)(8) applicant with a pending Form I-589 filed on or after January 4, 1995, USCIS states that the applicant must wait 150 days after filing the asylum application before applying for an EAD. USCIS then has an additional 30 days before it may issue the EAD, creating a 180-day asylum EAD clock. Delays requested or caused by the applicant do not count, and USCIS may reject an I-765 filed before the 150-day period ends. A USCIS asylum-office Recommended Approval notice permits immediate filing when a copy of that notice is included.
Parts 3-5: Statements, signatures, interpreter, and preparer
These parts record who read, prepared, and certified the application. Help from another person does not replace the applicant's own certification and signature.
In Part 3, select either the statement that you read and understood the application in English or the statement that an interpreter read the questions and instructions in a language in which you are fluent. Select the preparer statement if someone prepared the application from information you provided or authorized. Then provide the requested contact information and sign and date the form. The ABC box in Item 6 is only for an eligible Salvadoran or Guatemalan national applying under (c)(8) with ABC settlement benefits.
A valid applicant signature is essential
USCIS does not accept a stamped or typewritten name in place of a signature. Every application needs the applicant's signature, except that a parent or legal guardian may sign for an applicant under 14, and a legal guardian may sign for a mentally incompetent person.
Use Part 4 when an interpreter read the instructions and questions to you in a language in which you are fluent. The interpreter supplies contact information, certifies the interpretation, signs, and dates.
Use Part 5 when someone other than you prepared the application. That preparer provides the required information, declaration, signature, and date.
If one person acted as both interpreter and preparer, that person completes both parts. An attorney or accredited representative who helped prepare the form may also need to submit Form G-28.
Part 6 and a final official filing check
Part 6 is a continuation tool, not an unlabeled notes area. It lets USCIS connect an overflow answer to the exact question it completes, including additional names or a required explanation.
Use the Part 6 space when an answer does not fit in its original field.
For each continuation answer, identify the page number, part number, and item number of the original question.
If you need more room, copy the page or attach a separate sheet. Put your name and A-Number, if any, at the top of every added sheet, then sign and date each sheet.
Type or print legibly in black ink. Answer fully and accurately; use N/A for a non-applicable question and None for a zero or none numeric response unless USCIS directs otherwise.
Include all seven pages of Form I-765, even pages that do not apply and are unanswered.
Confirm that Part 1 has one reason selected, Item 27 has one category, all applicable category-triggered fields are complete, and all required people have signed and dated their sections.
Use legible photocopies unless USCIS specifically requires an original. USCIS may destroy originals submitted when they were not required or requested.
Check USCIS’s Required Documentation and Who May File sections for the evidence required by your category. Current filing locations are on the USCIS I-765 page, and fee information is in Form G-1055.
Match the evidence to your category
A properly completed form is only one part of the filing. USCIS says the category-specific evidence in its instructions controls the basis for eligibility. Do not use a general form guide as a substitute for those category instructions.
Sources and how this page was made
This guide explains the official sources listed below in plain language. Displayed amounts, limits, percentages, and timing rules come from that material.
Source revision reflected in this guide: Form: 08/21/25; Instructions: 08/21/25.
Official form: Form I-765, Application For Employment Authorization — USCIS
Official form instructions: Form I-765, Instructions for Application for Employment Authorization — USCIS