hayhayhay

I'm so sorry to hear that your dog is ill. I know just as well that losing a dog is losing a best friend.

I just wanted to pop in quickly to share my experience with Emergency AP. After 6.5 months of waiting for my husband's EAD/AP, we learned his uncle was now in the ICU back in England due to a cancer complication. My husband's family asked that we return to the UK immediately, as his uncle was likely coming to the end of his rope. We booked our tickets for a couple of weeks out and first tried to submit an expedite request - A few days later we received a notification that a decision would be made soon, but 10 days passed with no news.

We finally resorted to Emergency AP. We gathered medical documents from hospital in the UK, birth certificates, flight receipts, etc. We were able to get into the local USCIS office for an emergency appointment, and spoke with a USCIS officer. She collected our documents and info and retreated into the back to discuss our case with the supervisor. Unfortunately, she came back with bad news. My husband's Emergency AP was denied because the family member in question was not a "direct" relative - She informed us they only approve cases like this for "immediate" family members such as parents, spouses, children, or siblings. 

I don't mean to destroy any hope, but after this experience I am led to believe USCIS may not approve you for Emergency AP under your given circumstances. But I will say, there is no harm in trying. I have read stories on VJ where Emergency AP has been approved for a lot less. You should be able to walk-in to your local USCIS office without an InfoPass appointment and request to see the supervisor as you have an emergency. 

Best of luck. Sending lots of love to you and your pup! xxx

15 minutes ago, decfiler said:

Hello again, my husband and I have been waiting for my AP since we are planning to go out of the country by end of July, now that my AP says its approved on the website, but it's not on hand yet, is it safe to buy the ticket now?  the longer we wait, the higher the ticket prices are going up. I assume between now and end of July I would have the AP on hand ?

I would think you should be well in the clear to book tickets for the end of July! Technically USCIS has 30 days to send you the documents, but you're well within that cautionary range. 

Coming from someone who missed a flight due to USCIS being unpredictable, I would highly suggest getting trip insurance for your flight and/or booking a changeable fare. This will relieve you of A LOT of stress if, god forbid, you don't receive the document in time. 

Hope this helps! Have an amazing trip!

2 hours ago, streanor said:

No I haven't reached out to local members of congress yet. I really just wasn't sure how to go about it.. any tips would be really appreciated!

I would highly recommend doing so - If anything it offered us some peace of mind knowing someone was looking into our case, and that it wasn't forgotten. 

Your info on the side bar says you're from New York? Assuming that is correct (I'm so sorry if not lol), I looked up the New York senators and found Kirsten Gillibrand. Fill out her contact form and tell her what's been going on! There is a box for "immigration" that you can check under categories. Here is a link to her contact form: https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/contact/email-me

I did the same exact thing with one of the Nevada senators. I got a confirmation email shortly after submitting the contact form, which instructed me to call her office if I required assistance with a government agency. As it was applicable to me, I called in and her office staff got started on the inquiry process right away. Hope this helps! Good luck! 

3 hours ago, streanor said:

Yup, still waiting, 225 days. Just submitted my second enquiry for being outside processing times after getting no response from first one. Still hopeful it comes any day now!

225 is just ridiculous. Have you reached out to any of your local members of congress? From my understanding, USCIS is obligated to respond to inquiries made my government officials within a certain amount of time. We did that with my husband's EAD/AP and someone from the NBC responded to our congresswoman in about a week. 

So sorry you've been waiting so long. I hope it comes really soon! 

September 21 filer here. I just received a notification that my husband's EAD was approved and status has changed to New Card is Being Produced! YAY!

Question for those of you already approved: From my understanding, his EAD and AP should come on a combo card because they were filled concurrently. However, the case status for his I-131 still has not changed. Has this happened to anyone else? I am just wondering if it's a technicality and they will still come on the same card, or if they will in fact come separately. 

Thanks in advance!

On 4/6/2019 at 4:39 PM, C90 said:

Did you call USCIS (the general number, not your local office)? They're phasing out info pass appointments, and a lot of local offices don't accept online appointments anymore. To make an appointment you have to call USCIS at 800-375-5283

 

Good luck with everything

Thank you for bringing that to my attention - I wasn't aware the info pass system had changed and you couldn't make online appointments. Instructions on the USCIS website say it can only be done online, but it's not shocking to learn that's not up to date. 

We ended up just appearing at the local office and requesting to speak with a supervisor about an emergency travel document. The officer we spoke to was very kind and understanding, however our request was ultimately denied. The emergency related party must be a direct family member (parent, child, spouse) with the appropriate documentation to prove so. While we were able to support the close relationship my husband has with his uncle, the "direct" family is an absolute requirement. 

I will say, the officer we spoke with seemed absolutely shocked when we told her we have been waiting for his advanced parole for nearly 7 months. She had to take all of our filing receipts and check for herself. So it looks like we're not the only ones in disbelief.

3 minutes ago, Naes said:

I heard they changed the timelines again on USCIS processing times.

 

However if there's emergency like that, I would make an info pass appointment for an emergency advance parole. I believe you would need some documentation on his uncle's status.

When we originally filed the processing time was 2-5 months. It's now 5-7 months. I've filed for an expedite request but haven't gotten very far with that. 

We have supporting documents for his illness, however there are no infopass appointments available at the Las Vegas office. I've checked every day for the past couple of weeks and nothing. I've been trying to contact them to see if they take walk-ins for emergencies, but nobody is actually on the other end of the phone over there. It's probably worth just showing up and hoping they'll accept a walk-in.

Any September filers get approved for their combo card recently? We filed Sept. 21 and still waiting - 194 days so far. 

My husband's uncle is terminally ill and we were intending of returning to the UK next week to try and make it before he passes. Unfortunately it's looking like we might not make it. Looking for any signs of hope at this point.