Employing Foreign Nationals

Foreign National Employment in the U.S.

There are three broad classes of foreign nationals allowed to work in the U.S:

1. Foreign nationals authorized to work incident to their immigration status, without restriction as to the nature or location of employment, but who in some instances may be required to first obtain an employment authorization document (EAD);
2. Foreign nationals permitted to work for a specific employer incident to their status, without obtaining and EAD; and,
3. Foreign nationals eligible for employment authorization, but who must first obtain an Employment Authorization Document ("EAD") from DHS/USCIS.

The various classes of foreign nationals who have employment authorization in the U.S. do not follow the same procedure to obtain the authorization, nor do they receive the same documents to establish authorization.