Expedited EAD experiences

[seattle2903 2]

I have requested to have my EAD expedited based on a job offer letter and financial loss on October 17 via phone. The next day I got an email requesting me to fax the job offer, which I did the same day. Case status had 3 consecutive updates “case assigned, sent response, review complete”. After that, on October 24 I got another email from USCIS saying that they received my evidence and I will be notified of the decision shortly. Case status also got another 3 updates identical to the first ones (case assigned, sent response, review complete). I haven’t received the decision or any other status updates. I also involved my Congressman who placed an inquiry for me. 

 

My start date is November 12, so I’m really hoping to get it approved next week at most to have time to be delivered by the 12th. 

 

Did anyone else expedite recently? Do my updates sound similar to yours? Thanks. 

[Ben&Zian 4,397]

That's pretty stiff timeline. Even for expedite generally takes a month probably. You wait on USCIS, USCIS doesn't work for you haha. Besides, finances, really should have been considered before entering into this whole ordeal. Financial loss is hard to explain when people know what it costs a head of time.

Edited October 26, 2018 by Ben&Zian

[Loren Y 2,732]

Update this post when you find out. I am planning an expedite for my fiancee when she arrives here in November. I believe you have to wait until after Bio metrics are complete before you can request. Your experience will give me a good idea of what to expect. Thanks for the post.

[Boiler 43,434]

Please keep us updated.

[debbiedoo 2,339]

yeah keep us updated. well be filing for an expedite with job offer too, once he gets here and we get married

 

[seattle2903 2]

Today I received an update on the I-485 that they mailed out an RFIE. I am assuming it’s the courtesy letter for the medical exam. If it’s the courtesy letter and not an actual RFE, will it impact my EAD expedite request? 

[geowrian 22,335]

30 minutes ago, seattle2903 said:

Today I received an update on the I-485 that they mailed out an RFIE. I am assuming it’s the courtesy letter for the medical exam. If it’s the courtesy letter and not an actual RFE, will it impact my EAD expedite request? 

If it's a courtesy letter then it won't impact EAD or expedite timelines.

Another strong possibility is an issue with either missing documents or an issue with the I-864 (or supporting documents).

Edited October 26, 2018 by geowrian

[eckoin 211]

On 10/25/2018 at 8:15 PM, Ben&Zian said:

That's pretty stiff timeline. Even for expedite generally takes a month probably. You wait on USCIS, USCIS doesn't work for you haha. Besides, finances, really should have been considered before entering into this whole ordeal. Financial loss is hard to explain when people know what it costs a head of time.

 

Agree on the stiff timeline.  Disagree on the finances part.  You can claim spousal income if the spouse is the intending immigrant and will keep the job going forward provided permanent resident status.  It's perfectly acceptable; all they care about is making sure you don't go on welfare.  If the USC spouse doesn't work but the intending immigrant has a solid job, that job can easily count and losing that job would absolutely be considered severe financial loss.  This is all within the realm of "considering finances".

 

On 10/26/2018 at 4:43 PM, seattle2903 said:

Today I received an update on the I-485 that they mailed out an RFIE. I am assuming it’s the courtesy letter for the medical exam. If it’s the courtesy letter and not an actual RFE, will it impact my EAD expedite request? 

I didn't get an update that anything was sent when I got the I-693 courtesy notice, I just received it in the mail one day.  I'm not even sure if the medical notice is an RFIE, I thought it's an RFE.  

 

Regardless, if it's the medical notice, it has zero impact on anything.  If it's an actual RFIE, I'm not sure if the expedite request is paused or continues separately.  Curious to find out though - do keep us updated.

Edited October 29, 2018 by eckoin

[geowrian 22,335]

11 minutes ago, eckoin said:

Agree on the stiff timeline.  Disagree on the finances part.  You can claim spousal income if the spouse is the intending immigrant and will keep the job going forward provided permanent resident status.  It's perfectly acceptable; all they care about is making sure you don't go on welfare.  If the USC spouse doesn't work but the intending immigrant has a solid job, that job can easily count and losing that job would absolutely be considered severe financial loss.  This is all within the realm of "considering finances". 

I think the finances part was with regard to planning beforehand on how to live, not just the I-864.

Yes, the intending immigrant's income can be included if it will continue from the same source. The OP only shows F-1 in their profile, so now way to know if it's just F-1 work on campus or if it's OPT. If the former, then they generally won't consider that income. If the latter, I have seen it regularly included with proper documentation that the position will continue.

[eckoin 211]

16 minutes ago, geowrian said:

I think the finances part was with regard to planning beforehand on how to live, not just the I-864.

Yes, the intending immigrant's income can be included if it will continue from the same source. The OP only shows F-1 in their profile, so now way to know if it's just F-1 work on campus or if it's OPT. If the former, then they generally won't consider that income. If the latter, I have seen it regularly included with proper documentation that the position will continue.

That's fair.  I've seen a lot of comments like this, where people want to get working ASAP to cover bills, and there's always someone telling them they should've thought about that beforehand.  I just think it's unfair.

 

One possibility is someone already had a job and it was literally one of the basis for the application (where F-1 on-campus vs. OPT comes into play, on top of other possibilities).  But there are also new homes, new babies, new bills, and honestly--$20-30k in some areas (most areas?) is technically enough to disqualify you for benefits and qualify you for sponsorship, but not actually enough to live comfortably.  There's nothing wrong with claiming financial hardship without a second income, and whenever people throw it out there ("shoulda thought about-a that") I like to make sure it doesn't scare anyone else away with other life situations.

[geowrian 22,335]

11 minutes ago, eckoin said:

-$20-30k in some areas (most areas?) is technically enough to disqualify you for benefits and qualify you for sponsorship

Well, enough to qualify to file as a sponsor...borderline incomes are always risky in terms of actually getting approved as a sponsor.

[eckoin 211]

1 minute ago, geowrian said:

Well, enough to qualify to file as a sponsor...borderline incomes are always risky in terms of actually getting approved as a sponsor.

True.  And that also sucks, because the guidelines are clear but aren't always 'correct'.  They should make it 150% of the poverty line and apply a 'number of years with income' requirement to make it easy for people to navigate.  But here we are.

 

Even raising the ante - $40k, for two people.  Well above the actual requirement; let's say it's been the same income for years.

 

Can two people survive on $40k without issues in a medium cost of living area?  Yes.  Can two people survive without issues in a high cost of living area?  Yes, if you're OK with living in the area that may put you 1hr+ away from your job each way.  Can two people live comfortably on $40k in anything other than a low cost of living area, and without children?  Not really.  You'll make it, but it won't be comfortable.  You can't comfortably take vacations, and you hope with all your might that you don't have a broken heater that costs $5k+ to replace, or your dog has vet bills, or your car breaks down.  It's not comfortable in most places.  I don't think it's fair to tell people that they have no right to claim financial hardship under these circumstances.  

 

I mean, I'm not USCIS, and they make the rules.  It's just my personal opinion.  I also believe that USCIS would be well off changing the rules, to grant EAD and AP to all family-based applicants without reviewing these forms.  It would free up USCIS time to focus on the actual applications for green cards, and they never deny EAD/AP to family-based applicants anyway.  If the application is fraudulent, they take away EAD/AP and begin deportation proceedings; all this would do is allow fraudulent applicants the ability to work for a few extra months.  Still taxes; still work that they would be able to do after they did eventually receive authorization.  

 

But yeah - personal opinion.  Just want to make sure people aren't scared off claiming "financial hardship", because I've been there and I had the same concerns.

[seattle2903 2]

28 minutes ago, eckoin said:

That's fair.  I've seen a lot of comments like this, where people want to get working ASAP to cover bills, and there's always someone telling them they should've thought about that beforehand.  I just think it's unfair.

 

One possibility is someone already had a job and it was literally one of the basis for the application (where F-1 on-campus vs. OPT comes into play, on top of other possibilities).  But there are also new homes, new babies, new bills, and honestly--$20-30k in some areas (most areas?) is technically enough to disqualify you for benefits and qualify you for sponsorship, but not actually enough to live comfortably.  There's nothing wrong with claiming financial hardship without a second income, and whenever people throw it out there ("shoulda thought about-a that") I like to make sure it doesn't scare anyone else away with other life situations.

Yeah, that’s annoying thinking right there. I requested an expedited EAD based on job offer and financial hardship because this is the only USCIS criteria I was fitting in. We are not, by any means, struggling or dying of hunger. My husband makes more than enough to support us but I have several bills in my name (auto, internet, electricity) and in USCIS’ eyes, no income. So this is how financial hardship is justified, it doesn’t mean we haven’t thought about it beforehand and we’re starving now. I believe this whole “you should’ve thought about it before applying” comes from those who didn’t know or didn’t have the option of expediting their EADs and are now bitter about it. 

[eckoin 211]

1 hour ago, seattle2903 said:

Yeah, that’s annoying thinking right there. I requested an expedited EAD based on job offer and financial hardship because this is the only USCIS criteria I was fitting in. We are not, by any means, struggling or dying of hunger. My husband makes more than enough to support us but I have several bills in my name (auto, internet, electricity) and in USCIS’ eyes, no income. So this is how financial hardship is justified, it doesn’t mean we haven’t thought about it beforehand and we’re starving now. I believe this whole “you should’ve thought about it before applying” comes from those who didn’t know or didn’t have the option of expediting their EADs and are now bitter about it. 

Or perhaps had no issues living off one income, which is perfectly reasonable as well; it just doesn't apply to everyone.

 

We live in a--what is for some reason considered to be--low cost of living area.  But we like to go out every once in a while, we want to put our kid in daycare every once in a while, we have two cars and we like to go on trips every once in a while.  Our cars need new tires, our dogs get health issues, and I'd like to keep renewing our park memberships for our kid to run around in.  There's no way we could live comfortably, as we define it, on one income, though technically we wouldn't starve or struggle to keep the roof over our heads.  Yet I still had people tell me that I should've thought about that beforehand since "the US citizen should be able to support you".  Yep - but that's the world we live in, and there ain't nothing wrong in saying that you want to be able to--legally--make more money to spend on things that are important to you.

 

Anyway, hope it works out for you sooner than later.  You do have a tough timeline, so I'd make contingency plans (please let me start later if needed).  But otherwise, don't listen to people who tell you that your husband should have it all covered and just be annoyed along with me

[seattle2903 2]

7 minutes ago, eckoin said:

Or perhaps had no issues living off one income, which is perfectly reasonable as well; it just doesn't apply to everyone.

 

We live in a--what is for some reason considered to be--low cost of living area.  But we like to go out every once in a while, we want to put our kid in daycare every once in a while, we have two cars and we like to go on trips every once in a while.  Our cars need new tires, our dogs get health issues, and I'd like to keep renewing our park memberships for our kid to run around in.  There's no way we could live comfortably, as we define it, on one income, though technically we wouldn't starve or struggle to keep the roof over our heads.  Yet I still had people tell me that I should've thought about that beforehand since "the US citizen should be able to support you".  Yep - but that's the world we live in, and there ain't nothing wrong in saying that you want to be able to--legally--make more money to spend on things that are important to you.

 

Anyway, hope it works out for you sooner than later.  You do have a tough timeline, so I'd make contingency plans (please let me start later if needed).  But otherwise, don't listen to people who tell you that your husband should have it all covered and just be annoyed along with me

Thanks for the advice. I think the employer will be willing to allow me to start later if the EAD doesn’t arrive on time because they already hired me and gave me access to their employee portals, etc. The hiring process is expensive for employers so they would rather wait for me another week than start over again with the recruiting process. I guess I have that going for me. I will respond to the RFE as soon as I get it and will mail it back with express delivery. Hopefully they will take action in my I-765 case next week.