EAD and AP both required?

W

wantGCfast

Registered Users (C)
Gurus,

Here is my situation, I am currently on H1-b working for same employer as consultant for the past 4.5 yrs. My H1-b will expire in May,2010 after 6yrs. Now I intend to take up a full-time job which is a contract to hire position in the next 3 months and can only do so on EAD as client is looking for either gc or EAD card holders.

Now I want to apply for EAD card right away, but do I need to apply for AP also ? I will not be using my EAD card until probably Dec time-frame. Gist of the story is, I want to avoid applying for AP unless I completely give up on my h1-b and also to save some money (going thru a cash crunch right now).

The only probelm I foresee is I get my EAD card, start using it and I haven't applied for my AP and I have to go to India. This is unlikely as I intend to apply for AP in another 2-3 months. Just don't want the expense of both AP and EAD right away. If I can have 3 month difference, I am good to go.

Please provide me with your valuable suggestions/comments before I start applying.

Is it safe to apply for EAD card online ? Can anyone who applied recently share their input.
 
1- I assume you filed your I-485 before July 2007, right? If you applied after then and you paid $1010 for the I-485, then you won't need to pay anything more for either EAD or AP.

2- You certainly do not need to apply for both together. If they were required to be obtained together, there would not be two separate applications. You can apply for either one alone at any time you wish as long as your I-485 is pending.

3- I never e-filed because I didn't want the hassle of being scheduled for fingerprints. I put all the papers together with photos, mailed everything at once, and just waited for my documents to arrive.
 
thanks jk0274, I applied in july 2007, just like the other million filers at that time.
I just had an RFE on my 485 in Jan and had to do fingerprinting in Feb, so if fingerprints are valid for 15 months, I don't need another trip to the fingerprinting office.

Would you advice me to then, just file paper-based and probably don't need fingerprinting as I guess I really don't need it since they already have my fingerprints from just 2 months ago..
 
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