separate EAD filing - timeline?

[ngc5914 1]

Hello All

I've posted this background elsewhere, but here goes again:

For background: My wife (Canadian citizen) and I (American citizen) got married at the courthouse Sept 2015, and submitted an I-130/I-485 concurrently with priority date Nov 9 2015. After the checks were cashed 3-4 days later, we received the receipts/NOAs around Nov 16 2015 and she did the biometrics appointment as scheduled on Dec 9 2015. As of today, the I-485 is still pending with case status "ready to be scheduled for an interview" (since Dec 14 2015), while the I-130 shows case status "received" (unchanged since Nov 9).

She has been in the USA on a TN-1 status with the same company since Dec 2013; it is valid thru Dec 2016. A better employment opportunity for her came up in our city right before the holidays, and she also wants to return to Canada to finalize some arrangements for our Jul 2016 wedding reception (which is mostly planned & booked already). So, we submitted the I-765/I-131 for EAD/AP separately on Dec 14 2015 (case status still at "received" for both of these). We did not submit I-765/I-131 with I-485/I-130 as we didn't think there was a need for it given the 8+ months we had til the Canadian reception and her existing job.

Her job interview is now approaching (next week), and I am worried about her getting her EAD in time to accept the job - presumably if all goes well they'd give her an offer by the first few days in February. From looking through timeline posts on this and other forums, individuals in the Chicago field office jurisdiction (as are we) filing I-765/I-131 concurrently with the I-485/I-130 in early October seem to be getting their EADs in late December, and their interview notices in mid-January (now) for interviews in mid-February. Based on this, I expect to get an interview notice in mid-February regarding an interview date in mid-March... and if I had filed forms I-765/I-131 concurrently, I would expect the EAD to arrive in late Jan (a week or two from now).

My question is this: How will my one-month-late submission of forms I-765/I-131 affect the timeline of receiving the EAD/AP combo card? Will it just push back the anticipated time of receipt by a month, i.e. from late January to late February? If so, given that I am still within the 75-day processing window, is there any mode of recourse available to me to at least attempt and expedite the process, given that this situation doesn't have further ramifications beyond my wife potentially losing a chance at a dream job?

Thank you for any and all input on this matter!