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Hi Everyone! Just wanted to give you a run down of our experience with expediting an EAD for anyone who may be looking for future information or advice. I am a US citizen married to an Indian citizen, who came to the US on an F1 visa. We met through our church a few months after he came to the states. We got married in March of 2017 and couldn't afford a lawyer, so I decided to do the paperwork myself. It took us about a year to get everything submitted - my mother was diagnosed with stage one kidney cancer, and then she needed both hips replaced so we were living with her and taking care of her. But anyway, we submitted everything and soon after my husband gets offered a job in Florida, over 1,000 miles away, with a great company, great benefits, and great starting salary (he had been applying for positions for a while, but we didn't think he would get offered a job until after he graduated, possibly months after.) His start date was due to be 5/28. We make plans to fly to Florida on 5/12-5/16 to look for housing. Cue the emotional roller coaster that is the expedition process... Our faith is very important to us, and we trusted that God would open up the doors through this process and help us receive the EAD in time if we had faith and trusted in Him. I can honestly say that I believe it wouldn't have been possible for us to do this if we didn't trust in His plan, no matter what the outcome turned out to be. We are also very fortunate to be living in a state with a relatively small population and not a high immigration rate (compared to others), and our state rep's office has gone above and beyond in helping us, as well.
Filed I-130, I-485 (+ I-864 and I-693), and I-765 concurrently
3/21 - sent application through USPS certified mail, Chicago Lockbox
3/23 - Application accepted by USCIS
4/9 - Receive notice that I-765 is outdated, send in updated form and payment (they did not send any of the documents or the passport pics we had sent in back with the notice. We also called the hotline to confirm that no fee was needed since it was filed with the I-485. The agent told us on both parts that USCIS made a mistake.)
4/9 - Receive biometrics appointment for 4/27
4/13 - I-765 accepted by USCIS
4/21 - attempt early walk-in for biometrics - our facility does not accept walk-ins and tells us to come back on 4/27
4/27 - biometrics are taken
4/30 - call hotline and raise SR for I-765 to be expedited based on severe personal financial loss, told we will receive email notification in 5 days of response to request
5/1 - USCIS online case status updates to "assigned to an officer" and "case closed" - no email is received
5/2 - call back hotline and inquire about the updates online but no email being received. We are told a letter was sent out and we should be expecting it that same day. No letter is received.
5/3 - Contact local congresswoman for help with a federal agency. Fax in our request form with cover letter, job offer letter, I-797 receipts, bank statement, credit card statements, car loan statement, student loan statements, most current I-20, copy of marriage certificate, copy of beneficiary's passport with entry stamp, and copy of beneficiariy's visa (33 pages in total - maybe it was overkill but I didn't want to leave anything up to chance. Our checking account balance had a start of $2,000 and by the end of the statement the balance was a little over $200. It was the statement when our checks were cashed for all the USCIS fees.)
5/3 - Worker assigned to our case contacts me about an hour after I send the fax. She needs a few privacy and permission forms signed before she can contact USCIS. We email her the signed forms and she contacts USCIS the same day.
5/7 - Receive notice that our interview is ready to be scheduled.
5/8 - Contact worker at congress to see if she's heard anything back. She says no, but will reach out again on Friday if she doesn't hear anything by then. At this point we're wondering if we should even go to Florida to look for housing because we may not get the EAD in time for his start date... We need to know where we stand so we can give his company enough notice that we may not have it in time for his start date and see if they can push it back.
5/9 - call USCIS because we never received the letter they said was sent to us. After some back and forth with the Agent they finally tell us the letter that was sent was an RFE (would have been great to have known that a week before) and to fax over the evidence and explain on the cover letter that the notice was never received.
5/9 - contact worker at congress, explain situation (she didn't know we had requested for expedite before contacting her), and ask her to fax evidence for us. She agrees and faxes it right away. Sends an email to tell us she'll be reaching out to them in 2 days if she doesn't hear anything back.
5/11 - Worker at congress contacts USCIS and they tell her our case has been routed for expedition. They can't give us a concrete timeline as to when we'll receive our card because there are higher priority cases ahead of ours.
5/11 - Contact company and ask them to push start date back to June 11th - they give us June 4th.
5/14 - USCIS online case status updates to "Card has been ordered"
5/17 - USCIS online case status updates to "Card has been mailed"
5/18 - Check informed delivery via USPS and estimated delivery is 5/19
This was our situation and everyone's is different... But if you need your EAD to be expedited and you have the evidence to back it up, then I strongly recommend you do it, and if possible, go through your local congress representative. I honestly feel like sending in our bank statements and loans did a lot for our case, as a lot of people have said that "just having a job offer" isn't enough to get it expedited. I was making enough to support both of us according to the federal poverty level, but obviously I would to quit my job so we could move and have the opportunity at a better life with my husband's job. And even with "making enough" it still wasn't enough for us to save for a house, etc. We were barely making ends meet and our bank statement reflected that. If anyone needs any help with how to contact congress or what to say in your cover letter to them, or has any questions about our experience or process at all, feel free to reach out. I hope this helps someone in the future!
Filed I-130, I-485 (+ I-864 and I-693), and I-765 concurrently
3/21 - sent application through USPS certified mail, Chicago Lockbox
3/23 - Application accepted by USCIS
4/9 - Receive notice that I-765 is outdated, send in updated form and payment (they did not send any of the documents or the passport pics we had sent in back with the notice. We also called the hotline to confirm that no fee was needed since it was filed with the I-485. The agent told us on both parts that USCIS made a mistake.)
4/9 - Receive biometrics appointment for 4/27
4/13 - I-765 accepted by USCIS
4/21 - attempt early walk-in for biometrics - our facility does not accept walk-ins and tells us to come back on 4/27
4/27 - biometrics are taken
4/30 - call hotline and raise SR for I-765 to be expedited based on severe personal financial loss, told we will receive email notification in 5 days of response to request
5/1 - USCIS online case status updates to "assigned to an officer" and "case closed" - no email is received
5/2 - call back hotline and inquire about the updates online but no email being received. We are told a letter was sent out and we should be expecting it that same day. No letter is received.
5/3 - Contact local congresswoman for help with a federal agency. Fax in our request form with cover letter, job offer letter, I-797 receipts, bank statement, credit card statements, car loan statement, student loan statements, most current I-20, copy of marriage certificate, copy of beneficiary's passport with entry stamp, and copy of beneficiariy's visa (33 pages in total - maybe it was overkill but I didn't want to leave anything up to chance. Our checking account balance had a start of $2,000 and by the end of the statement the balance was a little over $200. It was the statement when our checks were cashed for all the USCIS fees.)
5/3 - Worker assigned to our case contacts me about an hour after I send the fax. She needs a few privacy and permission forms signed before she can contact USCIS. We email her the signed forms and she contacts USCIS the same day.
5/7 - Receive notice that our interview is ready to be scheduled.
5/8 - Contact worker at congress to see if she's heard anything back. She says no, but will reach out again on Friday if she doesn't hear anything by then. At this point we're wondering if we should even go to Florida to look for housing because we may not get the EAD in time for his start date... We need to know where we stand so we can give his company enough notice that we may not have it in time for his start date and see if they can push it back.
5/9 - call USCIS because we never received the letter they said was sent to us. After some back and forth with the Agent they finally tell us the letter that was sent was an RFE (would have been great to have known that a week before) and to fax over the evidence and explain on the cover letter that the notice was never received.
5/9 - contact worker at congress, explain situation (she didn't know we had requested for expedite before contacting her), and ask her to fax evidence for us. She agrees and faxes it right away. Sends an email to tell us she'll be reaching out to them in 2 days if she doesn't hear anything back.
5/11 - Worker at congress contacts USCIS and they tell her our case has been routed for expedition. They can't give us a concrete timeline as to when we'll receive our card because there are higher priority cases ahead of ours.
5/11 - Contact company and ask them to push start date back to June 11th - they give us June 4th.
5/14 - USCIS online case status updates to "Card has been ordered"
5/17 - USCIS online case status updates to "Card has been mailed"
5/18 - Check informed delivery via USPS and estimated delivery is 5/19
This was our situation and everyone's is different... But if you need your EAD to be expedited and you have the evidence to back it up, then I strongly recommend you do it, and if possible, go through your local congress representative. I honestly feel like sending in our bank statements and loans did a lot for our case, as a lot of people have said that "just having a job offer" isn't enough to get it expedited. I was making enough to support both of us according to the federal poverty level, but obviously I would to quit my job so we could move and have the opportunity at a better life with my husband's job. And even with "making enough" it still wasn't enough for us to save for a house, etc. We were barely making ends meet and our bank statement reflected that. If anyone needs any help with how to contact congress or what to say in your cover letter to them, or has any questions about our experience or process at all, feel free to reach out. I hope this helps someone in the future!
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