Just wanted to post the outcome of my recent visit to the New York District Office of the BCIS (formerly INS) to get an interim EAD after the 90-day adjudication period. The receipt date of my I-765 application was 1/10/03; this was an application to renew my current EAD, which expires 4/14/03. When I did not receive a notice for an appointment after 90 days, I went to the NY office (where I had filed my application) to see if I could get an interim EAD on a walk-in basis. Despite knowledge of the fact that the NY Office is now taking 120 days to process such applications, I took the chance and went on 91st day after the notice of receipt because my current EAD was so close to expiring.
I joined the line outside the office at just past 5 am. There were around 100 people in front of me on that day; some people had camped overnight. It took another 45 minutes to get into the building after the doors opened at 7:30 am. I went to the 9th floor and went on another line to wait for an officer to review my papers (including INS receipt of 1-765 application, current EAD and documents relating to my pending application to adjust status). The officer noted all these documents, and gave me an application for same-day processing of an EAD. The trick is to get there early; the office takes in only a limited number of same-day applications for an EAD (though I am not sure what the limit is).
The rest of the day consisted of a gruelling but not atypical wait for the application process to run its course. What the wait is about is the background check that needs to be completed before any decision can be made about each application. That means that the wait can be unbelieveably long, and someone who was behind you in the queque could receive his/her document before you if his/her background check yielded information sooner. The curious thing is that when my same-day application was approved, I received not an interim EAD, but a “regular” one, laminated with my photograph etc and valid for 1 year, as was my previous EAD. I left the office with this new EAD in hand at 3:30 pm! An exhausting process but the result was positive.
I joined the line outside the office at just past 5 am. There were around 100 people in front of me on that day; some people had camped overnight. It took another 45 minutes to get into the building after the doors opened at 7:30 am. I went to the 9th floor and went on another line to wait for an officer to review my papers (including INS receipt of 1-765 application, current EAD and documents relating to my pending application to adjust status). The officer noted all these documents, and gave me an application for same-day processing of an EAD. The trick is to get there early; the office takes in only a limited number of same-day applications for an EAD (though I am not sure what the limit is).
The rest of the day consisted of a gruelling but not atypical wait for the application process to run its course. What the wait is about is the background check that needs to be completed before any decision can be made about each application. That means that the wait can be unbelieveably long, and someone who was behind you in the queque could receive his/her document before you if his/her background check yielded information sooner. The curious thing is that when my same-day application was approved, I received not an interim EAD, but a “regular” one, laminated with my photograph etc and valid for 1 year, as was my previous EAD. I left the office with this new EAD in hand at 3:30 pm! An exhausting process but the result was positive.
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