EAD (WorkPermit)

Hi all,

This site was useful to me when going through the EAD process so I thought I would add my experience.

September 10th: Application received by USCIS
September 14th: Received receipt in mail
Waited...
Waited...
Waited some more...

I did not require biometric testing as I had previously done this with another visa - I had to call USCIS to confirm this.

November 24th: I called USCIS to submit a service request as the regulatory processing timeframe was nearing its end. I was told it would take 15 - 30 days to hear back about this request.

I called a few times in the following week to see if anything else could be done. I did not have grounds to expedite my case so there wasn't much I could do.

December 8th: I called USCIS and was told I should wait to hear about the previous service request that was submitted. I asked if anything else could be done as I had waited patiently for 90 days and was becoming concerned that this process was never going to end. At this point the customer service rep submitted another service request stating that my application had exceeded the processing timeframe. He did tell me that the processing times are only an estimate. Within 3 hours of this phone call my online status had changed to "application approved".

December 14th: Received EAD card in mail (wooohhoooo).

Throughout this process I encountered some very helpful USCIS employees and some not so helpful people who at times left me feeling very confused and helpless.

I recommend calling USCIS at the 65 day and 90 day mark to push the process along. Also please note that the Infopass appointments you are encouraged to apply for are pretty useless as they can no longer process interim EAD cards. Hang in there and good luck!