joanamber

I also read all the updates posted in their website and it gave me the idea that they will be opening soon. It is also posted that documents can be sent via 2Go which is also a good sign. Let's just pray that USEM will open next week and our families will be reunited! 

You can use google to find the websites of your state's two US senators, and your congressional representative (by zip code). 
 
Their websites all contain info on getting help from federal agencies (such as USCIS), usually a downloadable privacy release form.
 
Keep in mind they are often not able to get any more info than you are, and that they cannot influence or hasten a decision.

Same here. We’ve been waiting for almost a year but no update yet. It makes me really sad that I don’t know when we’ll see each other again. 

Hello all! 
 
I cannot believe I recently stumbled upon this wonderful community of people. It brings me solace to know there's a community unfortunately subject to the ban who are supporting each other. For the longest time my wife and I felt hopeless, but your warm wishes and positivity make this daunting process a bit more tolerable. From here on out I'll be joining you guys here and pray that we all be reunited with our loved ones very soon! 
 
A little about us, I am a USC and my wife is Syrian (born and raised in Saudi). We started this whole process with an I-130 filed early June 2017. After USCIS and NVC processing, US embassy in Riyadh gave my wife an interview mid July 2018. The interviewing officer authenticated all her documents (including a hardship waiver document we drafted) and was convinced we had a legitimate relationship, also going as far as stating my wife was as pure as a candidate could be. BUT, he told her she was subject to the ban. The Consul then told her she was eligible for PP waiver to which we completed and filed DS-5535 within 3 days of her interview. The consul told us expect a response after 2-5 months of AP 😂😂😂. 
As of now, we have been in AP for 10 months. We cannot help but feel we have reached an impasse. We tried everything including contacting the embassy once a month and inquiring through our congressman and senator, all to no avail 😕 
 
Also my wife has NEVER been to Syria and actually NEVER stepped foot outside of KSA. Throughout the course of AP we have submitted examples of undue hardship including my wife being on a limited income and is subject to unbearable taxes as a non-saudi resident. I also recently had a serious surgery and had my surgeon send a letter addressed to the US consulate in riyadh documenting my condition, risks of surgery and strong need for wife presence for post op recovery and nursing. Interestingly enough, it was during this time period we got our FIRST ceac status update (first one since filing ds-5535, @ 8 months AP) where they did at least 7 updates day after day and stopped once the embassy responded to me apologizing for the circumstance I was facing, but that my wife's case is in AP at Washington, there's nothing they can do and that everything must follow its due course (how many times have you guys heard that -_-). 
 
My wife and I never imagined we'd have to live apart indefinitely as a married couple. Like what users have mentioned here before, it's the uncertainty and lack of a concrete timeline which kills us the most. I pray that our hearts be put at ease and wish the best for all of you.
For those of you pursuing WOM, please kindly keep us updated here on your experience. I am curious to know how it'll go as I am kind of considering it. 
 
Thank you for reading! 

A couple weeks is pretty standard time. Depends how quick they review things.

That is something very personal to the couple - I (the immigrant) would have been very upset if my husband had that attitude. I have lived independently my entire life, spent years gaining advanced degrees to further my career, always made my own money and have a passion for what I do. So one of my first priorities was getting a job in my field. Otherwise I don't think I could have settled here. Took me about 3 months of full time job searching (started about 2 months before the EAD arrived).

You can find all the work you want if you want to do that type of job, unless you live in some remote area.  I see your city says Houston so you will have all you want, I think Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the USA, you will see plenty of them.
 
I see you are from Philippines, May I suggest you look into nursing in the USA.  Unlike coming from Philippines where you are required to have a 4 year degree in nursing, if schooled in the USA you only need a two year associates degree to become a Registered Nurse in the USA and you can get that from a community college.
 
You would only have to work 3 days per week, and hospital shifts are 7 to 7 so you get your 40 hours in 3 days and you self schedule as well.  After one year you can take a part time job as a PRN in another hospital and make about $45 per hour in Houston area.
 
 

It was less than 72 hours, 48 maybe?
 
It was something my husband had experience in, but service related - washing windows.  It wasn't his favorite, but it worked for the first year.
 
He retrained in another career the next year and now works in that.

Self-employment is also an option.

I started applying before I arrived. Was interviewed by skype and offered the position a few weeks before my interview at the embassy. I started work less than 2 weeks after I arrived. Started at $70,000. Have since had a raise. 
 
But...I have been in this industry for over 18 years and have a degree. 

Depends on your city too. What type of city are you moving into. 
 
It was hard for me too. Prior to coming to U.S., I have 6 years of experience as software engineer working on systems used by millions of people across the globe. I graduated Magna Cum Laude for a degree requiring 300+ units to complete. (I had 3.80 GPA as evaluated by WES)
 
I got a job offer in different states apart from the City where my husband lives. I ended up having to wash dishes for a job because I didnt want to move into another state without my husband. I applied for numerous related jobs and none seemed to call me for interviews. At that point, I honestly felt I was discriminated because I had my degree from Philippines. I enrolled MBA in the local university. Guess what? Just with 6 units in my MBA program (and an updated resume with "MBA in progress in local university") got tons and tons of job interviews. 
 
I know another filipina in the same city who used to be a call center agent and now she works as a server in a bakery. I know another filipina who used to be a pharmacist who now works as a home cleaner. Another filipina, now works as a dentist assistant, only after studying for a year in a local school. 
 
It can be tough. 
 
 

I think it depends a lot on your experience, location, etc. But I know several people who struggled to find a job and ended up at Walmart. May not seem ideal, but they quickly moved to higher positions in their store.
 
I think I got very lucky. I had started subscribing to several job newsletters while I was waiting for my EAD, and saw a job opportunity that was exactly the type of job I was looking for. My husband encouraged me to apply even though I did not have my EAD yet, just to practice the application process and maybe an interview. I got offered the job, and my employer waited patiently for 6 weeks until I finally had my EAD.
 
The only way to find out is to start looking for jobs in the area where you'll be living, and maybe even applying when your moving date comes closer. Good luck!

still job hunting until now. started close to 3 months ago. i would suggest getting your resume converted to US style way before you get your EAD. so that as soon as you get the approval notification (not even the card), you can start sending your applications right away. i think to some degree you can even start applying to jobs as soon as you get the NOA for your EAD because the process of applying to actually landing a job can take a while. if you do this, just be honest with the employer that you are still waiting for your work authorization. they may not wait for you which is a risk, or you may get lucky and they may, you never know.
 
 

It is hard to find a job here! I was offered a job little over a month after I started applying. The initial offer was $10.30 BUT I was denied with the background check because of the incorrect format of my name in my SSN. After 3 weeks, I was offered another job starting pay was over $40k a year.
 
What I can advised, apply as many as you can and not focus on one application. Eventually, you'll get an offer.
 
Also, for you to not be limited, driving will be very essential unless you live in a city where public transpo is very accessible.

Was extremely difficult for me. 
 
Took me approximately a year to find a job. 
 
But it all depends on your industry, experience and connection. 

No, I have not even finished my university  It's not really needed in IT, to be honest. I am a completely self-taught guy.
Good luck! You will get there!

I hear you but some people like myself can't imagine life without working. I need a job to stay sane and cannot just let my husband work alone. My other reason is, I didn't get married just to be taken cared of. I want to be able to take care of my husband too if a time comes that he is not able to. We are back up to each other.  For people like us, working is self-fulfilling.  For some, being a full-time housewife is fulfilling. Not to mention for us Filipinos, most of us usually have the "responsibility" to our families. 

This might have not occurred to you, but some people want to work right away because they enjoy the socialization or contributing financially.  
 
I think it is also a reflection of the sad state of America's finances that often times a household really needs two working members to function well.  You and I might be blessed that we live in a family that can subsist with one income, but others aren't so lucky.  
 
 

Husband arrived in 2015, received EAD in 2016 and looked for months and months. No one wanted him. He was overqualified for retail, and honestly it seemed like they preferred a green card over an EAD. When the green card came, he had offers like crazy. By fall 2016, he applied for a part time job at a college and a full time job with FedEx. Both were very interested, but it seemed FedEx wanted to hire someone they could pay less. The college had a long hiring process when they finally let him know he was the guy they wanted, so he didn't start until 2017. It was very stressful for him, but I knew this job would be the best fit and would lead him to better things. Within six months he was promoted to full time and has a ton of opportunities in the pipeline.
 
It's great when people are able to find a job right away, but the couple should be prepared that things don't always work out as fast as wanted.

Wife got her EAD card August 8, 2015. She started her first job about a month later. We then soon moved across the country due to my job. She had to search again, took about 3 weeks that time. 
 
I really think it depends on the local job market and the economy. Both DC and the SF Bay Area have really strong job markets. My wife has a "useless degree" (her words, not mine) from a university in Indonesia, but she had some bookkeeping and admin experience when she moved here. She likes to say her worst day in the USA was when she got rejected by Target and Whole Foods for entry level jobs. 
 
Since moving here a little over 2 years ago, my wife has had a handful of jobs (including a gig at Facebook) and has more than doubled her first job's pay. She's had a variety of jobs, but most of them have been with tech companies. She's been getting contacted about other jobs recently too by recruiters, but she's pretty happy where she is now... 
 
Her first key to success was having me and a couple other people help her revise her resume. Her second one was simply applying to hundreds of jobs. She didn't read the qualifications. If the work sounded OK and the location was good, she applied. That literally became her #1 thing to do when not working or eating. You know never know what could happen! She applied to her current job in late 2016 but did not get contacted by the company until January of 2018. 

I'm still in K1 process in my home country, My certifications  are valid almost over the world and i can get new ones( like my current work pay for it)...  It is a multinational company and the headquarter is in Miami....I'm able to do the transfer to there but my fiancee has a very good job in Illinois and i do not wanna be away of him...
 
So everyday like a daily task ...I am looking for jobs online and making a requirement's list with the aptitudes that match in almost every offer in my field(network engineer)... So i'm learning and getting new certifications according or base on that premise....
 
Because i like to work... and i want to help my future husband once i living abroad... even if it's a job that is not in my field! but just for make an start... (Uber is a good option too meanwhile if u have a car....) Or a new opportunity to learn new things

Start applying now...I received my greencard in Aug 2016, I immediately began applying for jobs, I started work Feb 2017. Got an administrative job with the city.

Got a job 1 month after moving here. I am on Actuarial Science field and I guess I am lucky as there are very few people who take this course and is always on demand. Though, the first job I got is not on this field. It is a programmer job but I got bored after a month as that job is not meant for me so I quit. But I found the Actuarial science job before I quit the programmer job. Been here with my job for almost two years and loving it.
 
I do have a driver's license, though, I do not drive to work as there is a bus that goes through my workplace and just few minutes walk. 
 
I believe it help me a lot when I got a US reference before moving here. I worked in a BPO company in the Philippines with main office in Pennsylvania and my bosses there knew I am moving here and they agreed to be my reference.
 
I applied on hundreds of job applications before landing my first job. I polished my resume and like some poster said use the key words from the job description you are applying to.

I hope you'll get better soon. Mine got approved after 25 days and I have a friend who got their approval at the 30th day. I am still waiting for the case number, can't do anything yet. Let's just be patient and focus on your healing first. Good luck to our visa journey.

Got the Notice of Approval today! It's the 25th day including weekends.