No InfoPass appts available for temp EAD

[Jenn! 918]

We're 14 days out from our 91th day so I thought I'd see what infopass appts are available.

Brad, were any RFE's issued in connection with your pending EAD application? The answer to this question has nothing to do with your ability to schedule an infopass appointment but has a lot to do with your eligibility for an interim EAD (depending on the type, RFE either suspend or restart the running of the 90 day period).

To give you some background, under 8 CFR 274a.13(d) USCIS has 90 days from the date of their receipt of the application to issue you an employment authorization (there are a few categories of immigrants to whom the 90 day rule does not apply). USCIS' failure to comply with the 90 day requirement results in the automatic grant of an employment authorization for a period not to exceed 240 days.

Now, in the event that your employment authorization application is missing required INITIAL evidence, under 8 CFR 102.2 ( B )(10) the 90-day countdown does not start until USCIS receives that evidence.

Now, if your application is missing anything OTHER than the required initial evidence or if USCIS requests ADDITIONAL evidence, then the countdown clock is simply suspended until USCIS receives such evidence.

To illustrate, if your employment authorization petition has been with USCIS for 20 days, then USCIS requests additional evidence of your eligibility, USCIS will have 70 days to finish processing the application after USCIS receives the evidence. Now, under the same scenario, if the required INITIAL evidence was missing, USCIS would have the full 90 days after you submit such initial evidence to finish processing your application.

My RFE letter stated that the clock would be reset. That would have indicated that my application was missing initial evidence. However, my husband was able to get an interim EAD 90 days after the original NOA1 date. It seems that USCIS often does not follow the policies that they've laid out for themselves.

[am1996 0]

Anyway, in addition to the above posts, yes, interim EADs are no more. And yes, we are all doomed with this new process as there is (seemingly) no recourse for if they don't process it efficiently (within 90days)

As long as you are in the category that can rely on the 90 day processing (not all categories of immigrants can do that) and are calculating the 90 day period correctly (depending on the type, RFE's can toll or even restart the running of the 90 day period), you still have a statutory right for an interim EAD. The new process hasn't changed that.

My RFE letter stated that the clock would be reset. That would have indicated that my application was missing initial evidence. However, my husband was able to get an interim EAD 90 days after the original NOA1 date. It seems that USCIS often does not follow the policies that they've laid out for themselves.

These are not USCIS' policies -- the "policies" are actually statutes set forth by Congress and USCIS has no choice but to abide by them. Now, there is no legal problem with USCIS processing EAD's or issuing interim EAD's prior the maximum periods allowed under the statute. As such, if USCIS wants to and is able to issue EAD's within 1 day of your application date, they certainly may (I'm sure there won't be too many people complaining about that

In your case, I would guess that the USCIS office that processed your husband's interim EAD either did not notice the RFE or the RFE wasn't properly entered into the system, which is why he received an interim EAD. As a practical matter, people can certainly ask for interim EAD's in similar cases as long as they realize that USCIS certainly would not be required to issue those to them.

Edited September 28, 2006 by am1996

[Jenn! 918]

My RFE letter stated that the clock would be reset. That would have indicated that my application was missing initial evidence. However, my husband was able to get an interim EAD 90 days after the original NOA1 date. It seems that USCIS often does not follow the policies that they've laid out for themselves.

These are not USCIS' policies -- the "policies" are actually statutes set forth by Congress and USCIS has no choice but to abide by them. Now, there is no legal problem with USCIS processing EAD's or issuing interim EAD's prior the maximum periods allowed under the statute. As such, if USCIS wants to and is able to issue EAD's within 1 day of your application date, they certainly may (I'm sure there won't be too many people complaining about that

In your case, I would guess that the USCIS office that processed your husband's interim EAD either did not notice the RFE or the RFE wasn't properly entered into the system, which is why he received an interim EAD. As a practical matter, people can certainly ask for interim EAD's in similar cases as long as they realize that USCIS certainly would not be required to issue those to them.

I've heard of numerous instances where people were issued interims despite that statement on their RFE letter. In fact, I would say that it seems they give them out more often than not. So, yes, practically speaking, it does not hurt to try, and I think chances are good that you'll get one. However, I'm not sure how this will change now that interims have to go through the NBC.

[velocityJane 0]

Yes do try!!!

I went to the local office yesterday (105 days since application), and they issued me my EAD. I took a copy of my original application, notice of receipt, my I-485 and I-130 receipts, and a copy of proof that I had done my biometrics.

I heard they would no longer do this come Oct 1 at the St Paul, MN office so not sure ---but please try.

I've heard of numerous instances where people were issued interims despite that statement on their RFE letter. In fact, I would say that it seems they give them out more often than not. So, yes, practically speaking, it does not hurt to try, and I think chances are good that you'll get one. However, I'm not sure how this will change now that interims have to go through the NBC.