Is anyone else waiting a long time for the National Benefits Center to process your case? It has been well over 90 days now, have asked InfoPass to put in an expedite request, and not heard anything back.

Frankly, I just need the approval to start work and am not sure what to do at this point...

If it's past 90 days and Infopass didn't do anything, request senatorial assistance.

I am waiting 10+ months for ead.5 infopass appointments,contacted 2 senators and congressman.Still no good news.

Hey Nic,
my case is also at national benefits center. I'm one step in front of you in that they finally approved mine 103 days later. Unfortunately, there appears to be NOTHING that you can do. Maybe other senior members can tell you otherwise. . . i'm still waiting and likely to lose a highly coveted job offer on Aug 1st, if I still don't have my card. One thing you may want to do is go back to info pass people and make sure that they sent the email and if there was a response. When I went for my infopass appt, they promised that they'd send the email and ofcourse when I went back, they told me the email was never sent. THe really nice officer promised me she'd send it and took my phone number and called me when she received a response. Akunin response makes me feel hopeless though.

My husband also waited for a very long time to receive his EAD. Have any of you--Akunin--tried the ombudsman? I wrote to him, senators, congress etc at the same time and shortly after we got our EAD. No idea if that pushed it--but worth a try.

I did try ombudsman like after 120 days waiting I sent a letter to dc office,and I also sent expedite request to NBC.However I did not receive response from
ombudsman and I did receive my expedite letter back.I did contacted congressmen at Feb.5,2007 received responce that my EAD pending due background check.Then I received I letter from NBC on March,1 2007 saying that my EAD application delayed due background check and if I don't hear anything from them withing 6 months contact them(deadline is September 1,2007).However I didn't give up and contacted 2 senators,and waited 30days(the maximum time to respond USCIS to senator request) they office reply that they will make decision withing 90 days.I'll call another senator representative tommorow
(because of she been on vacation)and find out what is going on.
Well in most cases to get ead is up to 4 months,but you never know what can happen and it can be delayed for no reasons.
But I suggest you never give up no matter how hard it is.

I currently have a Social Security # that I received through an L1. What are the repercussions of pretending that everything is OK and working without having received my EAD? I have grown tired of waiting for things to comein the mail.

Doesn't your SS card have the words "Not Valid for Work Without DHS Authorization" on it (or similar?)

If it does, you can't work. If it doesn't and you have a US ID (e.g. Drivers License), then an employer won't know any better as you will meet the I-9 requirements.

It does say valid for work authorization only, but if I simply tell the employer that I am in the green card process and that is why it says that they probably wouldn't know the difference. How often does an employer ask to see your actual SSN...I personally have never been asked. They just ask you for the number. Additionally, I do have a US drivers license.

What is the worst that can happen by doing this? These are good companies, with good job opportunities, is there anyway that they would even ever know what has taken place?

Also, in terms of the immigration process, is there truly any potential negative impact by working at a firm prior to receiving my EAD?

I.e. They would be committing a criminal act, and you would be making them do it.


They should ask for it whenever they employ someone. If they don't: they are breaking the law. Simple as that.


If ICE raided them and found that people not authorized to work were working there, then they would get in trouble. The risk is thiers, its not really clear if you would face any legal issues.

In terms of AOS, no.

I highly doubt technology firms are at risk of being raided. If something ever goes down, I'll let you know what happens.

BTW, when I do get my ead will they send a new SSN along with it, or is it my responsibility to go request a new one?

Thanks again!

Agreed, its unlikely to happen. That said tech companies also normally have smart HR departments who understand how I-9s work.

You have a SS card already - you keep that SS number for life. The only thing you can change is once you have your green card, you can get a SS card without the "Only authorized...." wording. The number will remain the same however.

Sorry but what is a I-9?

So many people work illegally....
Though I'm NOT suggesting you do it.

I-9 is the form that all new employees must fill in by law to prove that they are eligible to work. If you want to see it, Google "I-9".

I actually spoke to some lawyers as well as a firm's documentation team. Section 2 only refers to people who have lost their card and are getting it replaced. It does nto refer to first time applications. Maybe he's just lying to me, but just wanted to throw it out there.

That's an interesting interpretation, although I'm not sure what the basis of that is. My employers HR department certainly didn't interpret it that way, I can tell you. It just goes to show that with employment, its all down to how an employer wants to interpret and enforce the I-9. I don't think there's anything wrong with an employer taking a tough line and wanting to see the EAD, its better than being lax and allowing people to work illegally.

I think your idea of HR actually trying to filter out people based on the I9 requirements is wishful thinking. Most of the people in these types of positions are interested in making there job as easy as possible and following the same process day in and day out. That said, I would think that the majority of applicants are US citizens and these HR people are accustomed to filling out these papers in the same fashion. There job is not to reject candidates, but to ensure they can start as soon as possible.

My SSN does say valid for work with DHS authorization only. Albeit, the I9 form says specifically that a drivers license and SSN are required and the SSN cannot say the following:

U.S. social security card issued by the Social Security Administration(other than a card stating it is not valid for employment)

Based on these requirements alone, it appears that I could in fact provide the appropriate documentation.

Right...Unfortunately I don't think that this is a reality in anyway. At least not in this country.

You'd be lying on the I-9 form though where you fill out the employee portion and sign it as you know you are only authorised to work for your current employer on an L-1.

How can you provide the proper documentation to a new employer when you don't have any from column A and need to supply one from column B and one from column C? You can't use your SSN card as a column C form of ID since it has the DHS authorisation text on it.

"Valid for work with DHS authorization only" is the same thing as "Not valid for employment". Means the card isn't valid for employment on its own and you need to prove that you are employment authorised if using the card.

Eh? What part of "other than a card stating it is not valid for employment" do you not understand?

No, you do not meet the requirements of the I-9.

Yes, people work illegally all the time. However you might have noticed that those people are working shitty low paid jobs. Most well paid jobs are going to be for companies that understand their I-9 requirements.

My SS card came without words "valid for work only with INS authorization" for some reason it was back in 2001 when I was on j1 visa,but all my friends get this words on it.

Yes, this happens occasionally. Its basically a mistake by the SSA. People here on a J-1 should have those words on their SS cards.

I would just like to reiterate here that working without the proper authorisation IS illegal and should not be encouraged by anyone. You can debate the facts for as long as you all wish but the simple fact is that you ARE breaking the law.