Trouble obtaining EAD card - any suggestions?

[VegasJohn 29]

My wife's I-765 (Authorization to work) and I-131 (Advanced Parole request) were APPROVED on Sept. 5, 2019. We received the NOA for each of them - two copies in fact, because I am her attorney and so I get the copy as her registered attorney and also her personal copy gets set to my office as well. (On the G-28 form, she requested that ALL official notices and documents, including the card itself, be sent to my office because we were in the process of moving last March when we sent in all of the Change of Status documents and did not want to miss anything). 

 

We assumed that the actual Employment Authorization Documents (EAD), which contains information she needs to get a SSN, as well as the Advanced Parole authorization to travel on it, would arrive soon after we received the NAO. However, after several weeks and checking the status, we were getting concerned that we still had not received it.  Now that it has been almost two months, I recently found out what happened.

 

1- On Sept. 11, 2019, the EAD was delivered, but they delivered it to the WRONG ADDRESS - it apparently got sent to our old home address, despite the fact that we clearly requested that all documents be sent to my office.

2- We didn't learn about this until October 25, 2019, on which day we found out about the incorrect delivery address because the online status on USCIC's website showed that on October 24, 2019, the card was returned as "undeliverable" at the old address. 

3- We went to the post office on 10/25 hoping they could find it. They could not, and confirmed it must have been sent back to USCIS.

4- I called USCIS at that time and explained the situation. The employee seemed very helpful and said he would open an request so that they would forward the EAD to the correct address. 

5- Today, I got a notice in the mail that was completely wrong - it was supposedly a follow up from my phone call, but said that they looked into my request as to why the Permanent Resident card was not delieverd, and determined that it was not delivered because it is still being processed.  This is obviously not what I discussed with the USCIS employee, but he entered the information as though I had called about the Permanent Resident card, not the Employment Authorization card. Ugh. 

6- I called USCIS again today, and a different agent told me that the status still shows that the post office notified them on 10/24 that the card could not be delivered, and that I would have to wait up to 30 days from that date for it to be returned to them. She said she could not provide me any more information about where the card is and could not ask for a new one to be sent to us at the correct address. 

 

All of this is very frustrating, especially since the USCIS person today acknowledged that the file shows that the card should have been sent to my office address, and she had no idea why it was sent to our old home address. The other reason this is very frustrating is that my wife has had job interviews and offers (she is a special education school teacher - several schools have the need for her services and she has continued to work for free a volunteer but would like to start working a paid job), but she is currently stuck and cannot move forward and accept a job or start employment because we have been waiting for the EAD card for a month now. And now it appears that no one at USCIS that I have spoken to is competent and I was told that all I can do is wait.

 

So, if you made it through all that, and have any ideas of what I can do or who I can try to contact to get the card sent to us - or to get information from the card that we need to apply for a SSN - I'm hoping someone here on this forum has some ideas. The other reason this is incredibly frustrating is that we want to purchase a flight for her to be able to visit her family in Colombia for Christmas, but from what I was told today, it could be until 11/25 before they even begin to process a request to re-send or re-issue the card.  Had USCIS not screwed up the delivery address, we would have had the card on 9/11/19, and here were are two months later with no idea when we will get the stupid card showing that her requests to work and travel were already approved.  

 

WHY DO THEY HAVE TO MAKE THIS PROCESS SO DAMN IMPOSSIBLE!!??  /endrant. 

Edited November 5, 2019 by VegasJohn

[Pitaya 2,576]

Hopefully you will be able to get the documents you desire in a timely manner. As I have been preaching for months (and I am not certain if this specifically pertains to you), it is of paramount importance to file a proper change of address (COA) with USCIS and USPS. Both the addressor (USCIS) and the delivery service (USPS) have to literally be on the same correct page, or things will very likely go awry.

 

This is specifically mentioned in a newish USCIS online link about COAs: https://www.uscis.gov/addresschange

 

Good luck on your immigration journey.

 

 

[Charlys&Indy 174]

On 11/4/2019 at 7:48 PM, VegasJohn said:

My wife's I-765 (Authorization to work) and I-131 (Advanced Parole request) were APPROVED on Sept. 5, 2019. We received the NOA for each of them - two copies in fact, because I am her attorney and so I get the copy as her registered attorney and also her personal copy gets set to my office as well. (On the G-28 form, she requested that ALL official notices and documents, including the card itself, be sent to my office because we were in the process of moving last March when we sent in all of the Change of Status documents and did not want to miss anything). 

 

We assumed that the actual Employment Authorization Documents (EAD), which contains information she needs to get a SSN, as well as the Advanced Parole authorization to travel on it, would arrive soon after we received the NAO. However, after several weeks and checking the status, we were getting concerned that we still had not received it.  Now that it has been almost two months, I recently found out what happened.

 

1- On Sept. 11, 2019, the EAD was delivered, but they delivered it to the WRONG ADDRESS - it apparently got sent to our old home address, despite the fact that we clearly requested that all documents be sent to my office.

2- We didn't learn about this until October 25, 2019, on which day we found out about the incorrect delivery address because the online status on USCIC's website showed that on October 24, 2019, the card was returned as "undeliverable" at the old address. 

3- We went to the post office on 10/25 hoping they could find it. They could not, and confirmed it must have been sent back to USCIS.

4- I called USCIS at that time and explained the situation. The employee seemed very helpful and said he would open an request so that they would forward the EAD to the correct address. 

5- Today, I got a notice in the mail that was completely wrong - it was supposedly a follow up from my phone call, but said that they looked into my request as to why the Permanent Resident card was not delieverd, and determined that it was not delivered because it is still being processed.  This is obviously not what I discussed with the USCIS employee, but he entered the information as though I had called about the Permanent Resident card, not the Employment Authorization card. Ugh. 

6- I called USCIS again today, and a different agent told me that the status still shows that the post office notified them on 10/24 that the card could not be delivered, and that I would have to wait up to 30 days from that date for it to be returned to them. She said she could not provide me any more information about where the card is and could not ask for a new one to be sent to us at the correct address. 

 

All of this is very frustrating, especially since the USCIS person today acknowledged that the file shows that the card should have been sent to my office address, and she had no idea why it was sent to our old home address. The other reason this is very frustrating is that my wife has had job interviews and offers (she is a special education school teacher - several schools have the need for her services and she has continued to work for free a volunteer but would like to start working a paid job), but she is currently stuck and cannot move forward and accept a job or start employment because we have been waiting for the EAD card for a month now. And now it appears that no one at USCIS that I have spoken to is competent and I was told that all I can do is wait.

 

So, if you made it through all that, and have any ideas of what I can do or who I can try to contact to get the card sent to us - or to get information from the card that we need to apply for a SSN - I'm hoping someone here on this forum has some ideas. The other reason this is incredibly frustrating is that we want to purchase a flight for her to be able to visit her family in Colombia for Christmas, but from what I was told today, it could be until 11/25 before they even begin to process a request to re-send or re-issue the card.  Had USCIS not screwed up the delivery address, we would have had the card on 9/11/19, and here were are two months later with no idea when we will get the stupid card showing that her requests to work and travel were already approved.  

 

WHY DO THEY HAVE TO MAKE THIS PROCESS SO DAMN IMPOSSIBLE!!??  /endrant. 

is there an immigration office close by? may be if you go there, or make an appointment and explained to the personally whats happening