inquisitive40

Well I went today and got my EAD at San Francisco, here is what happened.

My letter said to pickup my EAD any Wednesday after Nov 2nd, between the times of 12:45 and 2:00 pm. I drove into SF and after driving around the block I got a parking garage which is about a block away.
By the time I arrived at 444 Washington street (where the letter told me to enter the building at) it was 12:50. Outside was a queue of about 30 people. I duly stood in line as the line slowly moved towards the door. When it came to my turn to enter I was asked for my appointment letter and also id which I gave to the officer at the door. I then was requested to empty my pockets etc so that I could go through the metal detector. Once clear I proceeded inside with my documents. Here is where it got a bit confusing, I knew I was to get a nunber (as per my appoitment letter) BUT I could not see anywhere issuing them.I followed the signs to EAD and AP and finally arrived at the office that issues EADs, I asked the girl at the counter what I needed to do, she told me that if I had not gotten a ticket that I needed to go back to "the big room", (there is a large waiting area on the way inside), I duly returned to "the big room" and looked around until finally I saw a sign which read "information" BUT after that it also had "check in", I figured that was where I needed to be, was funny because pretty much everyone else that was in the line with me outside had done the same as myself and had missed the checkin area. The woman was very gruff with several people in front of me, when it came to my turn, she actually became quite pleasant and treated me very nice (the people in front were Asian and Mexican so I presume she had some bias towards them).
I returned to the room where they issued the EADs, I now handed my appointment letter with passport and the girl check me in and presented the original application, I then sat down to wait. I was barely sitting when she called my name again, she asked me to check my details and then sign a slip of paper, again I returned to my seat. Within a minute she called a list of names of pretty much everyone in the room (there were about 7 other people sitting in the room before I had entered). I sat and thought that I had missed that batch, about a minute later the girl caled out my name, I was asked to sign a slip of paper where my finger print was taken and put on it.
Again I sat back down expecting to have a bit more of a wait for the card to be made. Within a minute she again called me and handed me my card, I asked "am I done" , her reply was a smile and said "you can stay if you want but you are done". And so I left with my 1 yr EAD in hand. From parking my car until I drove out of the car park it took an hour.
On the way home I called into the Social Security office and the girl wasn't really that helpful, she said that it takes "INS" about 2 - 3 days to release the number and that it can take up to 20 days for them to get it into their system, I asked if I applied now what would happen, she said it would depend onb how quickly everything got updated, but that they would mail out a card BUT that they might have to manually verify it all. I decided to wait and so will return next week to try again.
All in all the process was quite painless.
Patrick

andrea874

Congrats, Patrick

ian-mstm

Congratulations!

Ian

Bob

Nice one
Got a job lined up yet?

inquisitive40

Thanks for the congrats. Have only applied to one job, still more interested in starting my own business, hope to get more of that sorted out in the next few days

Was surprised that I got a 1 yr EAD considering other posts here I was expecting a shorter validity.
Strange????
Patrick

Noorah101

Congratulations, Patrick! I think you made the right decision at the SS office.

Best Wishes!
Rene

inquisitive40

Yes, as I said the girl at the SS office was pretty much indifferent to whether I applied or not, I am wondering is there any better way to word things when I go the next time. The girl didn't even want to check anything without me formally applying for a number. I asked about the SAVE system etc but she went off about how INS takes a certain amount of time to do it's thing etc. How can I get them to check in the SAVE system, her attitude was pretty much that I would "get it when I get it" and that there is no real definite timeline.
Patrick

Rete

Congratulations on getting your EAD. A one year EAD is, or at least was, the norm.

As for your comment above, I would not be so quick to yell "bias" because of an attitude you preceived on another's part. For all you know, the people in front of you might not have spoken English or well enough to communicate clearly. Or they might have had an attitude themselves whereas you approached her with a perfect command of the English language and most probably a smile.

Rete

inquisitive40

Well that is true, a smile does go a long way , the woman behind the counter was actually chinese herself, from what I heard (standing about 2 yards away), the people in front did all speak english, BUT I will say a lot of the people I saw today waiting in line etc all had a kind of a tone about them, the same sort of tone that people have when they feel they are being put through a lot of trouble to get something "they are entitled to".

As far as the one year EAD, a couple of people posted the SF does not always give out one year eads, instead giving EADs which expire based on their timelines for processing applications.

Thanks for the Congrats , was very painless process. Something that they did not ask for was my receipt notice for my I-485 which was stated as required on the appointment letter.
Patrick

Noorah101

Did you go up to the window with a completed SS card application? You do have to turn one in eventually. What I was proposing was to go to the window, hand her the completed application for a new SS, your ID, and your EAD, and have her check the SAVE system. If you are in there, great. Leave the application with them and ask for a receipt letter. If you're not in the system, ask for your application back, and tell them you'll return to hand it in next week or so. Try that next time you go.

Rene

inquisitive40

Great advice, I took the application home and so will have it filled out and ready to go the next time I visit the office.
Patrick

Rukhie

Congrats Pat!

Rukhie

Pat,

you now my husband was not in the SAVE system either when we went to the SS office...but they still let us fill out the form and they said they would keep checking the system to make sure if he was there or not.
I can't remember, but I think he got his card in a couple of weeks.

Try it and maybe you'll get luckly....

isn't it the Alien # they check on the SAVE system? you should have that on the EAD.

Rukhie

inquisitive40

I was wondering what they check and if it is the Alien # they check, this for me was issued at the time of receipt.
The girl did mention that they would check a few times and if it was not in the system after a few weeks that then they would do a manual verification.
The only problem with leaving it to them like this is that they will not issue a receipt and employers normally accept the receipt as evidence that the SSN has been applied for.

Thanks for the info
Patrick

Bluegrass Lass

That is what happened with my husband. Granted, he entered on a K1 so it was slightly different from your situation. He applied for his SSN the Monday after he arrived into the US. They said he wasn't in the system yet (which we expected) but that they would continue to check for 2 weeks, and if he was not in SAVE by then, then they would send off for a manual verification. He ended up getting a letter in the mail about a week later informing him that they were processing his application (hence, his name had shown up) and about a week after that he received the card in the mail. He had his card about 2 1/2 week after he entered the US.

I know your situation is a bit different, but if SF can be as fast as our little town's SSA office, then it may be worth going ahead and applying for your SSN, even if you don't get a receipt. I also think that if you get hired, you have x amount of time to give them your SSN card (as proof for the I-9). I think you have a few weeks or something after you begin working to show it to them, so if you apply now, and get a job within the next few weeks, you would probably still be ok since you have your EAD. You could check out posts that Michael D. Young has sent out about the SSN. He's our resident SSA expert.

Good luck on the job hunt! Took my hubby 3 months to find one, and that is a job 80 miles away from here! I find it amazing how 'small town USA' doesn't seem to require computer professionals. <sigh> but at least it's a job...

Cheers,
Jamie