EAD (WorkPermit)

I have always eyed on other posts hoping my ead would arrive soon.
Tonight I am finally able to share the good news - and I signed up to share it with you guys.

RD 5/20/2019 NBC
I decided to start looking for jobs in early October as I thought the EAD would be soon approved. And I was lucky enough to receive a job offer soon after in my field.

I was hoping to go back home due to family having cancer and surgery in November. The job start date was fortunately December.

As soon as I got a job offer, I decided to request an expedite as soon as possible. I called USCIS 1-800 and submitted a request. I worked to draft a cover letter along with other documents for the expedite request due to both financial hardship and humanitarian reasons - we just relocated and my husband started his new job 2 months after the move which we ended up utilizing our savings and had borrowed money from family for the move, rent, etc. I also needed to go to my home country which the financial circumstances made it hard for me to spend a 1500+ dollar ticket. Documents included were family members medical diagnosis, bank statement showing low balance and constant transfer from savings and family, and job offer letter.

Expedite requested 10/17/2019 via tier 1 officer

I read some scary posts that expedites sometimes go without a response for a whole month. I decided to seek help via congressman. I drafted the letter to congressman as same manner as I wrote for USCIS along with same supporting documents. I went to the office in person and was able to get them to submit an expedite through them as well. The office lady told me that they would normally ask petitioner to request an expedite directly with USCIS first before offering help, but because my expedite reason was time sensitive (had to go to home country in time for surgery), she agreed to help.

Congressman expedite requested 10/20/2019

USCIS assigned an officer and requested supporting documents to be faxes 10/21/2019

And I did not hear anything from either USCIS or congressmen's office. Not even an update saying they received the faxed documents.

Then today afternoon, I got a text from USPS that package was being sent to be est arrival in 2 days. Then in the evening I got an email from USCIS that the card has been picked up by the postal service.

There is no way of knowing for sure but my guess is that the expedite was approved via the congressmen since I did not receive any updates on USCIS this whole time.

Card is picked up by postal service 10/31/2019
USPS tracker est. arrival date 11/2/2019

For those who do have legitimate reasons to apply for an expedite. Don’t be afraid to do so and to reach out to your congressman. All the posts I read in the midst of my EAD wait had kept me insane and hope. Because I know that eventually everyone’s time will come. Happy Halloween and hang in there everyone!