Hubby Arrives and Doesn't Get EAD

[chris4gretchen 1]

Let me state again:

1) There is no little stamp hiding on the back of the I-94

2) Yes the K-1 Visa is good for 6 months but that isn't the issue.

3) The I-94 is valid until April 6, 2009.... this is 6 months, not 90 days.

K

How did you get an I-94 that is good for 6 months? they are only good for 90 days normally.The visa is good for 6 months, but once you use it then its done and used. So you are saying the white I-94 (that you got on the airplane) in your fiance's passport is stamped good until april 06, 2009? What is the visa expiration printed on the visa? I have to wonder if you are mixing these two things up. If not, i wonder how you got so lucky.

Chris

[jodee 30]

Temp EAD was definitely not useless in our case

AMEN!

Let me state again:

1) There is no little stamp hiding on the back of the I-94

2) Yes the K-1 Visa is good for 6 months but that isn't the issue.

3) The I-94 is valid until April 6, 2009.... this is 6 months, not 90 days.

Additionally, he had a job waiting for him upon arrival and we need a social security # for him to be added to the Worker's Comp coverage (never mind make him LEGAL to work!), we have a family business that he could have started working immediately upon receiving the SS card which we cannot get because he didn't get the EAD! Getting a bank account and health ins. isn't easy either without a SS#.

He has 3 children and a mother to support in Egypt. We worked so hard to arrange everything so that he could continue his financial obligations to his children. Additionally there are cultural and religious reasons that the situation we are in is totally unbearable for him. We are not young and he is not OK with being unable to support not only the children, but me.

He has not yet decided if he is able to accept this situation and stay here, so no quicky marriage and AOS until this decision is made.

Making a huge change for him at 50 is not the same as at 25, or 35.... and especially if you have been the main provider for your family for 25 years and none of the women in your family have ever held a job much less contributed a single piaster to your support.

I don't expect most to understand this situation at all. We seem to be a very small minority here, being 2 50 year olds...

K

I would be more concerned that the POE officer recorded him in with the wrong status... Which will be a bigger more time consuming issue to correct than any temp EAD situation

I Agree with Payx. a.k.a fwaguy on this one. Even if the status is recorded as a K1, on the I-94, they input that date in the system too, which can generate a different status in the system.

Secondly, I know you did the planning the way you did, so as your hubby could still support his family at home to the best of his ability. But, you should not of relied on it being granted. Just because JFK, is renowned for issuing theTemp EAD, does not mean you are entitled to it, and the I.O had every right not to grant it.

BUt if you do enough research, you will find a loophole of sorts somewhere on here, or online, that explains, that techniocally on a K1, you do have an Authority to work, within the first 90 days without the ead being issued. But,....nearly all employers are not willing to employ based on that law alone.

editted to add,...refer this link,....then go to section C "Employment Authoriization by class of Admission".

Click on me

Hope that link clarifies what I am trying to say,..

Edited October 10, 2008 by jodee

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

Let me state again:

1) There is no little stamp hiding on the back of the I-94

2) Yes the K-1 Visa is good for 6 months but that isn't the issue.

3) The I-94 is valid until April 6, 2009.... this is 6 months, not 90 days.

K

How did you get an I-94 that is good for 6 months? they are only good for 90 days normally.The visa is good for 6 months, but once you use it then its done and used. So you are saying the white I-94 (that you got on the airplane) in your fiance's passport is stamped good until april 06, 2009? What is the visa expiration printed on the visa? I have to wonder if you are mixing these two things up. If not, i wonder how you got so lucky.

Chris

We didn't try to get it... Yes, it's the white I-94 that is good until APRIL 2009. He got the Visa in July, July plus 6 months is January, not April. The Visa expires in January the I-94 in April... I'm not mixed up, the man who did the stamping was.

And it's not lucky for us AT ALL. We don't need 6 months, we needed an EAD. We'll happily trade with anyone who wants 6 months and has an EAD they think is "worthless"... Any one want to trade???

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

Temp EAD was definitely not useless in our case

AMEN!

Let me state again:

1) There is no little stamp hiding on the back of the I-94

2) Yes the K-1 Visa is good for 6 months but that isn't the issue.

3) The I-94 is valid until April 6, 2009.... this is 6 months, not 90 days.

Additionally, he had a job waiting for him upon arrival and we need a social security # for him to be added to the Worker's Comp coverage (never mind make him LEGAL to work!), we have a family business that he could have started working immediately upon receiving the SS card which we cannot get because he didn't get the EAD! Getting a bank account and health ins. isn't easy either without a SS#.

He has 3 children and a mother to support in Egypt. We worked so hard to arrange everything so that he could continue his financial obligations to his children. Additionally there are cultural and religious reasons that the situation we are in is totally unbearable for him. We are not young and he is not OK with being unable to support not only the children, but me.

He has not yet decided if he is able to accept this situation and stay here, so no quicky marriage and AOS until this decision is made.

Making a huge change for him at 50 is not the same as at 25, or 35.... and especially if you have been the main provider for your family for 25 years and none of the women in your family have ever held a job much less contributed a single piaster to your support.

I don't expect most to understand this situation at all. We seem to be a very small minority here, being 2 50 year olds...

K

I would be more concerned that the POE officer recorded him in with the wrong status... Which will be a bigger more time consuming issue to correct than any temp EAD situation

I Agree with Payx. a.k.a fwaguy on this one. Even if the status is recorded as a K1, on the I-94, they input that date in the system too, which can generate a different status in the system.

Secondly, I know you did the planning the way you did, so as your hubby could still support his family at home to the best of his ability. But, you should not of relied on it being granted. Just because JFK, is renowned for issuing theTemp EAD, does not mean you are entitled to it, and the I.O had every right not to grant it.

BUt if you do enough research, you will find a loophole of sorts somewhere on here, or online, that explains, that techniocally on a K1, you do have an Authority to work, within the first 90 days without the ead being issued. But,....nearly all employers are not willing to employ based on that law alone.

editted to add,...refer this link,....then go to section C "Employment Authoriization by class of Admission".

Click on me

Hope that link clarifies what I am trying to say,..

OK we're off to the local USCIS office in the morning... Better make sure he isn't listed as a tourist... (which is my guess why they gave him 6 months and ignored his repeated request for an EAD).

What do you mean "not entitled" to it???? From the document you linked to it appears it isn't even NECESSARY! How can something that isn't even totally necessary be an "entitlement"??? That seems totally contradictatory...

I will be in touch with my lawyer in the morning about the legality of him working. We don't need to convince any employer of his legal right to work... although it would be nice to have something in writing... We have a family business and we just don't want him to get into trouble by working, or get my father and son into trouble by "hiring" him.

Thanks for the link... it makes total sense.. (but I still don't know why you think he might not have been "entitled" to it???)

I suppose rather than relying on his ability to make an income here to support his family back home he should have stayed in Egypt another couple of years to save up all the money his family needed while he fooled around with nuances of the USCIS, but in reading the experiences of others on this group coming from Egypt on K-1 Visas we didn't expect this scenario.

It just seems wrong that people in the category (K-1) are treated so differently and that any country would expect people to live without working when they come from a 3rd world country to the USA. He wanted to bring enough money to support both of us when he got here, but that was purely inconceiveable! I just thank God that I found someone totally devoted to his children and Mother, and so desperately anxious to provide for his American wife at the same time. He's from the old school and that's why I'm with him.

Thanks again for the link...

K

[jodee 30]

I was not trying to be nasty in saying"not entitled". It is just common fact that a LOT of people purposely fly into JFK, in anticipation of getting the much sort after temp ead. They think it is an automatic entitlement. They actually go out of their way to fly into there hoping to receive it, and when they don't they complain. in some cases, they are valid complaints, and some are not.

I know my link, shows technically you are entitled to it, and in some ways does contradict, but many people are unawares of the SSA guideline I provided you.

I sincerely provided you with a link to help you out, and then you want to criticize what I said,..sheesh.

Anyways,..good luck iwth it,..i do hope it helps you out in some way. Just remember, that, it is only valid for the first 90 days of his arrival, because you said he arrived on a K1, and the I-94 is only valid for 90 days for a K1 and technically, he cannot work after that until the official ead is provided.

Best wishes,..

[payxibka 10,045]

What do you mean "not entitled" to it???? From the document you linked to it appears it isn't even NECESSARY! How can something that isn't even totally necessary be an "entitlement"??? That seems totally contradictatory...

in addition, technically nobody is "entitled" to it ... Giving out the "stamp" is totally discretionary.....

[jodee 30]

What do you mean "not entitled" to it???? From the document you linked to it appears it isn't even NECESSARY! How can something that isn't even totally necessary be an "entitlement"??? That seems totally contradictatory...

in addition, technically nobody is "entitled" to it ... Giving out the "stamp" is totally discretionary.....

Thanks Payxibka,....Discretionary was the word I was looking for but it eluded me,..

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

What do you mean "not entitled" to it???? From the document you linked to it appears it isn't even NECESSARY! How can something that isn't even totally necessary be an "entitlement"??? That seems totally contradictatory...

in addition, technically nobody is "entitled" to it ... Giving out the "stamp" is totally discretionary.....

Thanks Payxibka,....Discretionary was the word I was looking for but it eluded me,..

I'm criticizing a ridiculous process ONLY.

So it's a matter of a whim on the part of the person you meet with? In what part of a country of laws and rules do whims belong? If no one is entitled then why give it to anyone? What is the test? You look like someone who needs it? You are from Country XYZ and so we like you? You are male? You are female?

Our country of laws and rules is also a country where discrimination and disparate treatment is not legal. If he had been given a questionaire that asked specific questions to determine his eligibility that might speak to some sort of process that allows some to qualify while others do not... which would indicate a specific process that would then allow people to have some clue in advance what to expect.

I see nothing wrong with planning your entry to coincide with one of the few places where temp EAD's are provided (which also is RIDICULOUS). Why does everyone think that it's a crime to want to work? Or a priveldge to be ALLOWED to work???? It's just a fact of life? Are they trying to make it possible for only the RICH to immigrate? Or for only Americans who can support their spouse for months to be allowed to marry from outside the country?

Saying that no one is entitled but some are given it and some are not at the sole discretion of an indivicual sounds like some Banana Republic where you need to tip the person to get what you want... Not a country of laws and rules.

And if it was about paying "baksheesh" my husband would have been right in his element... that's how business is done all over Egypt... I just didn't know that was the score in my country... See what I get for living in the West Coast...

Thanks again for all the information and I wasn't criticizing anything but a very convoluted process that seems arbitrary and discriminatory.

K

[Sylvia_n_Joseph 3]

This country is all about whims and unfair treatment. That is why some people get to visit each other all through the process and others haven't seen their SO in more than a year and couples with equal evidence don't all get approved immediately. I will trade you non work visa for my sitting in review hell.

[TayRivers 4]

What do you mean "not entitled" to it???? From the document you linked to it appears it isn't even NECESSARY! How can something that isn't even totally necessary be an "entitlement"??? That seems totally contradictatory...

in addition, technically nobody is "entitled" to it ... Giving out the "stamp" is totally discretionary.....

Thanks Payxibka,....Discretionary was the word I was looking for but it eluded me,..

I'm criticizing a ridiculous process ONLY.

So it's a matter of a whim on the part of the person you meet with? In what part of a country of laws and rules do whims belong? If no one is entitled then why give it to anyone? What is the test? You look like someone who needs it? You are from Country XYZ and so we like you? You are male? You are female?

Our country of laws and rules is also a country where discrimination and disparate treatment is not legal. If he had been given a questionaire that asked specific questions to determine his eligibility that might speak to some sort of process that allows some to qualify while others do not... which would indicate a specific process that would then allow people to have some clue in advance what to expect.

I see nothing wrong with planning your entry to coincide with one of the few places where temp EAD's are provided (which also is RIDICULOUS). Why does everyone think that it's a crime to want to work? Or a priveldge to be ALLOWED to work???? It's just a fact of life? Are they trying to make it possible for only the RICH to immigrate? Or for only Americans who can support their spouse for months to be allowed to marry from outside the country?

Saying that no one is entitled but some are given it and some are not at the sole discretion of an indivicual sounds like some Banana Republic where you need to tip the person to get what you want... Not a country of laws and rules.

And if it was about paying "baksheesh" my husband would have been right in his element... that's how business is done all over Egypt... I just didn't know that was the score in my country... See what I get for living in the West Coast...

Thanks again for all the information and I wasn't criticizing anything but a very convoluted process that seems arbitrary and discriminatory.

K

If being able to work was of prime importance then you applied for the wrong visa, A K1 visa is to allow for marriage within 90 days. if he needed to be able to work from the day he entered then a CR1 visa is what you should have applied for.

The person who is sponsoring the immigrant has to show that they earn 125% of the poverty line so that they can support the immigrant during the time they can not work or can not find work. USCIS will not take into account his desire to send money back to remaining family in his home country. After all that is something he has chosen to do he is not legally obliged to do it.

[aidan80 9]

What do you mean "not entitled" to it???? From the document you linked to it appears it isn't even NECESSARY! How can something that isn't even totally necessary be an "entitlement"??? That seems totally contradictatory...

in addition, technically nobody is "entitled" to it ... Giving out the "stamp" is totally discretionary.....

Thanks Payxibka,....Discretionary was the word I was looking for but it eluded me,..

I'm criticizing a ridiculous process ONLY.

So it's a matter of a whim on the part of the person you meet with? In what part of a country of laws and rules do whims belong? If no one is entitled then why give it to anyone? What is the test? You look like someone who needs it? You are from Country XYZ and so we like you? You are male? You are female?....

I understand what your saying, I came in on a K1 as well. Everything from the interview process, to the evidence to the police reports to actually entering the country all along we knew that someone somewhere having a bad day or just didn't like the look of me had the power to say no! Once they said no that's it, I mean we could appeal and pay god only knows but that's the power the US government gives these officials unfortunately. Yes there are rules and everything else but they get ignored and broken.. how many times you seen a police office driving around talking on the cell? It just done.. they don't care!

My advice is follow the link posted by the other poster!.. go to the SSA website and print out those notes. Then get over to the SSA and apply for a SSN. You should be able to get your husband a SSN assuming you're still within 90 days of entering the country, if they say no show em the notes. We had to battle the idiot at the SSA to get me an unrestricted card!

Good Luck!

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

This country is all about whims and unfair treatment. That is why some people get to visit each other all through the process and others haven't seen their SO in more than a year and couples with equal evidence don't all get approved immediately. I will trade you non work visa for my sitting in review hell.

Is there some law that keeps you from visiting your SO? Looks like your process is going a lot faster than ours did if that is any comfort...

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

What do you mean "not entitled" to it???? From the document you linked to it appears it isn't even NECESSARY! How can something that isn't even totally necessary be an "entitlement"??? That seems totally contradictatory...

in addition, technically nobody is "entitled" to it ... Giving out the "stamp" is totally discretionary.....

Thanks Payxibka,....Discretionary was the word I was looking for but it eluded me,..

I'm criticizing a ridiculous process ONLY.

So it's a matter of a whim on the part of the person you meet with? In what part of a country of laws and rules do whims belong? If no one is entitled then why give it to anyone? What is the test? You look like someone who needs it? You are from Country XYZ and so we like you? You are male? You are female?

Our country of laws and rules is also a country where discrimination and disparate treatment is not legal. If he had been given a questionaire that asked specific questions to determine his eligibility that might speak to some sort of process that allows some to qualify while others do not... which would indicate a specific process that would then allow people to have some clue in advance what to expect.

I see nothing wrong with planning your entry to coincide with one of the few places where temp EAD's are provided (which also is RIDICULOUS). Why does everyone think that it's a crime to want to work? Or a priveldge to be ALLOWED to work???? It's just a fact of life? Are they trying to make it possible for only the RICH to immigrate? Or for only Americans who can support their spouse for months to be allowed to marry from outside the country?

Saying that no one is entitled but some are given it and some are not at the sole discretion of an indivicual sounds like some Banana Republic where you need to tip the person to get what you want... Not a country of laws and rules.

And if it was about paying "baksheesh" my husband would have been right in his element... that's how business is done all over Egypt... I just didn't know that was the score in my country... See what I get for living in the West Coast...

Thanks again for all the information and I wasn't criticizing anything but a very convoluted process that seems arbitrary and discriminatory.

K

If being able to work was of prime importance then you applied for the wrong visa, A K1 visa is to allow for marriage within 90 days. if he needed to be able to work from the day he entered then a CR1 visa is what you should have applied for.

The person who is sponsoring the immigrant has to show that they earn 125% of the poverty line so that they can support the immigrant during the time they can not work or can not find work. USCIS will not take into account his desire to send money back to remaining family in his home country. After all that is something he has chosen to do he is not legally obliged to do it.

How could I apply for a CR1 when we couldn't even get married in Egypt???????????????????????

Oh my gosh I can't believe you think he has no obligation to support his children... simply because they aren't American????? It is not only a DESIRE it is an OBLIGATION that he provide for them! And thank GOD he answers to a higher power than the USCIS and takes this OBLIGATION seriously. And as a matter of fact in our faith it is his OBLIGATION to support me as his wife as well. Even if she makes 10x as much as he does, did or ever will.

And it's totally absurd to claim that the reason for the means test is so that we can support them during the time they are forced to go without work because the USCIS doesn't do a very good job of giving immigrants their RIGHTS. It's so that we will be responsible for them should something unforeseen occur, like disability, or illness......

Amazing, simply amazing........................

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

What do you mean "not entitled" to it???? From the document you linked to it appears it isn't even NECESSARY! How can something that isn't even totally necessary be an "entitlement"??? That seems totally contradictatory...

in addition, technically nobody is "entitled" to it ... Giving out the "stamp" is totally discretionary.....

Thanks Payxibka,....Discretionary was the word I was looking for but it eluded me,..

I'm criticizing a ridiculous process ONLY.

So it's a matter of a whim on the part of the person you meet with? In what part of a country of laws and rules do whims belong? If no one is entitled then why give it to anyone? What is the test? You look like someone who needs it? You are from Country XYZ and so we like you? You are male? You are female?....

I understand what your saying, I came in on a K1 as well. Everything from the interview process, to the evidence to the police reports to actually entering the country all along we knew that someone somewhere having a bad day or just didn't like the look of me had the power to say no! Once they said no that's it, I mean we could appeal and pay god only knows but that's the power the US government gives these officials unfortunately. Yes there are rules and everything else but they get ignored and broken.. how many times you seen a police office driving around talking on the cell? It just done.. they don't care!

My advice is follow the link posted by the other poster!.. go to the SSA website and print out those notes. Then get over to the SSA and apply for a SSN. You should be able to get your husband a SSN assuming you're still within 90 days of entering the country, if they say no show em the notes. We had to battle the idiot at the SSA to get me an unrestricted card!

Good Luck!

Thanks Aidan, We went to the local USCIS office today to try to find out why they put K-1 on the I-94 and then gave him 6 months... (instead of 90 days) and they wouldn't even talk to us because we didn't have an INFOPASS appointment.. Just told us "don't worry it says K-1"...

We then went and got a marriage license and will go to Social Security next week. I think the advise was to wait about 2 weeks after he arrived to go so he will show up in their system. I'm getting ready to make the INFOPASS appointment right now.. I just want to go and hear their explanation for all of this nonsense.

I've also got a call into my attorney who we will see as soon as we're married to give us advice on the work stuff.

Can you imagine if everyone in America had to go through all this ####### to get here??? Or if their ancestors had to... This would be one empty place...

Thanks again for your well wishes...

K

[Texanadian 10]

I disagree with most of the posters in this thread regarding the issuing of I-94 with EAD stamps on them. JFK should and I would argue must give out the temporary stamp. ALL border crossings should give them out. I find it offensive that somebody like myself from the Vancouver area of Canada who's driving (and importing) their car and driving towards Seattle has no chance of getting the stamp. Meanwhile somebody in Ontario can get the stamp and then move to New York.

If I were moving from Egypt, you can be sure, I'd be choosing JFK for the I-94 stamp.

Some say it's an option of the JFK people to give out the stamp. I see it as standard procedure. Just as much as giving out the I-94 is. It's all the other border crossings that aren't keeping their half of the bargain up. I had to pay the Washington State border fees when I crossed and they wouldn't budge on the EAD stamp. They told me they used to give it out but had stopped doing it. Well gee thank you very much.

I don't think K-1 people are being unreasonable in asking for EAD stamps for 90 days. It's been standard practice in years past. We've already paid the US government for expensive useless medical exams that could easily be done for free by our local doctors. But instead have to travel across the province to the 1 certified doctor to do a 6 hour test. Five and a half of those hours spent waiting in a doctor's office lobby.

How is burdening our fiancees instead of working ourselves benefiting anybody?

I would go back to the airport and talk to immigration. They made the mistake. If you can't get the stamp, well the link posted says you're allowed to work even with an unstamped I-94. You're lucky in that regard in that you have 6 months while most of us get the standard 3 month term. Your EAD should be received by then. If you can't talk to the airport immigration, make an INFOPASS appointment.

Edited October 11, 2008 by Texanadian