"Unknown" Country of Birth on EAD Card?!

[BirdyGirl85 23]

My husband received his EAD card today, and it says his country of birth is "Unknown"?! How can this be? He put "Finland" as country of birth in all the forms. We don't know what to do. Does it really matter if it says "Unknown" on his card? I don't think that would effect him from getting a job. I know we can call the USCIS National Customer Service Center, but from what I've searched on Visa Journey about something like this happening, I'm afraid they will make him send his EAD card back and have to fill out another I-765 form, meaning he can't apply for jobs since the card would be sent back. Making an infopass appointment is not really possible for us as our local USCIS office is a 5 hour drive away! (Yes, we had to go there for his biometrics appointment, I took two days off from work to drive him there) Anyone else had this problem? I wonder if we should just leave it as it is since I don't think it would create a problem for him when it comes to applying and getting hired for a job?

[kittens_0117 5]

I haven't encountered this experience with my EAD, but here is what I can say. It could be that the system that makes the cards did not have Finland as an electronic option when they created your form(?) Either that, or they just overlooked it.

Anyhow if you feel that this may not affect his employment, maybe he could check with his potential employers first if the card needs to have a valid country of origin other than "Unknown". If they're fine about it (or ask if any other supporting documents can suffice), then you can just stick it out and wait till the green card arrives and you don't need to worry about the EAD anymore.

Otherwise you can call the USCIS Nat'l Customer Service Center and log an informal inquiry with them just asking if it's a concern. Again, I haven't encountered problems so far with my green card application, so I don't know if the USCIS NCSC (not sure about acronym) are the same people who make the Infopass. Logically, I would think it would be your choice if you want to send the EAD back to them, unless both the employer and USCIS actually think it's an issue to have an "Unknown" value for the country.

Good luck.

[BirdyGirl85 23]

Well, we called the USCIS National Customer Service Center to ask if this would be a problem. Sheesh, what a long phone call. I hate making phone calls like that. It took forever to be able to talk to someone, and when I finally did, I told him the situation and asked if having "Unknown" for Country of Birth on the EAD card would cause a problem, and he said he can't really answer that, it would be up to the employer. He said he can send my husband a new card with it corrected, but he would only do it if I said that we thought it would cause a problem for him to get employment. So the first time he asked I said, "I don't know, that is why we are calling to find out if it would cause a problem" but he told me he couldn't answer that and that for them to make a new card we had to say that we thought it would create a problem for him to get employment. So then we answered, "Yes, I guess" and then he asked us a billion questions. I did ask though if we had to send the card my husband has now back and he said no. So I guess my husband can apply for jobs while waiting for his "corrected" EAD card.

[BirdyGirl85 23]

I'm surprised no one has replied since I posted in this thread.

Anyways, my husband got an email from USCIS today saying they couldn't make him a new card unless my husband sends the original EAD card back and send supporting documentation. What a bunch #######, really. They already have the forms and information when we originally sent the AOS package in the first place, we shouldn't have to send it again. That is their mistake, my husband shouldn't have to send the card back, he can't apply for jobs in meantime if we sent the card back. USCIS takes so long to do anything anyways so my husband is not going to send his EAD card back. He just worries that when he does get his GC that it will also say "Unknown" for his country of birth. I really don't know what to say about that. I guess we'll see what happens...

Anyone else have his problem with their EAD and/or GC? Did it ever cause problems with an employer that is said "Unknown" for the country of birth?

[TBoneTX 45,893]

It might be worthwhile to set an InfoPass appointment and speak with an IO directly.

[Otto 83]

I can't imagine a situation where the country of birth (unknown) would present a problem with employers. As in, "We'd love to hire you but since your EAD card says country of origin is Unknown..we'll pass".

That said - I might (might) want to make an infopass appointment as well - just to be certain someone actually knows where Finland is (and maybe the difference between Finnish and finish..) and that it is indeed correctly documented for the AOS.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

We know a little bit about this issue as my husband's conditional green card had his country of birth listed incorrectly. We didn't bother with the problem since it took 18 months for his green card to be approved and frankly we didn't want to give up the card. We did however want to get it sorted when he removed conditions.

When the biometrics are collected from an alien, the clerk collecting the prints will input data about the alien in USCIS systems. My husband queried the clerk about the error on his first card when he was at the bio appointment for removal of conditions. She showed him the long list of country codes from which she was able to choose. A lot of the codes are not what a person might think they should be. For instance, in USCIS systems, UK is NOT the correct code to select for a citizen of the United Kingdom. UK stands for Ukraine. GB (Great Britain) is the correct choice for aliens from the United Kingdom.

My husband's birth country is Northern Ireland. His green card had the country "Ireland" listed on it (this is wrong of course as Northern Ireland is a country in and of itself). Point being, any information about an alien on any USCIS document is only as good as the intelligence of the clerk entering it into the system. Of course, there is also a human error quotient involved.

I'd suggest you make an Infopass appointment and get the issue resolved. Your husband's green card is likely to have the same error on it, as the data is entered at biometric collection.

Edited April 2, 2011 by Rebecca Jo

[BirdyGirl85 23]

Thanks for the suggestions, but we don't really want to make an infopass appointment since our USCIS office is 274 miles away, about a 10 hour drive in total, back and forth. Flying to Portland kind of cost a lot, I don't think it's worth it take that much time and money to travel to fix the error that probably wouldn't cause my husband a problem getting hired anyway . We would love to make an infopass appointment if our office was closer. But because of the distance I just don't know if it's worth it. I have no idea if we'll have an AOS interview or not, but if we do, we'll bring up the issue there. If my husband does go to a job interview and the employer actually has an issue with the card saying "Unknown" for the country of birth, then we'll send the card back I guess, or actually make an infopass appointment, even though I'd rather not. But in the end I really doubt the employer will have a problem with it. We went to the DMV a few days ago to get my husband an Oregon Driver's License, and we used EAD card to show his proof of legal presence, and the DMV didn't seem to care that my husband's EAD said the country of birth is "Unknown" so probably most employers wouldn't care either. We'll see. Thank you everyone for your advice.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Are you sure your nearest office is that far away?

It's possible of course. But you don't have to go to your District office for biometrics and Infopass. Check the USCIS website for sub-offices.

For the record, I wasn't terribly worried about my husband's card being wrong either. The only time it concerned me was re-entering the US after travel abroad.

Edited April 4, 2011 by Rebecca Jo

[BirdyGirl85 23]

That was the office we had to go to for his biometrics. That is the only office in the whole state of Oregon. The three other Application Support Centers that service Oregon are in different states and are even farther distances away from where me and my husband live.

[Darnell 8,479]

I would suggest to do nothing.

Wait for the green card to arrive - go work with that EAD card as is.

[PetrUA 0]

I had the same issue, my country of birth is Ukraine, and a week ago I have finally received my EAD/AP card with "Unknown" instead of my motherland. I called USCIS and asked if this is an issue, they have recorded the case, assigned a number and told me that they will reach out in 5-15 days. Today I have received an email saying that I can return the card and wait for a new one, but I'm not going to do that unless it will be an issue for employers.

We also have an I-485 interview scheduled for April 4th, and it seems that I will need to bring my EAD card, so we'll see how it goes.

Please provide information if someone experienced any problems with this typo.

[mg23 1]

Thanks for making me aware of the UK/GB issue with USCIS systems. I'm British and have already applied for AOS, but I put "UK" rather than "United Kingdom" or "Great Britain" wherever it stated nationality. I guess at least now I know to ask the USCIS person to make sure it's correct at the biometrics interview

[Thuy Du 0]

Hi Rebecca,

I have the same problem with my GC. It says my country of birth is North Vietnam instead of Vietnam. So did your husband kept the wrong card until he remove the condition after 2 years? Do you think if it's possible to travel abroad with that GC?

Thanks,

[jaycali 415]

Hi Rebecca,I have the same problem with my GC. It says my country of birth is North Vietnam instead of Vietnam. So did your husband kept the wrong card until he remove the condition after 2 years? Do you think if it's possible to travel abroad with that GC?Thanks,

You can't travel abroad with a Green Card. It's not a valid travel document. For travel, you always present your Vietnamese passport.