EAD expedite

[Niia 22]

Has anyone tried to expedite EAD recently? I faxed my supporting docs 10 days ago on august 18th and still haven't heard if my SR was accepted or denied. I also contacted my congresswoman's office to help me, and they sent a SR last Wednesday. The only updates I have are from the same day I received an email to fax my documents, and it just says case was assigned to an officer for response and that my request was completed. 10 days later I still haven't heard anything... feel like it's taking longer than most people's SRs. Anyone else waiting to hear back about expedite requests? 

[HandmadeTurnip 151]

I faxed my supporting documents 14 days ago and haven't heard anything either. My case status still just says "Case Was Received" and I'm starting to worry that the fax never actually reached them or something.

[Niia 22]

Just now, HandmadeTurnip said:

I faxed my supporting documents 14 days ago and haven't heard anything either. My case status still just says "Case Was Received" and I'm starting to worry that the fax never actually reached them or something.

 

Yeah i actually ended up faxing it multiple times because I got the busy beep signal and fail messages the first few times and then the last time I didn't but I also didn't receive a confirmation. Went to FedEx and had them fax it, got confirmation that it went through but I'm still unsure. I've heard people complain that the fax number they provide doesn't work. 

I've called a few times and asked if my documents were received but didn't get an answer. Contemplating calling again today but feel like they are tired of me by now probably 

[HandmadeTurnip 151]

20 minutes ago, Niia said:

 

Yeah i actually ended up faxing it multiple times because I got the busy beep signal and fail messages the first few times and then the last time I didn't but I also didn't receive a confirmation. Went to FedEx and had them fax it, got confirmation that it went through but I'm still unsure. I've heard people complain that the fax number they provide doesn't work. 

I've called a few times and asked if my documents were received but didn't get an answer. Contemplating calling again today but feel like they are tired of me by now probably 

 

I was planning to fax them again today, the fact that people have complained about the fax number not working is worrying.

 

I was also considering mailing the documents to them as that seems like it might be a sightly more reliable (albeit slower) method. I don't know if that would work though considering the letter only says to use fax.

[Niia 22]

Just called to see if they could at least tell me if my request was accepted or rejected, spoke to a tier 2 officer and they didn't give me an answer. This is so frustrating. 

[USpatial 21]

I faxed everything last week and re-faxed everything today as the costumer rep could not tell me if my documents were received. 

[xillini 71]

That's odd, my timeline for EAD/AP expedite request is following: 

 

Day 1: Spoke to Tier 1 (or Customer service representative) to deliver my request for expedite process describing circumstance, on the same day, myUSCIS is updated saying "case was assigned to officer and response was made"

Day 2: Visited Senator's office to officially request help from the office with written document such as cover letter and supporting documents.

Although I did not meet the office's immigration specialist or case worker because she was attending at the meeting, she later emailed me back that she submitted the document to congressional liason officer

Day 3: Based on other similar experience of expediting request that I read in vj and other forum sites, some officers send email or even made a call to contact the applicant, but since I did not receive any email or call from USCIS, I made a call and talk to Tier 2 (Immigration service officer), who had access to the response that was made on Day 1. The ISO guided me the fax number so I did send the all applicable documents to that number. 

Day 6: I received the mailed response from USPS, so it was good move to make a call and talk to Tier 2. Otherwise, I would have wasted the time for the weekend (Day 4 and Day 5 were weekend) 

Day 8: USCIS updated to "Card being produced" 

Day 13: myUSPS (informed delivery) updated that priority mail to my current physical address is initially accepted from Corbyn, KS, highly meaning that the EAD/AP was finally mailed (as I am aware Corbyn, KS is where USCIS card processing facilities are located) and received the approval letter on the same day (but approval letter does not give any immigration benefits) 

Day 16: Received the mailed card on hand 

 

Take-home points: 

1. Upon requesting expedite process by USCIS, unless you get email response from USCIS stating the fax number you can fax-prove within a day, it is best to make a call and talk to Tier 2, who has access to application status. It is important to save the time that would otherwise be wasted. And since expedite request is often time-sensitive matter, it is critical to make a call and talk to Tier 2

2. Approval letter does not give any immigration benefits. I don't understand why, but that is how USCIS manages it. Often approval letter is delivered first, and while you can show it to employer, it doesn't give you work authorization until you get EAD on your hand. 

3. Register yourself for USPS informed delivery and priority mail notification so that even if USCIS is lazy to update "card mailed" in its status, you can immediately be informed when USPS updates some mails are gonna be delivered to your address. (This USPS registration is quick and easy and FREE as well)

 

OP, based on what I read, it seems that your timeline is longer than my timeline, so I am suspecting USCIS has backlog of expedite request. Their processing timeline fluctuates, unfortunately because based on managerial discretion, the officers responsible for expedite request are given another assignment for processing normal EB-based I-485.

 

Lately (I meant within 2-3 weeks), USCIS has been approving a lot of EB-2 and EB-3 category I-485 applications, so I am suspecting that may account for why the protracted timeline you are facing, which is unfortunate. I would suggest that talking to Tier 2 and addressing your circumstance again so that Tier 2 officer can put message to the responsible officer. 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2017 by xillini

[Niia 22]

@xillini

thank you for sharing! I did talk to tier 2 for the second time today and keep getting the same bs from them... "if you faxed your documents you just need to

wait now, I don't have any further information". Asked if they could at least tell me if the officer working on my case accepted or rejected the SR and she said there's no such thing as a rejected SR; have a feeling she had no idea what she was talking about. 

[xillini 71]

3 minutes ago, Niia said:

@xillini

Asked if they could at least tell me if the officer working on my case accepted or rejected the SR and she said there's no such thing as a rejected SR; have a feeling she had no idea what she was talking about. 

Yes often, if not, I have the same impression. Unfortunately, there are not much that you can do. 

They systematically do not allow that USCIS must process your SR because that would only give their life tougher. 

And because USCIS is operated based on filing fees, which is often unit of 4 figures, Congress does not have much leverage to make them work because they do not have to beg for Congress approval for budget funding unlike every other federal agency. 

 

Well, taking that into account, I would suggest that talking to another Tier 2 officer, who is nice enough to deliver your circumstances, and if it doesn't work, send the complaints  to DHS ombudsmen with description of your circumstances and supporting documents. Often internal auditor such as DHS ombudsmen can make USCIS work

[Niia 22]

My case history just got updated with this... even though it already said that on the 18th 

 

• 08/29/2017
  

  On August 29, 2017, your request to have your case expedited, referral number xxxxxx, was assigned to an officer for response.

[Niia 22]

As of August 29, 2017, your request to have your case expedited, referral number xxxxx, is on hold while we request your case file.

 

 

[EMBELL_17 103]

On 8/29/2017 at 0:23 PM, Niia said:

As of August 29, 2017, your request to have your case expedited, referral number xxxxx, is on hold while we request your case file.

 

 

This could actually be good news. I got the same update and 3 days later or so my card was in production.

[Niia 22]

Just now, EMBELL_17 said:

This could actually be good news. I got the same update and 3 days later or so my card was in production.

I got that update, then it disappeared and it said request was completed on the 29th and that my case was routed for expedited processing. That was a week ago and I still haven't received a decision... but apparently they worked on my I-485 because it changed to ready to schedule for interview even though the SR was for the EAD. Don't understand why there's still no EAD update and about to lose my my job... so frustrating 

[EMBELL_17 103]

Just now, Niia said:

I got that update, then it disappeared and it said request was completed on the 29th and that my case was routed for expedited processing. That was a week ago and I still haven't received a decision... but apparently they worked on my I-485 because it changed to ready to schedule for interview even though the SR was for the EAD. Don't understand why there's still no EAD update and about to lose my my job... so frustrating 

I was getting the same updates as you are and I called a T2 officer. He told me that the SR being "on hold" means they have requested the file because the expedite has been approved. Now, they just need to actually look at your forms and see if the I-765 is proper. It looks like this is where you currently are. If this is the case, it should only be a few more days. Some people have been receiving EADs without the online status changing too. I was in the same position as you and received the EAD about a week before my previous EAD was set to expire.

[Niia 22]

3 minutes ago, EMBELL_17 said:

I was getting the same updates as you are and I called a T2 officer. He told me that the SR being "on hold" means they have requested the file because the expedite has been approved. Now, they just need to actually look at your forms and see if the I-765 is proper. It looks like this is where you currently are. If this is the case, it should only be a few more days. Some people have been receiving EADs without the online status changing too. I was in the same position as you and received the EAD about a week before my previous EAD was set to expire.

Thanks for your input. I keep checking online and the mail box, waiting for a tier 2 officer to call me back now too