EAD approved online can I work now?

[Stuart and Thea 95]

I checked the USCIS website today, and they approved my EAD, and said it will be up to 30 days before I get the card. However, my husband runs a resort waterpark here in Branson, and they have been so short staffed that I have been volunteering there, and know that I could be payed for it, as soon as I'm legal.

Do I have to wait for the card, or can they hire me now? I know I need to wait for the card for my EI, but I have already worked over 80 hours free for this place since December, and don't want to do any more if I can get paid for them. I have filled in for so many positions there short notice that I think I can have my pick of any job I want, and they ask me constantly when I can start work.

[Visitor 90]

Bottom lime is it is illegal for you to work in the US until you get your GC and work permit. You should wait until you get your work permit before you are put onto any books or hired legally.

Maybe others have ways around this but I don't know of any and I wouldn't risk it or advise it as you are so close to getting it now. A few more weeks and you can be hired legally without any repercussions.

[Kimbear 53]

As a k1 who did AOS you DON'T NEED a gc and a work permit, the EAD is your DHS authorization to work while you wait for your GC. Even though you were approved according to uscis online case status, You should wait for the card. Mine only took about a week once i got the email that it was approved.

Edited April 8, 2012 by Kimbear

[Enigma11561 336]

Wait for your card. That is all you need. You should have it in a few weeks.

[brooksie 3]

As a k1 who did AOS you DON'T NEED a gc and a work permit, the EAD is your DHS authorization to work while you wait for your GC. Even though you were approved according to uscis online case status, You should wait for the card. Mine only took about a week once i got the email that it was approved.

yeah! you should wait till you get your card in the mail but its good that you have a job theres no way it takes that long i got mine in a week

[Hugglebuggles 60]

I don't have any legal basis to go on, but I don't see why you should have to wait for the card. It is only a matter of processing and mailing. The card will be effective the day you were approved, so technically I would think your legal to work now. Then again, if any issues were to arise you would not be able to prove your legal ability to work. This could obviously create issues for you and your employer.

Running a resort and water park sounds like a pretty awesome job!

Edited April 8, 2012 by Hugglebuggles

[VanessaTony 3,567]

You have been working illegally. You are not permitted to volunteer in a position which would eventually result in paid work, or if you are taking the place of a paid worker. You have done both. Obviously it's a little late now but for others reading do NOT do what the OP did. While illegal work is forgiven on AOS if you are CAUGHT working illegally you can get into trouble.

Regarding the EAD you need to wait. You should stop working illegally now anyway and tell them you CANNOT work (this includes volunteering) until you get the EAD.

Edited April 8, 2012 by Vanessa&Tony

[Udella&Wiz 325]

The reason you cannot start working until you have it is that you will be asked to fill out an I9 form from the government. The HR department needs to validate that you are legally allowed to work and they need to see examples of the identification acceptable for this form. If they were to 'not fill it out' for you or fudge something on it, they would be in deep trouble, can be audited and fined or worse by USCIS. There have been companies shut down for neglecting to validate workers legal ability to work in the US.

Here's a link to it if you're interested: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf

Wait until you have the card in hand, like someone said it will be a couple weeks. And I'm not sure this came up, but if the Waterpark chose to - they cannot back date your pay for all the volunteering you've done because the EAD has an effective date on it so anything prior would be illegal.

Edited April 8, 2012 by Udella&Wiz

[SF2007 48]

As a volunteer without employment authorization, you cannot hold a position or do a job that would be otherwise paid. Or be paid later for a volunteering position you had while EAD/GC was pending.

I would refrain from getting too involved in his business prior to receiving your EAD/GC. Also, you have to file paperwork when you are hired which require your EAD. Don't get in anymore trouble and wait to get your EAD in the mail.

[HeatDeath 430]

+1 above to Udella and Wiz.

Issues with volunteering for an eventually paid position aside, when you start a job, you and your employer will need to fill out an I-9 form within 3 days of your official start date. At that time, your employer will need to sign under oath that they saw and inspected whatever documents you are using to show work eligibility [in this case, your not-yet-delivered EAD card].

Yes, you can technically be hired on the basis of an EAD approval email, but both you and your employer have to sign that you have posession of, and that they have seen the document, within 3 days of your hiring, and both of you can get in trouble if you or them sign the form indicating that they've seen the EAD card when they actually haven't.

I would wait until the EAD card is in your actual hand before switching over to be an official employee.

BTW, don't worry too much about having volunteered for the position prior to be hired for it. Illegal work, by itself, is not enough to disqualify an AOS-through-marriage applicant. Just remember, if you have an AOS interview, and the question of the volunteering comes up, be ABSOLUTELY COMPLETELY HONEST when you answer their questions. Volunteering for an eventually-paid position won't hurt your AOS, but lying to the IO at your interview is a one-way-trip home! Be scrupulously honest in everything you ever say or send to USCIS, and everything will be fine.

Edited April 8, 2012 by HeatDeath

[Stuart and Thea 95]

I had no idea that unpaid work was illegal, I only thought paid work was. In any case, the postions I have been working at, are not any of the ones that I would likely be hired to do, and this kind of work isn't even in my field, so I guess I'll just have to look for work elsewhere. I really did not intend to break a law. It's so boring not working, why can't we volunteer at least?? Man this really sucks, we did everything else the legal way, I'm really upset now. I'll have to let them know I can't help them anymore, and really hope I don't get in any trouble, or get them into any.

[HeatDeath 430]

There is a nuance here. You can volunteer anywhere. That's no problem. Volunteering is totally allowed, and strongly encouraged.

What you cannot do is accept a volunteering position with a wink-wink-nudge-nudge and a handshake under the table this will turn into a paid position, and you will receive back pay once your EAD comes through. That's just a sneaky little game to evade the employment eligibility laws. USCIS's wording is that you cannot accept a position "for which a US citizen could have been paid." A volunteer position must be only a volunteer position - it cannot be a normal job you're doing for free with the expectation of eventually being hired. Expecting to eventually receive back pay makes it even worse.

If the position you're in is a volunteer position, and only a volunteer position, and they have no intention of ever paying anyone for it, and it's not even a field in which you would normally even seek a full time job, I don't think there's any problem with you keeping it.

A good example is in schools. Volunteering in a classroom as a parent volunteer is great and awesome. USCIS are totally ok with that. What they are NOT ok with is a someone doing unpaid volunteering in a classroom as a teacher, with the expectation that once their EAD comes through they will be hired full-time and receive back pay [probably under the table]. That would constitute abuse of the volunteering rules and illegal work.

As I said above, though, illegal work won't kibosh your AOS as long as you are perfectly honest about it [though obviously you should't be doing it]. The employer, OTOH, can get in significant trouble if they are caught doing this, but it's not as bad for you though.

Edited April 8, 2012 by HeatDeath

[Stuart and Thea 95]

It was not my intention to gain employment, I work in the medical field, and had filled in at the resort, cleaning rooms, helping in the restaurant, folding laundry, even watching in the waterpark. We had a really big tornado here and they were extremely short staffed, so while the postions should have been filled by a paid position, they had way more guests than expected and way less staff than normal. I did not take a job away from anyone, and as they are still extremely short staffed, I know I would be hired if I wanted to work while I looked for something in my field. I really hope that they consider it me just helping out, cause that is just what I was doing. The other wives there often do it as well, for special occasions, like decorating for New Year's, which I also helped with. They don't get paid either.

[HeatDeath 430]

As with a lot of immigration stuff, intent counts for a great deal. It sounds like your employer, if they keep any paperwork on the wives volunteering at all, need to be recording them as volunteers, within specific volunteer positions which do not provide any expectation of pay, back pay, or eventual employment. As long as your employer records your work in those terms, both of you are protected.

And again, as long as you are scrupulously honest with USCIS if the subject ever comes up (and it probably won't), everything will be fine.