USCIS has been experiencing unprecedented delays this year (2018) due to new immigration policies and procedures that have changed the way we now advise our clients. These changes directly impact when a marriage case should be filed, travel planning, and when an arriving immigrant can begin working and also maintain their employment status after filing for a family-based Adjustment of Status.

As a New York marriage immigration lawyer, the following are examples of how these delays are affecting our clients:

1. My husband a US citizen, filed for my Adjustment of Status after we got married here in New York. We filed more than five months ago and I still haven’t received my travel card. I really need to go back to my home country and I thought I’d have my Advance Parole card by now. What should I do?

2. My wife, a US citizen filed for my Adjustment of Status six months ago and I still haven’t received a reply for my H-1B extension from USCIS. I was actually issued a six-page RFE after filing for the extension, which we filed more than three months ago. I need to travel for work, and my H-1B has already expired. What can I do?

3. We filed for Adjustment of Status more than a year ago and my Work Permit EAD Card is expiring next month. The USCIS status just states “Case Ready for Interview” but it has been showing this for six months. My employer is threatening to fire me as my EAD is expiring. What options do I have?

These are only a few examples of the types of calls we receive from anxious clients who never thought that their efforts to work and travel would be so mired by these unforeseen delays. While we won’t address all of the above in this blog, we will address what you can do to try and keep calm and carry on with your lives in the United States.

Work Permit/EAD Extension—How to protect yourself

Before this year, adjustment-based work permits/Advance Parole cards were issued about two and a half months after filing, in most cases. Also, marriage Adjustment of Status cases would usually be wrapped up with a Green Card in hand in about four months, making the need to renew work permits/Advance Parole cards unnecessary. This year, however, we are seeing these work permits/Advance Parole cards taking more than six months to be issued. With no interview in sight and no information on how soon the interview will occur, we are advising clients to renew their work permits/Advance Parole cards as soon as the law allows. Further, with EAD renewals taking at least six months, it’s best to take advantage of every protection possible to make sure there is no lapse in the client’s ability to work.

In these trying times, here is some additional information to keep you protected:

• There is no additional USCIS filing fee to apply to extend your EAD card IF you procured your EAD card based on a family-based Adjustment of Status under the (c)(9) category (Pending Adjustment of Status under Section 245 of the Act).

• EAD applications filed after January 17, 2017, are automatically extended by USCIS for up to 180 days for applicants who filed under the (c)(9) category.

• Certain visa holders, such as those with a valid H-1B or L-1 visa, can still travel on their visas without risking abandonment of your case, provided they haven’t used their dual purpose EAD/Advance Parole card to enter the US and therefore be “paroled in.” Once you are paroled in using the card, you might not be able to switch back and travel on your H-1B or L-1 visa, even though it is still valid.
  

Without a valid work permit/Advance Parole card in hand, you could run the risk of losing the ability to travel or even sustain or apply for new employment.

Needless to say, the value of having an immigration attorney in these cases is priceless, since filling out the immigration forms is only one of the many things we do. Our additional value lies in the way we:

Here’s How We Can Protect You

• We will work with you to build a sound strategy to keep you protected from the beginning, to the extent we can.

• We use sophisticated immigration software and case management tools to flag critical expiration dates and alert us when we have the soonest opportunity to prevent any lapses in work permits.

• Use our knowledge of laws and resources to guide our clients when they have a sensitive immigration-based issue with their employer, and if needed, we draft letters for clients to provide to their employers regarding their immigration status.

• Coach our clients on how they can travel safely using their cards, especially if they have an additional visa that is still valid.

• Inform clients about any mail from USCIS that they may have overlooked or may not have received since missing mail from USCIS can be fatal to a case due to a finding of abandonment by USCIS.

• Minimizing chances of making mistakes in the case, which avoids further processing delays.

Lastly, with immigration cases taking such a long time, some of our couples as newly-wed couples end up moving their residence, so it’s critical to update USCIS with the address change for both the petitioner and beneficiary by filling out the AR-11 form by mail or online.

With past experience no longer serving as a precedent for what will occur in your case, an immigration attorney’s experience can make all the difference to your case and your life.

Contact our New York immigration office at (212) 401-6222 if you have questions or to schedule a consultation. You may also email us at Info@Khunkhunlaw.com.

Additional Resources

Check the USCIS processing times here.

Check the status of your case using your filing receipt case information here.

Change address online with USCIS here.

You can call us, email us at info@khunkhunlaw.com or review other options to get in touch with us for an immigration consultation.