Welcome Door

Welcome Door is a program created by Amazon's People eXperience and Technology (PXT) organization to provide current refugee and humanitarian-based immigrant employees in the U.S. with additional resources, support, and reimbursement for Employment Authorization Documents (EAD).

What's New

TPS Extension for Certain Countries

The U.S. government has extended until June 30, 2024, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and TPS-related documentation (including Employment Authorization Documents—EADs) for people with TPS from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Nepal, Haiti, and Sudan. To learn more about how this may impact your immigration status, please see the announcement in the Federal Register.

What's New

Open Enrollment and Welcome Door

Open Enrollment for Amazon Benefits is October 5-19, 2022As part of Open Enrollment, all Amazon employees can sign up for legal-services benefits, including immigration legal support through Amazon's Legal Plan. For a monthly fee deducted from your paycheck, you can access one of MetLife's thousands of attorneys. The plan's monthly cost is $15.20. It has no limits on the number of times you use it—you can use the plan as often as needed. For more information about how Amazon's Legal Plan works, contact MetLife at 1-800-821-6400 or visit info.legalplans.com.

What's New

The new U.S. Government Policy on travel and adjustment of status for Temporary Protected Status (TSP) holders

Added September 6, 2022

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is creating a new travel authorization document for TPS holders, replacing the old Advanced Parole process. The application remains the same, using USCIS Form I-131.
TPS holders who re-enter the U.S. with travel authorization are considered “inspected and admitted,” which may allow those with a pathway to a green card to become permanent residents, regardless of how they entered the U.S. or whether they had lawful status before gaining TPS.

Any TPS holder who wishes to apply for this new travel document can do so via USCIS’ form I-131, “Application for Travel Document.” If you have already filed an I-131, you do not need to reapply. Welcome Door suggests speaking with a qualified attorney if you think you may benefit under this new policy.Learn more about the new U.S. Government Policy.

What's New

USCIS Expands Automatic Extensions of Employment Authorization Documents - U.S.

Added May 4, 2022On May 3, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a temporary final rule that automatically extends work authorization for certain people holding Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) seeking renewal. The new rule goes into effect on May 4 and lengthens the auto-extension period to up to 540 days of work authorization.The extension applies to eligible people:

Who have a pending EAD renewal application and have already lost their work authorization;
Who have a pending EAD renewal whose EADs have not yet expired; or
Who will apply for an EAD renewal before October 26, 2023.

Employees do not need to take any other action—beyond timely filing their renewals—to get this 540-day auto extension of their EAD validity.

May 4, 2022 update—continuedWhy it mattersThis is great news for Amazonians who have an EAD that has expired, or will expire in the coming months. It will allow them to maintain work authorization, which may have otherwise expired. Delays at USCIS have continued to subject certain Amazonians who timely filed their EAD renewals to a work authorization suspension. Amazon has engaged USCIS to change their polices to help address this significant backlog, highlighting how important it is for our employees to maintain work authorization.
Automatic 540-day EAD extensions for those who meet certain criteriaBeginning May 4, 2022, individuals are eligible* for the automatic 540-day EAD extension if they:

Filed for their EAD in a category that USCIS already lists as eligible for an automatic extension, including for asylees and asylum seekers, refugees, those who have applied for Adjustment of Status, Temporary Protected Status holders, and more;
Properly and timely filed for their EAD renewal application before their current EAD expired;
Applied for the same EAD category (i.e. as a refugee, as an asylum seeker, adjustment of status,) when renewing their permit; and
If they are an H-4, L-2, or E dependent spouse, have a valid, unexpired I-94 indicating valid H-4, L-2, or E dependent spousal status. (All other statuses do not require an unexpired I-94 to qualify.)

*Note: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and F-1 STEM OPT extensions do not qualify for auto-extension of their EAD.

May 4, 2022 update—continuedWhat’s next for impacted employees?Affected employees who are suspended or whose documentation expires within 60 days will hear from Amazon Work Authorization—via email and A to Z—about the USCIS update and acceptable documentation to present for I-9 re-verification purposes. Those who have already presented acceptable documentation will have their work authorization status extended, Form I-9 updated, and be recalled from suspension effective May 4, if eligible. Questions about I-9 re-verification and acceptable documentation can be directed to Work Authorization.

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Humanitarian-based immigration support

Through the new Welcome Door program, Amazon refugee and humanitarian-based immigrant employees have access to several new resources and support including:

Reimbursement for employment authorization document (EAD) renewal fees, with fees on average costing roughly $500 every other year.
A new Citizenship Assistance Portal that will fully support employee U.S. citizenship applications.
Ongoing communications that will highlight policy changes that may impact an employee’s immigration status.
Free legal resources to help navigate immigration-related questions and the ability to connect with immigration experts.
Access to skills-based training benefits including free college tuition and English as a Second Language (ESL) proficiency through Career Choice.

Who is eligible?

The Welcome Door program is available to all EAD holders who are blue-badge employees. These include WWOps and corporate employees.

EAD reimbursement filing assistance
As of December 13, 2022, the Welcome Door reimbursement process for Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) has moved from Concur to MyHR. Employees can now file for reimbursement via MyHR on the Amazon AtoZ app or site.
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Self-help toolkits
Amazon has partnered with outside counsel to provide tool kits and resources for Amazon employees.

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Citizenship assistance portal
Access to an online portal and free legal assistance for eligible employees interested in completing their application for U.S. citizenship.
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Ongoing communications
The Amazon Immigration team will update this page with announcements on new government policies that affect the work authorization status of Amazon employees on humanitarian-based Employment Authorization Documents (EADs).
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Career Choice
Get access to skills training benefits including free college tuition and English as a Second Language (ESL) proficiency through Career Choice.
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U.S. guide to hiring refugees at Amazon
Amazon has developed this guide to assist humanitarian-based immigrants and non-governmental organizations in the U.S. in understanding Amazon’s hiring and onboarding processes, career advancement opportunities, Welcome Door service offerings, and other benefits available to employees.

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