What is the difference between a green card and a work permit?

A work permit (EAD) is permission with an expiration date; a green card is proof of status. What each document lets you do, and why expiry differs for each.

What is the difference between a green card and a work permit?

They are not the same thing, and the difference is not in the plastic — it is in what sits behind each card. A work permit — formally the Employment Authorization Document, or EAD, Form I-766, requested on Form I-765 — is proof of permission to work for a set period. A green card — formally the Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551 — is proof of an immigration status, lawful permanent residence, and the authorization to work comes bundled with that status.

That is where nearly all the confusion comes from: when an EAD expires, the permission ends; when a green card expires, the card ends, not the status.

This page compares the two documents by quoting USCIS and the regulations. It does not explain how to file or what either one costs — that lives on each form’s own page, linked at the end.

The sentence that settles the confusion

The regulation puts it in one line. 8 CFR §274a.12(a)(1), on the permanent resident: “An alien who is a lawful permanent resident (with or without conditions pursuant to section 216 of the Act), as evidenced by Form I-551 issued by the Service. An expiration date on the Form I-551 reflects only that the card must be renewed, not that the bearer’s work authorization has expired.”

The same body of regulations describes the EAD the other way around, at 8 CFR §274a.13(b): if the application is granted, the person is issued “an employment authorization document valid for a specific period and subject to any terms and conditions as noted.” (Regulatory text retrieved August 11, 2026.)

A card that expires and an authorization that expires are different things, and for the green card the regulation says so expressly.

Side by side

	Work permit (EAD, Form I-766)	Green card (Form I-551)
What it proves	That the person is authorized to work “for a specific time period”	That the person is a lawful permanent resident; the card is “evidence of your employment authorization”
Where the work authorization comes from	From the approval of Form I-765	From the status itself, with no separate application
Does it grant immigration status?	No: “The approval of Form I-765 does not grant the alien an immigration status”	It is the document of permanent resident status
What its expiration date means	The document’s validity period has ended	That the card must be renewed, “not that the bearer’s work authorization has expired”
How long it lasts	Set by USCIS by category and “in its discretion”	Status runs until naturalization, loss or abandonment; a conditional card lasts two years and cannot be renewed
Does it work for re-entry?	It does not appear on the list of entry documents USCIS publishes; travel documents are requested separately on Form I-131	Yes: “you will need to present a valid, unexpired ‘Green Card’ (Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card)”
Must it be carried at all times?	The sources reviewed impose no such duty on an EAD holder	Yes: “you must have a valid, unexpired Green Card or equivalent documentation with you at all times”
Does it start a citizenship clock?	No source reviewed gives it that effect	Yes: naturalization counts time “after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence” (8 U.S.C. §1427(a))

A permanent resident never needs an EAD

USCIS says it plainly on its Employment Authorization Document page: “You do not need to apply for an EAD if you are a lawful permanent resident. Your Green Card (Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card) is evidence of your employment authorization.” The same page adds the other case where none is needed: “You also do not need to apply for an EAD if you have a nonimmigrant status that authorizes you to work for a specific employer incident to your status (for example, you are an H-1B, L-1B, O, or P nonimmigrant).”

That is the structural difference. For a permanent resident, work authorization is attached to the status. For someone who depends on an EAD, it is attached to a document with a validity period — and the USCIS Policy Manual describes both sides: where authorization is incident to status, the validity period “is assigned to the document issued evidencing an alien’s authorization to work in the United States and does not limit the period of employment authorization while the alien maintains status,” while in the categories that require an application, “Employment authorization and EAD validity periods are generally determined based on the eligibility category that is granted” (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 10, current as of August 6, 2026).

Per-category validity figures change and are not reproduced here: they live, with their source, on the Form I-765 page.

An approved I-765 grants no status; a filed I-485 grants no work permission

These are the two mirror-image mistakes, and USCIS refutes each one separately.

The EAD grants no status. Policy Manual, Volume 10: “The approval of Form I-765 does not grant the alien an immigration status; it simply provides authorization to work and accompanying evidence of such authorization, or evidence of authorization to work where an alien is already authorized to work by virtue of the alien’s immigration status or circumstance.”
Applying for the green card does not authorize work. Policy Manual, Volume 7: “The filing of an adjustment application itself does not authorize employment.” And the link between the two documents runs in one direction only: if USCIS denies the adjustment application, “any EAD granted based on that adjustment application may be subject to termination.”

(Both chapters marked current as of August 6, 2026.)

What permanent residence confers, and what it requires

USCIS publishes the list of a permanent resident’s rights: “Live permanently in the United States provided you do not commit any actions that would make you removable under immigration law”; “Work in the United States at any legal work of your qualification and choosing. (Please note that some jobs will be limited to U.S. citizens for security reasons)”; and “Be protected by all laws of the United States, your state of residence and local jurisdictions.”

It publishes the responsibilities on the same page: obeying the law; “Required to file your income tax returns and report your income to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and state taxing authorities”; supporting the democratic form of government, with an express clarification — “Permanent residents cannot vote in federal, state, or local elections” — and “Required to register with the Selective Service, if you are a male age 18 through 25.” (Page last reviewed/updated September 12, 2025.)

On top of that sits the duty to carry the document, which USCIS repeats on its Form I-90 page: “As a lawful permanent resident, you must have a valid, unexpired Green Card or equivalent documentation with you at all times. Applying for naturalization does not change this requirement.” Replacing or renewing the card is covered on the Form I-90 page.

Two different clocks

Permanent resident status carries no expiration of its own. USCIS: “Once you become a lawful permanent resident (Green Card holder), you maintain permanent resident status until you: Apply for and complete the naturalization process; or Lose or abandon your status.”

Conditional residence is the exception, and it is strict. USCIS: “A conditional permanent resident receives a Green Card valid for two years. To remove the conditions on your permanent resident status, you must file a petition within the 90-day period before your conditional Green Card expires… You cannot renew your conditional Green Card. If your conditions are not removed, you will lose your permanent resident status and you will become removable from the United States.” (Page last reviewed/updated April 24, 2025.)

EAD validity is USCIS’s call. The regulation says so expressly: “USCIS may, in its discretion, determine the validity period assigned to any document issued evidencing an alien’s authorization to work in the United States” (8 CFR §274a.12(a)).

Travel: the difference that is expensive to discover late

To re-enter the United States after travel, USCIS lists the document to be presented. For a permanent resident: “If seeking to enter the United States after temporary travel abroad, you will need to present a valid, unexpired ‘Green Card’ (Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card).” And generally: “If you wish to return to the United States lawfully after traveling outside the United States, you generally must have a: Valid entry document, such as a Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) or nonimmigrant visa; or Valid and unexpired travel document.”

The EAD is not on that list, and travel documents are a separate application. USCIS: “File Form I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records, to request travel documents, including: Advance parole document…; Refugee travel document; Reentry permit; or Temporary Protected Status travel authorization.” That filing is covered on the Form I-131 page.

For a permanent resident, travel carries a consequence of its own: abandonment of status. USCIS: “Permanent residents are free to travel outside the United States, and temporary or brief travel usually does not affect your permanent resident status. If it is determined, however, that you did not intend to make the United States your permanent home, you will be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status. A general guide used is whether you have been absent from the United States for more than a year. Abandonment may be found to occur in trips of less than a year where it is believed you did not intend to make the United States your permanent residence.” And the agency’s own suggestion: “If you plan on being absent from the United States for longer than a year, it is advisable to first apply for a reentry permit on Form I-131.”

The other two acts USCIS lists as intentional abandonment have nothing to do with how long a trip lasts: “Moving to another country and intending to live there permanently” and “Declaring yourself a ’nonimmigrant’ on your U.S. tax returns.”

Only one side has a clock toward citizenship

The naturalization statute counts time from permanent residence, not from a work permit. 8 U.S.C. §1427(a): “No person… shall be naturalized unless such applicant, (1) immediately preceding the date of filing his application for naturalization has resided continuously, after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, within the United States for at least five years and during the five years immediately preceding the date of filing his application has been physically present therein for periods totaling at least half of that time…”

Absences reappear here with a different effect: §1427(b) says that an absence of “more than six months but less than one year during the period for which continuous residence is required for admission to citizenship … shall break the continuity of such residence.” The filing itself is covered on the Form N-400 page.

What the sources do NOT say

This section matters as much as the ones above it: inferring permission from a source’s silence is exactly how errors on this topic spread.

The USCIS EAD page never says that an EAD is not a travel document, and never says that it confers no status. That page covers what an EAD is, who must apply, renewal and replacement — and is silent on both points. The status point had to be sourced from the Policy Manual, and the travel point is an omission: the EAD does not appear on the list of entry documents. The most confusing thing about the document is not explained on the document’s own page.
No source reviewed states a standard ten-year validity for a non-conditional green card. The USCIS replacement page says only that a card must be replaced if “Your Green Card is either expired or will expire within the next six months,” and the I-90 page imposes the carry requirement without stating a term. The only figure the sources state outright is the two years of a conditional card. That is why this page publishes no number of years: the durable rule is the regulation’s — the date on the card is about the card.
No source reviewed describes a path running from an EAD to permanent residence. They describe the EAD as evidence of permission to work, and adjustment of status as a separate application whose filing does not authorize employment. That is an absence, not a denial: it means the question is not answered by these sources.
There is no official list of what an EAD does not let you do. Everything this page says on the EAD side is built from what the green-card sources affirmatively require — entry document, carry requirement, residence for naturalization — plus the Policy Manual’s sentence on status. That is the honest way to put it, and it is why you will not read “an EAD does not allow X” here as a bare assertion.
On Social Security numbers, none of the USCIS sources cited here explains the process in general terms. What is documented is what the form itself asks for: see the Form I-765 page.

Last verified: 2026-08-11. General information, not legal advice. Determining what status a person holds, what effect a trip abroad would have on a specific case, or whether a long absence puts permanent residence at risk, is the work of a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ/BIA-accredited representative.

Frequently asked questions

Does a work permit (EAD) make me a permanent resident?

No, and USCIS says so in its own Policy Manual, marked current as of August 6, 2026: ‘The approval of Form I-765 does not grant the alien an immigration status; it simply provides authorization to work and accompanying evidence of such authorization.’ In USCIS’s own words, an EAD is ‘one way to prove that you are authorized to work in the United States for a specific time period’ — proof with an expiration date, not an immigration status.

If I have a green card, do I also need a work permit?

No. USCIS states it directly: ‘You do not need to apply for an EAD if you are a lawful permanent resident. Your Green Card (Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card) is evidence of your employment authorization.’ The same page adds that an EAD is also unnecessary for someone with a nonimmigrant status that authorizes work for a specific employer incident to that status, naming H-1B, L-1B, O and P as examples.

My green card expired. Can I no longer work?

The regulation separates the card from the permission. 8 CFR §274a.12(a)(1) says that ‘An expiration date on the Form I-551 reflects only that the card must be renewed, not that the bearer’s work authorization has expired.’ With an EAD the logic runs the other way: 8 CFR §274a.13(b) describes a document ‘valid for a specific period and subject to any terms and conditions as noted’. Even so, USCIS keeps a separate obligation on the permanent resident: ‘you must have a valid, unexpired Green Card or equivalent documentation with you at all times.’

Can I leave the country and re-enter on my work permit?

For re-entry after travel, USCIS lists which documents work: ‘a valid, unexpired Green Card (Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card)’ for a permanent resident and, generally, a ‘Valid entry document, such as a Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) or nonimmigrant visa; or Valid and unexpired travel document’. The EAD does not appear on that list, and travel documents are requested separately on Form I-131: advance parole, a reentry permit, a refugee travel document, or TPS travel authorization.

How long does each one last?

They run on two different clocks. Permanent resident status runs, in USCIS’s words, ‘until you: Apply for and complete the naturalization process; or Lose or abandon your status’ — it carries no expiration of its own. Conditional residence is the exception: ‘A conditional permanent resident receives a Green Card valid for two years’, and ‘You cannot renew your conditional Green Card’. EAD validity is set by USCIS by category and as a matter of discretion: ‘USCIS may, in its discretion, determine the validity period assigned to any document issued evidencing an alien’s authorization to work in the United States.’ Those per-category figures change and live on the Form I-765 page.

Does a work permit lead to a green card over time?

None of the official sources reviewed for this page describes a path running from an EAD to permanent residence. They are separate filings, and USCIS is explicit in the opposite direction: ‘The filing of an adjustment application itself does not authorize employment.’ It adds that if the adjustment application is denied, ‘any EAD granted based on that adjustment application may be subject to termination’ (Policy Manual, current as of August 6, 2026).

Can a permanent resident lose status by living abroad?

Yes. USCIS lists as intentional abandonment ‘Moving to another country and intending to live there permanently; Declaring yourself a nonimmigrant on your U.S. tax returns; or Remaining outside of the United States for an extended period of time, unless it’s a temporary absence’, and gives this guide: ‘A general guide used is whether you have been absent from the United States for more than a year.’ Absences also affect citizenship: 8 U.S.C. §1427(b) says an absence of ‘more than six months but less than one year’ breaks the continuity of residence. An EAD has no equivalent rule, because it is not a status.

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General information, not legal advice. MigrantUSA is an independent publisher and is not a law firm; using this site does not create an attorney-client relationship, and this content is not a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney about your specific situation. US federal, state, and local government procedures, fees, and forms change. Always verify current details directly with the relevant agency before acting. For immigration, tax, or other legal matters specific to your situation, consult a licensed attorney or BIA-accredited representative.