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8 hours ago, jackb said:

Hello - I am currently traveling in Canada with my friend who is on this exact same sort of visa and also lost her EAD card tonight. We are trying to figure out next steps and came across this thread. Could you please let us know how your friend resolved her issue? Thank you so much

Hi Jackb, 

sorry that happened to your friend. My friend's reentry experience was actually very easy - and we both believed she lucked out. The officer didn't even ask for her EAD card and simply checked her I-20. 

She did prepare a lot of documents besides I-20 and passport just in case

- Proof of employment

- print out of the EAD card

- EAD approval notice

- the paper EAD card was attached to

Hope I could be more helpful. Best of luck to your friend. 

Update: 

She got in touch with the USCIS in GZ. They are very nice and much more helpful than the embassy personnel she was talking with before. The response she got: she should be able to board with I-20 and the valid F-1 Visa, and the EAD should have no bearing (this is surprising b/c obviously it is not true).  The person my friend talked to over the phone also said an EAD card cannot be issued by any USCIS in China. Regarding the travel document, they are not sure entirely which travel document my friend is asking for.

She couldnt get an appointment with USCIS GZ since the next available appointment on infopass is 10/13, which is the day she's flying back. I encouraged her to call back and check if they can make an emergency appointment for her. We will see what happens since the National Day  and mid autumn festival are both coming up (10/1) and the whole China will be on break for a week. 

Does anyone know which document is the travel document (document number we can refer to?) 

1 hour ago, jan22 said:

With the visa, I would think she will be able to board a plane and then make her case at the Port of Entry. The scanned copy of the EAD may be enough. But, as always, it will be a decision of the officer at the port.

 

Depending on where she is in China, she may be able to go to or contact USCIS at the regional office in either Beijing or Guangzhou and see if there is any documentation they can provide to her.

Thank you jan22! That's very comforting. I will relay the message to her. She actually is in Guangzhou, but the consulate there isnt that helpful and provide no information. Do you have any suggestions to engage them? 

thank you Jan22 and Coco8 for the replies. 

She does have a valid F1 stamp and a scanned copy of the EAD. Based on my personal experience (I'm on OPT as well), they asked for EAD every time, and her school did say she would need to present her EAD card at the POE when she called prior to her trip to check. I will call her school tomorrow and see what they say. 

Were/ are either of you on OPT and reenter with OPT status? just wondering if my experience for checking EAD card is rare

On 9/9/2017 at 0:33 AM, Coco8 said:

I agree. She cannot do anything without asking her international advisor.

 

I think she cannot do the internship even if it is unpaid because if this is a serious company, she will still have to go through HR for liability issues, and they could ask her to do an i-9. Basically, not getting paid does not mean she is not an employee. 

 

Moreover, for an F-1 you have to be a full-time student and there are restrictions to the amount of hours you can work. You can work in campus without any paperwork. But to work off-campus she would have to get CPT (which is like OPT but before graduation), but the time on CPT is taken from her OPT time. So basically, it is not a good idea to take time out of OPT. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CPT is the way to go. However, CPT does not necessarily affect OPT. A friend of mine had similar opportunity and the response she got from the ISO is and I quote "Students who have completed 12 or more months of full-time CPT are ineligible for OPT.  Part-time CPT or CPT which totals less than 12 months does not affect OPT." CPT is much simpler than OPT and do not require an EAD card (I interned at a national company and I-20 with CPT is all they need). However, her school might have concerns about working on an internship while being a full time student, but that really depends on the school. 

Wonderful Visa Journey Community: 

My friend went home to China for her parents birthday and lost her wallet with her EAD card inside. She's currently on F1 Stem OPT as the title stated, so she's employed here in New York. I have called CBP for her but the agent said she will need to have the local embassy to issue her a temp EAD card, while the local embassy says they do not deal with questions about reentering the US. She has a employment verification letter with her, her I-20, and passport. Does she have a good chance of reentering the US? Is there any other documents she can bring her to the checkpoint to increase her chances? I am wondering if there are people here who had dealt with similar situation (F-1 lost EAD while abroad) and what are your experience?