EAD (WorkPermit)

I applied for an EAD on Dec. 23, 2005, and received a receipt notice on Dec. 30, 2005 saying they got my application. I filed with the Texas Service Center. Ever since that time, I have been tracking my application online. My case was approved on Jan. 12, 2006, and my EAD was supposedly mailed on Jan. 19, 2006. Granted, my card was mailed to my old address in New Orleans, but even post-Katrina, we have been receiving mail, and someone is there all the time to get the mail. I tried getting a copy of a receipt, some kind of statement, or even an interim card from the Atlanta INS office, but the lady there refused to help me.

I was offerred a great job which I now have to turn down because of this bullshit. She "delighted" in telling me that I had ONLY two options: to wait until the 90-day time frame to get an interim card had expired, or if I could not wait, then the ONLY other thing I could do was reapply, which itself means another 90 days and another $180. I believe too that something is wrong with the mailing department at INS. And even if they want you to be home when they deliver the mail, isn't the standard USPS practice to keep trying for at least 7 days before returning your mail as "undeliverable?" Someone was ALWAYS at my old address to get my stuff! This is bogus, just another way for USCIS to sucker you out of more money.

I called the National Service Center, to see what happened and to change my address. The lady who got my call was very nasty, and gave me the third degree regarding my card, and asking me why I waited to update my address, and this was all MY fault--yes, MY fault, for THEIR **** up mailroom!!!--- and then she put me on to someone who does interim cards for OPT applications, since I applied for the EAD as an OPT, and he was twice as nasty and rude!

I have decided that this B.S., drama, and headache are not worth it...I am packing up and heading home to the West Indies post haste, where I don't have to deal with this crap anymore....