EAD (WorkPermit)

Hi,

I am on a L2 visa and filed my EAD on 11 Feb 2019 and wanted to share my experience as this website and everyone's experiences have really helped while we've been waiting for it to come through.

Timeline:

Form - I765 all other types of employment authorisation
Service centre - Vermont Service Center - average processing time for I765 on their website 2-5 months
Filing date - 11 Feb 2019
USCIS receipt/acknowledgement date - 15 Feb 2019
Job offer received - 14 Apr 2019
Expedite request to USCIS on grounds of severe financial loss because of job offer - 13 May 2019
Expedite request rejected by USCIS - 14 May 2019
Contacted Congresswoman's office via their website contact form - 3 Jun 2019
Expedite request to USCIS again on grounds of severe financial loss - 6 Jun 2019
Expedite request rejected by USCIS - 7 Jun 2019
Contacted Congresswoman's office via telephone - 10 Jun 2019
Provided Congresswoman's office with privacy release form and job offer letter - 10 Jun 2019
Congresswoman's office contacted USCIS for status update - 12 Jun 2019
Contacted Congresswoman's office to see if there was an update - 19 Jun 2019
USCIS responded to Congresswoman's office referring them to their average processing time - 19 Jun 2019
**5 months processing time was reached on 15 Jul 2019**
Sent an outside processing time case inquiry through USCIS website - 16 Jul 2019
Contacted Congresswoman's office to inform them case was outside of normal processing time - 16 Jul 2019
Contacted Senator's office to inform them case was outside of normal processing time - 16 Jul 2019
Status changed to case was approved - 23 Jul 2019
Status changed to card being produced - 24 Jul 2019
Senator's office contacted me to inform my status had changed to card was mailed, tracking number for USPS provided - 26 Jul 2019
Signed up for USPS tracking alerts - 26 Jul 2019
Card was received - 29 Jul 2019

So total time from USCIS acknowledgment to card received was 165 days, and this was just a simple I765 form approval.

In the end, we don't know if they approved the case when they did because it was beyond their average processing time or because I had contacted both my congresswoman and senator. Either way, I would recommend doing everything you can because otherwise you'll never know if it could have been approved quicker.

Also, as many many others have said, it is down to you to be proactive, constantly following up with USCIS, congressperson or senator. It's a ridiculously stressful experience for you as the individual as well as your family and at times I felt like it was never going to be approved and we were considering going home. PLEASE HANG IN THERE and know that you're not alone! I have never been more depressed in these 5 months but reading this website and knowing that I wasn't alone provided a level of support that I am grateful for.

It's a situation like no other. I felt trapped because at times I felt like I couldn't find a job because everyone asked whether you had a work permit and I could not say yes, and also not knowing when it would be approved meant I wasn't sure whether a job would wait for an unknown period of time for it to be approved.

Some people would also say that having time off out of work is the best because you get to do what you want, try new things etc. Unfortunately I don't agree. I moved here in January with my husband and my intention was always to work. We don't know anyone here nor do we have kids. It's a very isolating experience having to worry about the unintentional pause in your career while surviving on one salary and for me I couldn't really think about all the fun things I wanted to do but never had the chance to while I was working. I volunteered with multiple organisations to stop going crazy but I was still very depressed and alone. I'm hoping things will now start to change.

I hope this has helped someone out there! Please let me know if anyone has any questions about my experience.