I-797 as temporary EAD?

[prettylilraindrop 3]

Okay so I filed forms for EAD, AP etc back in April, I had my biometrics appointment in August but have still not received anything. Obviously it's been a long time and I'm getting pretty desperate to work, both for my mental health and to help out financially so my SO isn't having to pay for everything. I have just read this on the USCIS website https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-related-news/employment-authorization-document-ead-delays-due-to-covid-19. If I am reading correctly, this seems as though I can work legally with my I-797 if it's before August 20th and only until December 1st, which is great news.

 

However, after reading this I saw this article: https://www.schwabe.com/newsroom-publications-uscis-temporarily-allows-employees-to-present-i-797#:~:text=On August 20%2C 2020%2C U.S.,authorization for I-9 purposes " the policy only applies to approval notices and not to receipt notices." this confuses me as I am not sure if what I have is valid, what I have is the I-797C Notice of Action which is the letter I received about my biometrics appointment date and where to go, so is this the correct notice or should I receive another notice before actually getting the EAD etc? I also checked USCIS case status online and all that it tells me is that my fingerprints were taken and applied to my case, no further information, so I'm a bit confused!

 

Any help would be appreciated! By looking at the processing times it seems as though the current wait times are 5.5-7.5 months which is coming up fairly soon (still not soon enough haha) so I guess, if I am still not able to work, is there any point calling USCIS to check status or should I just wait until the 7.5 months is up?

 

Thanks everyone!

[SalishSea 18,064]

You cannot work with just a receipt notice.  You can do an inquiry once you're within the dates for one.

[prettylilraindrop 3]

5 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

You cannot work with just a receipt notice.  You can do an inquiry once you're within the dates for one.

okay thanks, I'm just confused what this article was referring to then?  https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-related-news/employment-authorization-document-ead-delays-due-to-covid-19

[igoyougoduke 1,674]

if you had your biometrics, all you can do is wait. And as others have said, you cannot work with receipt notice 

[prettylilraindrop 3]

Just now, James120383 said:

if you had your biometrics, all you can do is wait. And as others have said, you cannot work with receipt notice 

Okay thank you, I understand, I'm just a little confused then  about what the article was referring to?  https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-related-news/employment-authorization-document-ead-delays-due-to-covid-19 it seems as though they were making exceptions due to the fact Covid is delaying EAD's so much? 

[SalishSea 18,064]

2 minutes ago, prettylilraindrop said:

okay thanks, I'm just confused what this article was referring to then?  https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-related-news/employment-authorization-document-ead-delays-due-to-covid-19

I believe that is referring to workers who are required to obtain a reverification from their employer (US govt, etc).  It wouldn't apply to an initial EAD, because what if the initial application was later denied?

[HRQX 4,145]

3 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

It wouldn't apply to an initial EAD,

It does apply to initial EAD but the I-797 must be an approval notice: "For the notice to be acceptable, it must include a Notice Date from Dec. 1, 2019, through and including Aug. 20, 2020, and indicate that USCIS has approved the employee’s Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization."

3 hours ago, prettylilraindrop said:

or should I receive another notice before actually getting the EAD etc?

You don't have an approval notice yet. What you have is the receipt notice.

[prettylilraindrop 3]

19 hours ago, HRQX said:

It does apply to initial EAD but the I-797 must be an approval notice: "For the notice to be acceptable, it must include a Notice Date from Dec. 1, 2019, through and including Aug. 20, 2020, and indicate that USCIS has approved the employee’s Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization."

You don't have an approval notice yet. What you have is the receipt notice.

 

19 hours ago, HRQX said:

It does apply to initial EAD but the I-797 must be an approval notice: "For the notice to be acceptable, it must include a Notice Date from Dec. 1, 2019, through and including Aug. 20, 2020, and indicate that USCIS has approved the employee’s Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization."

You don't have an approval notice yet. What you have is the receipt notice.

This makes a lot of sense, thank you. So I will receive an approval notice before my EAD arrives? I didn't know this and always just assumed they'd send me the EAD etc straight away, but it makes more sense that they would notify you beforehand. I know I would now not be eligible to use the I-797 because it has gone past August 20th which is a shame, I can only hope it will arrive shortly.

 

Is there any point in me calling USCIS or do you think they won't be able to give me any further info either?

Edited October 14, 2020 by prettylilraindrop

[HRQX 4,145]

13 minutes ago, prettylilraindrop said:

So I will receive an approval notice before my EAD arrives? I didn't know this and always just assumed they'd send me the EAD etc straight away, but it makes more sense that they would notify you beforehand.

"We have approved your application for employment authorization..."

15 minutes ago, prettylilraindrop said:

Is there any point in me calling USCIS or do you think they won't be able to give me any further info either?

When in April did you file? If on April 14 or earlier you can submit an out of processing times e-request: https://egov.uscis.gov/e-request/displayONPTForm.do;jsessionid=E9DC62E5B69EB56E77B57632C84F97AC?sroPageType=onpt&entryPoint=init

[prettylilraindrop 3]

30 minutes ago, HRQX said:

"We have approved your application for employment authorization..."

When in April did you file? If on April 14 or earlier you can submit an out of processing times e-request: https://egov.uscis.gov/e-request/displayONPTForm.do;jsessionid=E9DC62E5B69EB56E77B57632C84F97AC?sroPageType=onpt&entryPoint=init

Thank you for showing this, I definitely haven't received this yet, I hope it will come soon.

 

We filed on April 24th