EAD (WorkPermit)

Hi all, I've been an avid reader for a while and wanted to send my timeline and experience as hopefully it'll help all of us struggling with a system increasingly antagonistic to the immigrants that helped build this country.

02/14/19 - Received Date (RD) for I-485, I-131 and I-765.
03/14/19 - Biometrics complete.
03/25/19 - First attempt to expedite through my lawyers (i.e. personal request) as well as Senator Schumer's office.
03/31/19 - Visa became invalid due to our company taken over, beginning of unpaid unemployment.
04/12/19 - 3 updates on egov USCIS website on I-765 "On April 12, 2019, your request to have your case expedited, referral number T1 YYYY YYYY XMSC, was assigned to officer/sent a response/completed.".

Didn't receive anything, clearly they didn't accept my expedite request which included a job offer letter and evidence my company was losing millions in revenues. It seems they're unlikely to respond when they reject your case, extremely frustrating as it also wasn't clear whether this was just my expedite request or if it included the Senator's.

06/01/19 - Attempt again to expedite through personal application and senator's office and this time include a spreadsheet showing mortgage payments, etc. are far more than our monthly salary with only my wife working.
06/05/19 - I-485 sends me a Request for Initial Evidence (RFIE) which turns out to be a request for my birth certificate (again) with translation.
06/10/19 - Again get 3 messages that expedite has been responded to. Again hear nothing despite calling USCIS and Schumer's office on a daily basis, assume it was rejected.
06/13/19 - I-485 updates that they're working on my case again.

07/08/19 - Get desperate as only have 2 months of savings to keep paying household bills and mortgages, while prospective employer threatening to pull job offer. See on here that Congresswomen/men are another avenue so call them up and find them far more helpful as they give me an email address and number to call.
07/12/19 - Congresswoman Maloney's office send a forceful letter with all my evidence asking why I haven't been fast tracked. They also include the fact my mother is ill in my home country and I'm due to give my sister away at her wedding in mid-August.
07/17/19 - Usual 3 messages about case being looked at but call USCIS who tell me a letter has been sent out telling me the case is under review and I'll receive an update shortly. First time they've responded to my request.
07/24/19 - I-485 is ready to be scheduled for an interview.
07/27/19 - "New card is in production" message. Massive relief, I should receive it next week.

TLDR: Here are my key take aways

1. Congress was much better for me at getting expedites looked at and they have someone you can talk to to check on your progress. I spoke to a different person every time I called the Senator's office and they had little information.

2. Calls to USCIS didn't yield me any additional information (even with Tier 2 officers) until action is taken online - egov was the most update for me and I would sign up for the email and text alerts as they came through first. The time I got updates changed every day, one day it was 5.45am, one day was a Saturday at 6.45pm.

3. If you meet one of the USCIS criteria to expedite, do it. They have a very high threshold to approve cases so clearly if you're being expedited there's a severe need. My case was financial loss given huge losses each month, job offer and prospective employer losing millions in revenues. The Congresswoman's office also pushed them to send me the card before I fly to my sister's wedding given my mother has been recently ill.

Hope this is useful, I know many filers from before my received date will be frustrated but if you meet the expedite criteria you should use it. Good luck!