EAD an illusion only?

M

moonbeam

Registered Users (C)
Hello everyone,

I'm just wondering if most people actually do get the EAD after having applied for it. I've read that some of you do, and some don't. I know it takes quite a while to get it, if you do get it in the end. Are there a lot of people who just get their EAD applications rejected?

I'm really wondering what my wife's chances of getting the EAD are. Can anyone please give me some advice? My situation is as follows:

I'm coming over on a J1 as I'm on a graduate scholarship from my home country. My wife will thus be on the dependent J2. My scholarship will cover basic living expenses, so my wife's purpose of obtaining the EAD is for pocket money for her own recreation and expenses. Is this a straight-forward case of obtaining an EAD?

Really appreciate your help here!
 
moonbeam said:
Is this a straight-forward case of obtaining an EAD?
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Giving an EAD to a J2 holder is pretty much non-discretionary. If she is in valid J-2 status and can provide evidence (ie. a copy of the I-94) then the EAD will be granted.

EADs don't get denied very often.
 
Dear TheRealCanadian,

Thank you for your comforting reply. I'm glad to hear that its pretty non-discretionary for (valid) J2 holders. I hear there's also a need to state explicitly on the J2's EAD application that the money derived from the employment is not intended for the purposes of supporting the J1. Any idea why this is so important?

I'm also concerned about the impact of the current economic slowdown / recession in the US on the number of EADs granted. If there are fewer jobs in the US, would the US government still allow non-residents to compete for the limited jobs with the locals? Call me a "worrier", but what do you say of this?
 
moonbeam said:
Dear TheRealCanadian,

Thank you for your comforting reply. I'm glad to hear that its pretty non-discretionary for (valid) J2 holders. I hear there's also a need to state explicitly on the J2's EAD application that the money derived from the employment is not intended for the purposes of supporting the J1. Any idea why this is so important?

I'm also concerned about the impact of the current economic slowdown / recession in the US on the number of EADs granted. If there are fewer jobs in the US, would the US government still allow non-residents to compete for the limited jobs with the locals? Call me a "worrier", but what do you say of this?
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I do not think there is any economic problem in US and me personally do not even know or heard about single person who get fired because of economic hardship. On the contrary many people, at least in this forum, ask if they can work 2 jobs and so on. Any how, application for J2 EAD is an easy task and almost 100% will be issued (personal experience). It is the challenge for her to get and secure the job, not to worry about EAD approval. The good aspect that most of the employers do not know about the J2 EAD and think every EAD is the one for pending GC.
 
moonbeam said:
I hear there's also a need to state explicitly on the J2's EAD application that the money derived from the employment is not intended for the purposes of supporting the J1. Any idea why this is so important?
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I'm not aware of this. Is it anywhere on the I-765?

If there are fewer jobs in the US, would the US government still allow non-residents to compete for the limited jobs with the locals? Call me a "worrier", but what do you say of this?
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The EAD cannot be denied for this reason. You make it sound like the entire process is subject to the whim of an arbitrary bureaucrat. By and large, it is not.
 
moonbeam said:
I hear there's also a need to state explicitly on the J2's EAD application that the money derived from the employment is not intended for the purposes of supporting the J1. Any idea why this is so important?
QUOTE]

I do not know why it is important. What is needed from her is to write in a separate piece of paper some thing like (my work will be solely for my benefit not to support the J1) no further explanation required. Every time my wife renewd her J2 EAD wrote something like that. let her sign this paper and that is it (no notary and nothing else). Be sure that there is enough time left in your J1 because the EAD will be issued to the end of your J1 or one year whichever is shorter (in my case the last EAD was issued to the end of my J1 which was about 1 year and three months, this may be an exception or the officer saw the three months extra is short time and added them to the one year)
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TheRealCanadian said:
I'm not aware of this. Is it anywhere on the I-765?

Thanks TheRealCanadian for your reply. Its not on the I-765 itself, but on the instruction document that accompanies the I-765 and tells applicants how to fill up the I-765. Most university websites do also point this out when they provide info for their J1 students on how to help their J2 dependents apply for the EAD.
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The instructions for I-765 do state that for (c)(5) category applications (i.e. J-2 holders):

"You must submit a written statement with any supporting evidence showing that your employment is not necessary to support the J-1 but is for other purposes." (Page 3, bottom left)

Many websites give examples of such letters, and the "supporting evidence" is just a copy of your DS-2019 since it states your stipend/salary.

Samples of such letters are here and here. It's really no big deal at all.
 
Thank you jk0274 for your reply. The two sites you've pointed me to are indeed useful.

Thanks all of you guys for being so helpful to visitors to the US. Appreciate your help.
 
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