EAD Expedite Timeline After Fax Request

[Comrade L 0]

2 minutes ago, AOSFairfax said:

I was in the same situation, OPT to AOS with PD on 3/7/2019. Similar to you, I requested an expedite primarily based on financial loss to my employer and sent in a letter from them explaining why. After over 2 months, I still did not have any news so I faxed a new 50-page packet of evidence of financial loss to both myself and my employer. Two days after I faxed the second packet, I got the "card is in production" update. I've almost gotten the impression that either they don't care or have a very high threshold for what constitutes financial loss to a company. So in my second evidence packet I sent explicit evidence of my financial loss, bank account statements, credit card payments that were coming up on the due date, and literally every single monthly expense we have. My takeaways from the whole experience are:

 

1. If it applies to you, send in evidence of your financial loss. A letter from your wife's employer that they're paying for the tuition, a statement of the tuition bill, bank accounts, leases, credit card statements, mortgages or any other type of loans, electric and cable bills, etc.

2. Contact both your senator and representative sooner rather than later and ask them to file an expedite on your behalf. No guarantee that it'll help but I waited to contact mine about a month and I hate to think that had I contacted them sooner maybe it could've been resolved faster. Also, it can take a couple of weeks for them to even get back to you and send you the necessary docs you have to fill out so at least get that process started.

3. I never got an update that they received my fax. Some people do, some don't. Called them 4-5 times and talked to Tier 2's even and none were helpful so don't hold your breath on that.

 

My complete timeline is in my signature. EAD was approved 67 days from the original expedite and card is arriving tomorrow. Also if you start earlier in this thread there's some good advice and even samples on cover letters and such. Good luck!!

Thank you so much for your help. My wife works for one of the biggest hospitals in Chicago, so they’re not going to bother with writing letters for her husband. We would have to go through a union and a bunch of red tape just to get a couple of signatures (wait time is gonna be the same as in USCIS). My employer isn’t really happy about disclosing all of our financial information either. He says that he will do that only if USCIS openly asks me to disclose our accounts and financials (which they never will).I can get access to that info myself, but I’m not about to ditch my work ethics and go over the head of my boss. He did a lot for me already, but he is not gonna pay a hell load of money to our CPAs to create a full scale analysis of a financial loss to the Company without me, when he doesn’t even know if it’s gonna help. He needs to see something, but nothing comes out of USCIS. He is already helping me by trying to keep me at my job as much as possible and keep turning a blind eye on my expired EAD. It’s not gonna last forever, though. 

I called our Senator and Congresswoman and they seem to be eager to help. Let’s see what comes out of it and wish me a good luck. Thank you again!

[oztousa 50]

So after calling on Tuesday and being extremely hopeful, this morning we got a case officer assigned to our case... a few hours later we received an email stating

 

"Due to workload factors not related to your case, USCIS anticipates a delay in completing your case. USCIS is committed to adjudicating immigration benefits in the order received and in a timely and efficient manner. "

 

......My husbands job offer expires on Monday.... I honestly don't know what else to do anymore. The senators never got back to me after multiple emails. The congresswomens office only replies after 3 or 4 follow ups. I feel like crying. 

[Ruby13 4]

I am not understanding. Does that mean the expedite got rejected?

Edited July 12, 2019 by Ruby13

[oztousa 50]

7 minutes ago, Ruby13 said:

I am not understanding. Does that mean the expedite got rejected?

I don't think so. It seems like it means they aren't going to grant it any time soon though. I just don't understand what could possibly create this delay. If they have everything they need and they had an officer assigned and looking our our file right then and there... why couldn't they just make a decision one way or the other?? At least with rejection I could wait 5 days and request another expedite! I just don't understand. I feel completely helpless right now. 

 

[mehrdad91 1]

 

On 7/11/2019 at 7:56 AM, Comrade L said:

Thank you so much for your help. My wife works for one of the biggest hospitals in Chicago, so they’re not going to bother with writing letters for her husband. We would have to go through a union and a bunch of red tape just to get a couple of signatures (wait time is gonna be the same as in USCIS). My employer isn’t really happy about disclosing all of our financial information either. He says that he will do that only if USCIS openly asks me to disclose our accounts and financials (which they never will).I can get access to that info myself, but I’m not about to ditch my work ethics and go over the head of my boss. He did a lot for me already, but he is not gonna pay a hell load of money to our CPAs to create a full scale analysis of a financial loss to the Company without me, when he doesn’t even know if it’s gonna help. He needs to see something, but nothing comes out of USCIS. He is already helping me by trying to keep me at my job as much as possible and keep turning a blind eye on my expired EAD. It’s not gonna last forever, though. 

I called our Senator and Congresswoman and they seem to be eager to help. Let’s see what comes out of it and wish me a good luck. Thank you again!

My suggestion for you based on my personal experience is instead of focusing on company's financial loss, which I think is much harder for them to believe, focus on your own personal financial hardships you'd go through if they don't expedite your request. Get a job offer letter from your employer (with a start date in 2-3 weeks from now), add monthly expenses, bills, etc. to prove you and your wife will have financial difficulties in case you don't get your EAD soon. My application is employment based,  but I have seen many marriage based applicants here that have successfully expedited their EADs by claiming personal financial severity.

Edited July 12, 2019 by mehrdad91

[Mrijex 23]

Hi guys.

I requested an expedite on June 6th, did my biometrics July 3rd and re-activated my expedite req on July 8th. Today early morning the 'case history' status changed to it being assigned to an officer and later during the day the big update changed to 'card being produced' but the little case history status updated with 'we are working on it'.

 

I am very hesitant to start celebrating but wanted to know how did you guys find out about approval? I am hoping this is the approval, but scared to be disappointed (again). I did not get any email from them today. This is what my status looks like now:

 

 

 

Edited July 12, 2019 by Mrijex

[KandN 38]

4 hours ago, mehrdad91 said:

 

My suggestion for you based on my personal experience is instead of focusing on company's financial loss, which I think is much harder for them to believe, focus on your own personal financial hardships you'd go through if they don't expedite your request. Get a job offer letter from your employer (with a start date in 2-3 weeks from now), add monthly expenses, bills, etc. to prove you and your wife will have financial difficulties in case you don't get your EAD soon. My application is employment based,  but I have seen many marriage based applicants here that have successfully expedited their EADs by claiming personal financial severity.

I second this, at least based on my experience.

 

As the processing times for I-765 have grown painfully long, it may be relatively easy to demonstrate a significant sum for personal financial loss in just lost wages. On the other hand, quantifying loss to a company as a dollar figure is much harder and unless you can somehow demonstrate that you are irreplaceable to the company it might be a hard case to argue.

[mehrdad91 1]

2 hours ago, Mrijex said:

Hi guys.

I requested an expedite on June 6th, did my biometrics July 3rd and re-activated my expedite req on July 8th. Today early morning the 'case history' status changed to it being assigned to an officer and later during the day the big update changed to 'card being produced' but the little case history status updated with 'we are working on it'.

 

I am very hesitant to start celebrating but wanted to know how did you guys find out about approval? I am hoping this is the approval, but scared to be disappointed (again). I did not get any email from them today. This is what my status looks like now:

 

 

 

This is your approval. It's safe to start celebrating (it's a Friday night too!). I had my status updated to "New Card Is Being Produced" on July 2nd, and my card was delivered today. You'll receive an approval notice in the mail within 4-5 days.

Edited July 13, 2019 by mehrdad91

[Comrade L 0]

5 hours ago, mehrdad91 said:

 

My suggestion for you based on my personal experience is instead of focusing on company's financial loss, which I think is much harder for them to believe, focus on your own personal financial hardships you'd go through if they don't expedite your request. Get a job offer letter from your employer (with a start date in 2-3 weeks from now), add monthly expenses, bills, etc. to prove you and your wife will have financial difficulties in case you don't get your EAD soon. My application is employment based,  but I have seen many marriage based applicants here that have successfully expedited their EADs by claiming personal financial severity.

My wife is my sponsor and her tax return that we sent to the USCIS shows 6 figures. If they’re checking that information, it’s gonna be very hard to prove our financial suffering. 

Nevertheless, if I go down that road, what documents, besides a job offer and bills do you recommend to send? I could think of our rent, my and her car payments, her student loan, utilities, credit card payments, and whatever payments we are making on a monthly basis. It comes up to a pretty lump sum. Is that what you were talking about?

[mehrdad91 1]

1 hour ago, Comrade L said:

My wife is my sponsor and her tax return that we sent to the USCIS shows 6 figures. If they’re checking that information, it’s gonna be very hard to prove our financial suffering. 

Nevertheless, if I go down that road, what documents, besides a job offer and bills do you recommend to send? I could think of our rent, my and her car payments, her student loan, utilities, credit card payments, and whatever payments we are making on a monthly basis. It comes up to a pretty lump sum. Is that what you were talking about?

Honestly, all I submitted was a letter from my employer saying they'll terminate my employment in August, if I don't get my EAD by then. I also included a cover letter explaining that my job is my only income source and my work is very critical for my financial situation. I didn't really get into numbers and details. However, as I said, my application is employment based and it is easier for me to highlight the importance of work authorization in my financial state. From what I have seen on this thread, including bills exactly as you mentioned can help you with your expedite request.

[tiantian2 18]

On 7/10/2019 at 11:11 PM, Comrade L said:

Hello, fellow immigrants. 

I am in dire need of your help. 

I was an OPT student and my EAD expired on 6/30/2019. I am adjusting my status through marriage with my wife (the US citizen). My PD is 3/7/2019. 

Long story short, I called USCIS on 6/14/2019 and requested to expedite my EAD based on a severe financial loss to my company . I got an email from them on 6/21/2019, requiring evidence. I sent in a letter from my employer, saying that my position is extremely crucial for them, that if I can’t keep working, they might have to shut down one of their stores, leaving 15 American Citizens and PRs without a job, yada-yada. I also sent in my Master of Business Administration diploma, and my work-related certifications.

I never heard anything back. No e-mails, no other communication. I called them twice after that. First time I called on 6/27, got transferred to Tier 2, and he told me that they should have something for me in the next couple of days. I got nothing. I also called on 7/3, and got transferred to Tier 2 again. This time it was another officer, and he did sound quite annoyed, giving me this standard “wait a month” response. Both of the times they weren’t able to tell me whether they received my fax or not. 

On 6/8/2019, I wrote a big cover letter, explaining the situation with my job, also told them that my wife needs to go back to school for her Masters, cause her employer is paying for it, but they might stop doing it soon, so she has to go back to school ASAP, because the tuition just for one year is around $40.000. I wrote in big red letters EXTREMELY TIME SENSITIVE! PLEASE REVIEW ASAP! and faxed everything again. 

Nothing since then again. It’s been almost a month already, and all that my case status shows is 1)Your request was assigned to an officer. 2)We sent a response. 3)Request is closed. Everything within one day. So basically, they closed my request even before they sent me an e-mail requesting job-offer. 

Has anyone been in the same shoes? I would appreciate all your answers! Thanks in advance for any help. 

If the fax is received on June 21/2019, it is still within normal time (some ppl here got longer wait time for expedite). I would suggest you to reach out to congressman and senator as soon as possible (call/email) with the full expedite packet, make sure they send out the expedite request and evidence for you.  Once their USCIS liason saw that you already had an existing request for almost a month, there's a good chance that your case will be resolved quickly. 

[Mrijex 23]

Just received an email (on Saturday?!) with the official approval notice of my expedite request so here to share a successful timeline so far:

 

June 6th: expedite requested (1st time) based on financial loss (I had a job offer in writing)

June 12th: asked to fax evidence

June 13th: faxed job offer and cover letter 

June 18th: received RFIE for birth certificate

June 19th: overnighted birth certificate

June 22nd: called to 're-activate' expedite request

June 26th: received e-mail that expedite was on hold because of missing biometrics, biometrics immediately got scheduled 

July 3rd: Walk in biometrics

July 8th: called to 're-activate' expedite request again (added the category of benefits for the US because the job offer was for a non-profit, unsure if this helped?)

July 13th: Received email that expedite request was approved, status online changed to 'card is being produced'

 

Good luck everybody.

 

[piranda 111]

Guys, can you please tell me the fax number to reply to the USCIS email request for evidence after requesting expedite EAD. 

how they can ask you to fax paperwork without mentioning the fax number?

thank you !

[eckoin 211]

1 hour ago, piranda said:

Guys, can you please tell me the fax number to reply to the USCIS email request for evidence after requesting expedite EAD. 

how they can ask you to fax paperwork without mentioning the fax number?

thank you !

They didn't include a fax number in the email? How unusual. 

 

Call USCIS and ask to speak to a Tier 2 officer, who can give you that information. Everyone gets a different fax number and ATTN TO. It's based on the location of the officer who was assigned to your case, so don't fax it to just any number. 

[Ruby13 4]

Finally today, the Congresswoman office responded. They told me they hadn't heard back anything. Today when she called USCIS, She was told they don't have my job offer. I had faxed my offer letter on June 25th and I received an email on June 27th that they received it. USCIS is losing so many documents. First they missed my birth certificate, and now my offer letter. The offer letter already expired as the joining was June 28th. However, the congresswoman office has forwarded my offer letter to expedite it. This Division 5 team 1 is really careless.