As if the pandemic weren’t enough, many immigrants have had to contend with extended USCIS field office closures and cancelled appointments. This was especially troubling for many residency applicants who had work and travel requests pending and who would otherwise not be able to obtain approvals without first providing biometrics.
Previous biometrics appointments from March 18, 2020 onward had been cancelled and few if any have been rescheduled since, due to heavy backlogs at local USCIS offices.
Many people believed that the USCIS would not issue work (employment authorization document) or travel (Advance Parole) permits until biometrics appointments had been rescheduled and completed. But what a wonderful surprise to find that the USCIS is at least temporarily bypassing that requirement in favor of issuing approvals!
In the past several weeks, numerous approvals and clients of the American Immigration Law Center have received social security cards at the same time.
When immigrants are applying for residency, the normal procedure is to apply using form I-485 for adjustment of status, form I-765 for work authorization and form I-131 for advance parole for travel, among other required forms. The current processing time for work and travel permits is about six months. Once the work permit is approved, the social security administration sends the immigrant his or her new social security card in the mail. Once both the work permit and social security cards are received, an immigrant is authorized to begin working.
If you have any questions about receiving your work permit after filing for residency, you can call the American Immigration Law Center office at: 954-382-5378.
You can read more by visiting the website at www.Immigratetoday.com and clicking on the Immigration Newsletter link in the upper left hand corner or by visiting the enewsletter site at: www.americanimmigrationcentral.com
** Contributions to this Column are made by Attorney Caroly Pedersen, Esq. of the American Immigration Law Center
