Ukrainian, Afghan parolees class action claims workers deserve employment authorization fee reimbursement

Employee authorization class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Stanislav Astakhov, Alona Astakhova, Yevhenii Shapiro and Anastasiia Volkova filed a class action lawsuit against United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, United States Department of Homeland Security and the United States of America.
• Why: The plaintiffs argue they were charged a $410 filing fee when applying for employment authorization, despite being lawfully exempt from having to pay it. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in District of Columbia federal court.

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did not exempt Ukrainian and Afghan parolees from the $410 fee to apply for employment authorization, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiffs Stanislav Astakhov, Alona Astakhova, Yevhenii Shapiro and Anastasiia Volkova claim DHS and USCIS were required by law to exempt Ukrainian and Afghan parolees from the initial fee. 

The plaintiffs argue the USCIS conceded in November 2022 that the parolees were “entitled to the same automatic employment authorization and fee exemption as refugees,” but allegedly refused to refund fees that had already been paid. 

“Plaintiffs challenge Defendants’ failure to provide them employment authorization incident to status, failure to exempt them from the $410 filing fee, and request a refund of the fees already paid,” the employee authorization class action states. 

Afghan, Ukrainian parolees requesting return or refund of $410 employment authorization application filing fee

The plaintiffs want to represent a class of anyone who paid the $410 filing fee for forms I-765 filed by Afghan and Ukrainian parolees entitled to “other benefits available to refugees” under the Afghan Parolee Act and the Ukrainian Parolee Act. 

The DHS and USCIS are accused of violating the Administrative Procedure Act and the Little Tucker Act. 

The plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory relief along with an award of restitution in the form of a return or refund of the $410 employment authorization application filing fee.

Last month, final approval was given to a $1.75 million settlement made between the federal government and a class of Latino workers who argued they were targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents without probable cause during a 2018 raid on a Tenneessee slaughterhouse. 

Have you paid a fee you should have been exempt from? Let us know in the comments. 

The plaintiffs are represented by Elizabeth Smith of Motley Rice LLC. 

The employee authorization class action lawsuit is Astakhov, et al. v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, et al., Case No. 1:23-cv-01502, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

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