Your I-485 application is definately lying under the dust or pile of files without a doubt. Exactly this happened to three people I know personally off the board. They also filed in the first week of April. Your file will NOT move nor you will ever hear anything from USCIS until a year...believe me...unless you call them over the phone and inquire about your I-765.
If you will call INS over the phone regardless of first level of customer service or the second one about I-485, they will tell you the same that your case is still pending and processing and that you have to wait because your case is still under processing time. These people on the phone don't know that your file is lying under the dust or pile of files wherein noone is paying any attention to it and will stay there forever if you don't do anything about it.
Those people are lucky who at least get some kind of REF because it means their case is being touched or look upon unlike those who don't hear anything from USCIS after fingerprinting notice. Also, once a REF is replied, 99% of times people get interview letter within 15-30 days period.
What you should do now is- call them over the phone (no need to ask them to transfer your case to next level of customer service) and tell them that you still haven't received your work permit despite of 90 days. They are all being advised that if an applicant doesn't receive a work permit within 75 days of filing the application then they must send a Status Inquiry to USCIS office in MO wherein applications are intially processed. They will gladly take all the information from you and will send a status inquiry to MO office. And believe me, you will receive a letter miracleously from USCIS within a week or 10 days but most probably a REF which they forgot to send in the beginning when they received your application 3 months ago.
Receiving a REF means 90 days time to process work permit will start all over again from the time they would receive your response back to REF. INS used to issue interm EAD to those who don't get their EAD within 90 days of filing the application but they have recently discontinued it now.
However, EAD will be mailed within a few days once they will receive the response back on REF from you. I know it's their fault to seat on your application for all this time and not doing anything unless you will call them. That's why you might choose to write to them about all this to the Director of MO office. It's happenning to some people and since noone is reporting this, the clerk people are getting away with it. They should deal the applications on first come-first basis than just dealing some differently. I see here today someone already got their interview letter despite of filing the paperwork on second week of June; while many applicants who filed their application in the first week of April have not heard anything all this time after their fingerprinting notice. Nothing will happen if everyone stands up together against this than just moving on or being scared of.
Good luck...
