seattle2903

On 11/17/2018 at 10:41 AM, Htw said:

I already requested but they said job offer is not in the criteria for expedite request. 😭😭😭

Hm, weird. I successfully expedited my EAD based on job offer alone. No other proof. 

12 minutes ago, From_VN_To_TX said:

Yayyy, congrats. I am happy for you. I hope a miracle happens to me so I can continue my current employment. Good luck on your new job.

I hope you’ll get an update soon! Good luck to you and everyone else waiting!

Guys!! My I-765 changed to “New Card is Being Produced”!!! I am so happy I got teary eyed. I had already postponed my start date for the job once and I was dreading having to do it again but now the miracle happened! I have no idea if the Congressman’s office made it happen or it was just USCIS getting to my case, but I do not really care! I can finally start working and not be a couch potato. 

I am writing my EAD expedite timeline here, maybe it helps anyone: 

Oct 17 - Placed the request via phone
Oct 18 - Received email to fax job offer, faced the same day
Oct 26 - RFE was mailed for I-485, all cases on hold
Nov 7 - USCIS received my response to the RFE, cases resumed processing 
Nov 15 - New card is being produced 

I am elated. Now I don’t really care how long the interview for the GC will take. I will be able to work and live as usual, taking my mind off it. Good luck to everyone!

Still nothing on my expedite request. Here’s the timeline:

Requested expedite over the phone - Oct 17

Faxed evidence - October 18

RFE on I-485 was mailed - Oct 26

USCIS received my response to the RFE - Nov 7

I’m aware that the RFE put all my cases on hold between Oct 26 - Nov 7 but now they should have resumed processing. I also contacted my Congressman and they put in an inquiry with USCIS. My employer was nice enough to extend my start date to Novemver 26 instead of 13. I don’t know what else to do to get this EAD in the next 2 weeks. 

3 hours ago, kdatgc said:

Oh ok, thanks for the update @seattle2903 

 

R u based out of Seattle ? Even I'm

Yes, Seattle.

My I-485 status updated to “We received your response to the RFE”. The Congressman is also keeping in touch with USCIS on my behalf. Does anyone know when I should be expecting my expedited EAD from now?

Requested to expedite on October 17, faxed proof on October 18. They mailed out an RFE on October 26, I received in the mail on November 3. Today I mailed out the response to the RFE with express mail and will arrive tomorrow. I hope they will process my response and get that EAD going. I'll have to talk to HR in my company and delay my start date. 

45 minutes ago, eckoin said:

I heard that--and don't take this as gospel--asking to expedite the EAD also forces the USCIS officer to review your other paperwork to make sure it's complete, including I-485, so if you were going to get an RFE, you'd get it sooner than later.  So there's that.  A kind of a silver lining.

Yes, I know. My request triggered the review of the entire packet, which is honestly a good thing. At least it will be dealt with now rather than 4 months down the line. I just hope USCIS will get back to working on my I-765 soon after they receive the response to the RFE. 

34 minutes ago, eckoin said:

I would let them them know it's going to take a bit longer on Nov 8-9, and no sooner.  I agree that, if a company went through the trouble of getting you onboarded, there's little for them to lose if they have to wait a bit.  What's your current status on the expedite?  Is it still the "request was completed" nonsense?

 

I mentioned elsewhere that my expedite request moved really quickly, but I also applied with plenty of time left on my current work authorization (TN, not EAD), so I wasn't under a time crunch.  It looks like recently people's expedite requests have been approved within longer timeframes.  I can't say that congresspeople and governors aren't helpful per se, but mine still haven't gotten back to me so in my case, reaching out was entirely useless.  Just 'waiting' did the trick, but I can feel the stress.  If I had the same timeline as you, I would let my work know a few days in advance that I can't continue (in your case, start) working until this is resolved and to please forward to me any training or onboarding materials I can look at in the meantime while this is sorted out, though I would technically book no time for it (just very eager).

My status on the I-765 is at the second “review was complete” which came after they received my job offer fax. It’s stuck there because of the RFE on the I-485 which resulted in all cases put on hold. Sucks but oh well. I am 99% sure they would’ve approved the EAD on October 26 had it not been for the RFE. 

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. 

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. 

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 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. 

@eckoin did you receive the “On *** 2018, your request to have your case expedited, referral number T1B****9MSC, was completed.” update? How long after that did you receive approval?

23 minutes ago, Tilde333 said:

Yes I faxed proof 2 weeks ago.  I am sending messages and faxing to all 3 congress representatives today and I am on hold now (over 20 minutes) with USCIS. 

Alright. Let us know what the rep says. 

7 minutes ago, Tilde333 said:

I got one of these too on October 12th I'm on hold right now to ask what is up.  Does it mean approval for expedite or not>

Have you faxed proof yet? In got 2 successions of 3 messages like the last one. The first one was on October 18 when they emailed me requesting proof. The second was today when they reviewed my evidence and hopefully made a decision.

This morning I got an email from USCIS saying: 

“We received your documents in support of your request to expedite the decision on your application. Your case is currently under review. You will receive a decision or notice of further action shortly.” 

And the online status of the I-765 got another update saying: 

“On October 24, 2018, your request to have your case expedited, referral number T1****MSC, was completed.”

Did any of you get that email? How long was “shortly”?

My Congressman’s office submitted a request on my behalf on October 18 and today they received this email from USCIS: 

Thank you for your inquiry regarding this constituent’s immigration matter.  We have requested the file and it will be reviewed by an officer once we receive the file.  Your constituent should receive a decision or notice of other action within 30 days of the date of this notice.

Did any of you get the same update? How long from now should I expect my approval?

I faxed the job offer on Thursday and today the I-131 status changed to “document was mailed to you”. Any idea why? I didn’t request to have the I-131 expedited. 

PD is Sept 24, did my bio today. This morning at 6:30AM I got a status update for the I-131 saying “Document was mailed to me”. Isn’t it too early to receive the AP? I haven’t requested to have it expedited, that’s the weird part. I, however, requested an expedite for the EAD and faxed the job offer on Thursday. The I-765 is still in case received.

Could this be a glitch? I requested the EAD and the approved the AP. 

39 minutes ago, eckoin said:

Good luck! They might still reject your expedite request since it takes at least a day to process the biometrics, so be prepared to try to reopen your expedite case (rather than having to wait for 5-10 days, whatever it is, before you can submit another one). Hopefully they don't work on it for a few days anyway and look past it. 

 

This is a weird one, so keep us posted. I think most people would suggest that you have waited to expedite until you had your biometrics submitted, but you're right on the line of everything happening at the same time so I'm curious to hear how it goes. Hope it goes well! 

I hope so too. I’ve seen that most fingerprints clear in one day. So if I go on Monday, the review of the fingerprints should be completed by Tuesday. I hope they won’t start working on my request first thing on Monday morning. I also contacted my Senator, just for extra help. I read y’all timelines here and most of you had around one week between submitting the fax and receiving the 3 status updates, right?

My biometrics should have been done by now. That is why I decided to expedite before the appointment. My PD is Sept 24, I should’ve received the appointment letter around October 10. 

11 minutes ago, eckoin said:

I've seen a lot of people whose expedite requests were rejected because the biometrics weren't done, and none whose expedite requests were accepted before the biometrics. But who knows. 

 

So are you expediting your EAD because you have a job offer and "severe financial loss" or because you want your biometrics to happen sooner? 

 

It's a close call for a Nov. 12 start date. It looks like expedite requests are taking longer in general (over a month from the request date). Without the biometrics completed, I'm guessing it won't happen. Will they hold the job for you? 

Since my reply from yesterday, I have received the bio appointment and will do a walk-in on Monday morning. Since it’s weekend, they won’t work on my expedite request anyway. So I’m hoping that when they begin reviewing my request next week the bio will be done. 

I an expediting because I have a legit job offer. The offer is from a well-known, big company. I explained to HR my situation and they said it’s alright if it’s like one week past the start date. 

2 hours ago, duthman said:

my case took exactly 99 days

07/12 - application for EAD was received 

08/03 - biometric done

08/07 - fingerprint review was completed

09/26 - request to expedite

09/29 - assigned to an officer for response 

10/01 - request to have case expedited completed

10/07 i went to see my congressman , an overkill but i wasnt taking chances.

10/15 - new card was ordered

10/17 - card was mailed 

10/19 - EAD card in hand.

this was done based on a pending i-485

What criteria did you expedite on?