Hello everybody,
I promised myself that I’d share my timeline as soon as I get my EAD. The application was filed based on pending political asylum.
February 18, 2016 ---- Received date, the case was received by Vermont Service Center
February 22, 2016 ---- Notice Date
March 11, 2016 ------- The case was transferred to Nebraska Service Center by USCIS
April 23, 2016 ---------- Inquired update on my case online (At that time, I didn’t know that it takes 3 weeks only if it’s the first time EAD)
May 6, 2016 (day 75) – Called USCIS to create a service request
May 11, 2016 ----------- Old EAD expired and I lost my job
May 21, 2016 (day 90) – Called USCIS to say that It’d been 90 days; I didn’t get any useful information.
June 6, 2016 (day 106) – Called USCIS to explain my current situation, that I can’t support myself. To be honest, when I called I prepared a speech about monthly rent, lost health insurance, a huge bill that I need to pay (which is not USCIS’s fault) and didn’t think it would actually help. However, customer service representative almost immediately offered to create an expedited request and listed all possible categories. I selected the one which is due to severe financial loss. I was told that it may take up to 5 calendar days for an officer to respond. The gentleman also told me the person I talked to on May 6th was supposed to do that and he apologized.
June 7, 2016 (day 107) – The request to have my case expedited was assigned to an officer
June 9, 2016 (day 109) – The request was completed and the status online was changed to “new card is being produced”
June 14, 2016 (day 114) – “We mailed your new card to the address you gave us”
June 16, 2016 (day 116) – Called USCIS to get a tracking number
June 17, 2016 (day 117) – The card was finally delivered
To sum up, it took 109 days for them to approve my card and additional 8 days to deliver it. It might be just a matter of luck but I’d recommend you, guys, call them and come up with a good reason to expedite your case. Creating an account on USCIS website is also helpful since it gives more information, such as all requests that you’ve made so far.