For K1s already in the US....

[Alex+R 0]

Basically, way too much hassle for a document valid only 90 days--so no regrets!

That's the part I'm curious about. I don't see how it benefits you if it expires after 90 days, meaning you'd have to get the 'regular' EAD at that point. So then you'd have to stop working after the 90 days but while you wait for the new EAD to come in. What employer would be okay with that?

Apparently a lot of them are OK with it, if VJ is any indication. But I think an employer like a large store or something is going to be more likely to be ok with it...

[TracyTN 237]

I guess you're right. I just find it odd - but maybe I'm the odd person out on that!

[bostonparis 0]

Basically, way too much hassle for a document valid only 90 days--so no regrets!

That's the part I'm curious about. I don't see how it benefits you if it expires after 90 days, meaning you'd have to get the 'regular' EAD at that point. So then you'd have to stop working after the 90 days but while you wait for the new EAD to come in. What employer would be okay with that?

I think A) you juuuuuust might get your EAD at 90 days if you're veeeery lucky, and B) I've heard that some employers will allow the employee to stay on while waiting for the EAD.

[Fandango 1,439]

or even getting a job that's just primarily transient & labor-intensive...like a server, bartender, etc. You could work that for a few months just to not go stir-crazy

[Kathryn41 3,205]

No- we didn't fly; we crossed at a land border. I debated about asking for it but my husband wanted me to take some time off of work and just get used to being here - and I had no problems with that having worked all of my adult life. I doubt I would have been able to find an employer within those 90 days anyway and I was busy enough with things to do here that I certainly didn't miss working. When my first EAD came through, it took me quite a few months before I did find a job that I wanted to do anyway - and had to wait for my EAD to be renewed before I could actually start.

[Fandango 1,439]

D will get stuck in immediately here...he already has his own network of peeps here. And the ppl in my town make such a fuss over D whenever he's here that he feels like a superstar, lol.

One day last visit, I had been quit smoking for 3 mos. He had only quit 3 days before. As you can imagine, we were both very irritable & kinda fighting that behavioral habit of smoking together (even tho we're smokin together! ba dum ching!) Anyways, my family's home is on 6 acres and gated....my friends' call it a gated community, hahah. The front entrance gates are 8 feet high, these wrought iron electric gates which have to be opened up from a transmitter.

D took the huff, went storming out...then realized he couldn't get anywhere, so he was walking the perimeter. I thought it was funny and sat there with a transmitter not pressing the button so I could aggrivate him, hahahahah. I see him go thru a patch of trees and I'm waitin for him on the other side, and he's not comin out. So I get in the golf cart & go check....appparantly he scaled the fence! hahahahhahahahah

long story short (too late, I know)....I huff off inside the house for a bit, then get in my car and go get a pack of cigs (seemed like the perf excuse at the time), then I go looking for him....I finally find him in the notoriously meanest biker bar ever. I open the door and there he is...smokin and havin a laugh with everyone in there. I'm like in shock cos this place is supposedly all mean and nasty, and everyone's all 'HEY DAVE! is that your woman?' and *he's* introducing *me* to people in my own town.

Lol, good times....I totally went off topic there, but my main point was, that in my position, he'll get stuck in right away and I think a temp EAD may save him from going completely insane.

[rebeccajo 14]

I can't fathom most employers being OK with sitting out a period of waiting between employment documents. At least not employers in one's chosen career. It might be ok for Wallyworld or MickeyDees, but the employer you want to STAY WITH probably wants you because he has a JOB he needs you to do. Personally I think it's a great way to get off on the wrong foot by telling the HR department - oh by the way - I'm gonna have to be off work for an indefinate amount of time while the government processes my paperwork........

I remember reading one member (long ago) post that her husband was going to go to work for a family member in construction. With a temp EAD he could start working immediately, quit if he had an employment gap, and return to work when he was authorized. This worked for both parties because the employer wasn't drastically inconvenienced by the employees absence - nature of the business so to speak. In those kind of cases then yeah, temp EAD can be great.

That being said, I do see the value in being able to work some sort of 'transient' job both for picking up some extra cash, eliminating the 'stir crazies', and meeting people.

But by and large I just don't see re-routing your trip around JFK for a 90-day work stamp to be worth MOST peoples bother. For us, living several states away from the area drove the cost WAY up, not to mention the huge inconvenience factor.

If flying into JFK only costs you an extra hundred or so, and doesn't wreck your week, then there's probably no harm in getting the stamp. A little 90 day side job will give you pocket money and you might meet your next employer whilst serving them a burger!

Edited February 12, 2007 by rebeccajo

[ELW 5]

I don't see how it benefits you if it expires after 90 days, meaning you'd have to get the 'regular' EAD at that point. So then you'd have to stop working after the 90 days but while you wait for the new EAD to come in. What employer would be okay with that?

I think the EAD upon arrival is a VERY practical thing! The reasons:

1. Who among us gets an instant, well paying job we love? It takes lots of time (weeks and months) to search & giving lots of job applications. In the meantime, the SO can keep busy & earn money (after getting the EAD at POE) with disposable jobs like data entry, restaurants, manual labor, whatever suits them.

2. The SO may need time to adjust to American English and work routines here in USA (especially if coming from a non-English speaking country). Working at part time temporary jobs for those 90 days is perfect to get used to everything and again, help out the USC by bringing in some much needed extra CASH!

3. Any amount of small work experience, even for 90 days, will look good on resumes when the longer-term EAD comes in.

[Cassie 8]

Basically, way too much hassle for a document valid only 90 days--so no regrets!

That's the part I'm curious about. I don't see how it benefits you if it expires after 90 days, meaning you'd have to get the 'regular' EAD at that point. So then you'd have to stop working after the 90 days but while you wait for the new EAD to come in. What employer would be okay with that?

and that is the exact line of thought I had when choosing flight routes. I couldn't see the benefit of bothering with the hassle of a temp EAD. So instead of going Halifax-JFK-Dallas-Tulsa (which I could have done since Halifax wasn't a PFI at that point), I went the cheaper route (at the time) of Halifax-Calgary-Denver-Tulsa. Worked out for me.

[Cassie 8]

I don't see how it benefits you if it expires after 90 days, meaning you'd have to get the 'regular' EAD at that point. So then you'd have to stop working after the 90 days but while you wait for the new EAD to come in. What employer would be okay with that?

I think the EAD upon arrival is a VERY practical thing! The reasons:

1. Who among us gets an instant, well paying job we love?

You make a valid point, but also factor in that some people have to wait ages for their SSN card (for a variety of reasons), so some of the 90 days gets chewed up dealing with that. So if you make a special effort (and perhaps spend extra to do it) to go through JFK, it's wasted.

[featherB 1]

Haha... excellent story! And yeah, it sounds like he'll have no trouble finding a job (or several of them!) as soon as he wants one. What you said before about high-turnover kinds of job, like working in a bar or whatever... that's what I'd been thinking, that even if I got something like that just to bring in a bit of money and stop myself going totally insane... at least if I had the temp EA stamp, I'd have the option to do that. Or maybe a temp agency wouldn't mind signing up someone who's only work authorised for 90 days, because they could always just stop giving their work in the gap between the temp EA expiring and their EAD coming through... hmm.

Glad this has been bumped up again - was going to try and find it today and do it myself, then found it had made its way back to page 1 again. Although as soon as I'd posted it, I thought I should have done it differently - it really needs an option for people who already knew they weren't going to be looking for work, and therefore had no interest in getting employment authorisation at any point - as opposed to people who did want to work, but thought the hassle of getting the stamp wasn't worth only being authorised to work for 90 days...

Anyway. Will stop rambling... just got out of bed (night shifts... ugh) a while ago and am not at my most coherent! Hope the votes & answers keep coming... very interesting! Thank you.

D will get stuck in immediately here...he already has his own network of peeps here. And the ppl in my town make such a fuss over D whenever he's here that he feels like a superstar, lol.

One day last visit, I had been quit smoking for 3 mos. He had only quit 3 days before. As you can imagine, we were both very irritable & kinda fighting that behavioral habit of smoking together (even tho we're smokin together! ba dum ching!) Anyways, my family's home is on 6 acres and gated....my friends' call it a gated community, hahah. The front entrance gates are 8 feet high, these wrought iron electric gates which have to be opened up from a transmitter.

D took the huff, went storming out...then realized he couldn't get anywhere, so he was walking the perimeter. I thought it was funny and sat there with a transmitter not pressing the button so I could aggrivate him, hahahahah. I see him go thru a patch of trees and I'm waitin for him on the other side, and he's not comin out. So I get in the golf cart & go check....appparantly he scaled the fence! hahahahhahahahah

long story short (too late, I know)....I huff off inside the house for a bit, then get in my car and go get a pack of cigs (seemed like the perf excuse at the time), then I go looking for him....I finally find him in the notoriously meanest biker bar ever. I open the door and there he is...smokin and havin a laugh with everyone in there. I'm like in shock cos this place is supposedly all mean and nasty, and everyone's all 'HEY DAVE! is that your woman?' and *he's* introducing *me* to people in my own town.

Lol, good times....I totally went off topic there, but my main point was, that in my position, he'll get stuck in right away and I think a temp EAD may save him from going completely insane.

[featherB 1]

Just found out my interview date today (rang the Embassy expecting them to say they hadn't even received my Packet 3 back, and was promptly informed my interview is on March 15th!! ), so am bumping this in anticipation of actually having to make a decision about flights sometime soon! I'm still thinking JFK will be worth the extra hassle (and most likely expense), but looks like a lot of other people would say otherwise! I'm quite surprised... more votes, anyone?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

...

If flying into JFK only costs you an extra hundred or so, and doesn't wreck your week, then there's probably no harm in getting the stamp. A little 90 day side job will give you pocket money and you might meet your next employer whilst serving them a burger!

You need to think in percentage.

If the "extra hundred" is on a $350 ticket, it's much nastier than if it's on a $950 one.

(plus, there is lots of potential for missing flights at JFK and having to swap to LGA for a connexion--which adds another $30 typically for the bus-shuttle).

[featherB 1]

Hmm... I need to do some reading - I have just spotted (rather embarrassingly!) that there are some posts on here I've not even seen - I think my login has gone a bit insane recently and that threads with posts I've not read yet haven't been showing up. I thought I must be imagining it... but when it's my own thread, that I have (for obvious reasons) been keeping an eye on, I think it's unlikely! Sorry everyone... and thank you for the previously unacknowledged replies! I haven't been ignoring them, I just hadn't realised there were new responses!

[featherB 1]

...

If flying into JFK only costs you an extra hundred or so, and doesn't wreck your week, then there's probably no harm in getting the stamp. A little 90 day side job will give you pocket money and you might meet your next employer whilst serving them a burger!

You need to think in percentage.

If the "extra hundred" is on a $350 ticket, it's much nastier than if it's on a $950 one.

(plus, there is lots of potential for missing flights at JFK and having to swap to LGA for a connexion--which adds another $30 typically for the bus-shuttle).

Yup, there's no way I'm getting a connecting flight from Newark or La Guardia - there's realistically one (maybe two) connections I'd be able to get from JFK to Cincinnati that would leave enough time to clear immigration beforehand... re-checking baggage in the same airport is stressy enough, but lugging the stuff to a totally different airport..... hm, no thank you!

All things considered, I think I'd like to know that the option of signing up with a temp agency, or getting a bar job is open to me if I want one... worth the bit of extra hassle involved in not flying direct.