The Canuck EI Thread

[Texanadian 10]

BH45, keep us up to date in regards to this. For all we know, the POE might have "given you the wrong stamp."

[~Laura and Nick~ 5]

I applied online just now.

It went well I think.

The only thing I was confused about was it asked for specific dates of weeks I made under $225.00...my last employer (Before Lowe's) I made under that pretty much every week so...I just left it blank...

I'll mail in my ROE, copy of my passport and I-194 thingy in it.

I'm still waiting on my ROE from Lowe's so I'll mail that in when I get it.

I hope I get approved, if not...no biggie.

Hey wait...can I fax this stuff in???

Edited July 21, 2008 by ~Laura and Nick~

[Texanadian 10]

I think they need the actual official ROE mailed in.

The weeks less than $225 are probably weeks that they don't use for calculating your average weekly income. Say you worked 20 weeks at $300 a week and 1 week at $150 a week. The normal average weekly salary would be $292........... [(20 x 300) + (1 x 150)] /21.

But by not using the weeks below 225, your average salary would be [(20 x 300)] /20 = $300 a week.

[BH45 0]

BH45, keep us up to date in regards to this. For all we know, the POE might have "given you the wrong stamp."

I will. I applied for my SSN this morning. The lady that assisted me at the office was quite confused over the stamp and said that it should have been stamped "Employment Authorized", if anything. She said that until the SS office receives more information from USCIS on my VISA, I won't get my SSN. She also suggested that I go to the USCIS office here in Chicago and discuss the issue with them. Larry isn't working on Wednesday so guess where we will be....

I received a letter from EI today when I got home from the SS office. It's more of a questionnaire. They are asking if I have a working visa issued by the Government of the US authorizing me to accept employment here. If yes, they want the visa number and a photocopy of the front and back fo the document. That would be my I-94, wouldn't it?

Edited July 21, 2008 by BH45

[Texanadian 10]

In regards to your last paragraph, the answer is yes. That would be the I-94. I would put yes, you have a working visa on the questionnaire.

[BH45 0]

Well...here is where I'm at with all this #######. Yesterday, I got 3 weeks of EI cards in the mail

Today we went to the USCIS walk-in office in Chicago. The supervisor.... ....indicated that there must have been something on my file for the BPO to stamp my I-94 Employment Unauthorized. When I mentioned to her that other K-1 Visa folks have not got that stamp, she firmly said they have nothing to do with your file. She also said that in order not to get that stamp, people must have applied for their EAD.

So now, I have to send my I-94 in with the questionnarie I received on Monday. It still has the dreadful stamp on it. I'll send in the documents from SSN to show that we are actually authorized to work. I'm afraid that dumb stamp is going to see the end of my EI cards.

[Flames9_RN 358]

I havent followed ur whole sage BH, but just because one gets the EI cards, does NOT mean ur approved yet. I hope the I94 doesnt screw things up.

[BH45 0]

I havent followed ur whole sage BH, but just because one gets the EI cards, does NOT mean ur approved yet. I hope the I94 doesnt screw things up.

Right Flames. The last time I collected EI was 14 1/2 years ago when my daughter was born. It was a given then.

[Flames9_RN 358]

I was all happy at first when my EI cards came in, then only to receive a letter that my claim had been denied! I appealed and won! Hoping for the best.

[BH45 0]

I was all happy at first when my EI cards came in, then only to receive a letter that my claim had been denied! I appealed and won! Hoping for the best.

Me too but I'm not holding my breath.

[Texanadian 10]

Even in the event that you get denied for EI, the worst that would happen is you don't get it for the 90 days. You could still resume it after getting your EAD/GC down the road. And you'd still come out ahead of me. The reason being you'll have the full amount of hours on your ROE recorded from the date you applied (now) rather than waiting for the actual EAD approval to apply like I did (and lose many weeks of max claim.)

Why don't you phone up the POE you came through and ask what the procedure is for K-1's coming through. Ask about work status. I would ask why they put unauthorized on there. Why not leave it blank or do as other POE's do and put the Employment authorized stamp on there. See if they can fax you some correct information.

I think EI should still approve you for a claim right away since they're just looking for the I-94 itself. They don't care if has the employment authorized stamp on there or not. Of course none of us have heard of an unauthorized stamp before either.

Depending on how gruff you can get over this, personally I'd go back to the walk in office in Chicago. See if you can speak to somebody else. The person you got obviously doesn't know bupkis. How in the heck is a K-1 suppose to apply for a post marriage EAD before crossing the border? That person must be mistaking the 2 year EAD card with the 90 day temporary work stamp.

Whatever you do, keep mailing those cards in.

Edited July 24, 2008 by Texanadian

[BH45 0]

Even in the event that you get denied for EI, the worst that would happen is you don't get it for the 90 days. You could still resume it after getting your EAD/GC down the road. And you'd still come out ahead of me. The reason being you'll have the full amount of hours on your ROE recorded from the date you applied (now) rather than waiting for the actual EAD approval to apply like I did (and lose many weeks of max claim.)

Why don't you phone up the POE you came through and ask what the procedure is for K-1's coming through. Ask about work status. I would ask why they put unauthorized on there. Why not leave it blank or do as other POE's do and put the Employment authorized stamp on there. See if they can fax you some correct information.

I think EI should still approve you for a claim right away since they're just looking for the I-94 itself. They don't care if has the employment authorized stamp on there or not. Of course none of us have heard of an unauthorized stamp before either.

Depending on how gruff you can get over this, personally I'd go back to the walk in office in Chicago. See if you can speak to somebody else. The person you got obviously doesn't know bupkis. How in the heck is a K-1 suppose to apply for a post marriage EAD before crossing the border? That person must be mistaking the 2 year EAD card with the 90 day temporary work stamp.

Whatever you do, keep mailing those cards in.

I think I will call the POE and see what the procedure is for K-1 Visa's. I know that Ontarkie crossed at the same one as I did and she never received that stamp.

I will keep mailing in the cards and hopefull we'll be filing our AOS mid August. I just get the feeling that I'm going to be raked over the coals with mine.

Maybe I should set up an Infopass appointment. See if I can get any farther that way with this stupid thing.

[anxiouslywaiting 0]

ok i got the questionnaire in the mail and it is asking for my visa number, what exactly is my visa number? I have look at my visa and the I94 and I have no idea what number they are looking for. If anyone could help me that would be great!

[~Laura and Nick~ 5]

woo hoo!!

Got my claim things that I have to fill out in the mail today!!! They are paying me from the Monday after my last day at Lowe's!! This is awesome!! WOO HOO!!!

[BH45 0]

Ok... here's an up-date.

I checked online this morning and found the following information.

"We have received new information about your claim. We have not yet made a decision but will (basically) try to have a decision made by August 27, 2008 or the following day."

Start date of Claim - July 6, 2008

Benefit Type - Regular

Earnings - $$$

Fed Tax - 25%

Allowable Earning - $$$

Weeks of Entitlement - 34

End date of Claim - July 4, 2009

For the week of July 20 - 26, we processed your claim and a payment of $0 has been processed.

Laura - they don't pay you for the first 2 weeks. That is the waiting period.