EAD Card Delays Are Not an Impossible Dilemma
by: A. banerjee
EAD Card
Filing your Adjustment of Status Application (I-485) had been accomplished during the late summer (July-August 2007) rush. Now you must renew your EAD card. It has been 90 days since you filed the I-765. (You can file this form 90 days before it expires.) But the CIS is silent as a tomb. You hear no word from them, just pulses and pulses of unnerving, unmitigated silence. What can you do?
By law, the USCIS is supposed to provide the EAD card by 90 days. But all you have is, in the words of philosopher Michael Novak, “the experience of nothingness” to hold in your hand.
Suddenly the voice of the CIS ombudsman shatters the silence with timely advice to activate your now invigorated imagination. He booms like a loud speaker into your psyche the following useful instructions:
Call CIS at 1-800-375-5283 and speak to an officer. Don’t leave a message. Speak. If you fail in reaching an officer, hang up and try again. Once you have a CIS officer enthralled by your own assertive voice on the other end of the line, tell him or her that it’s been 90 days and you need an interim card. You should also keep records of the date and time of your call and the officer’s number, for documentation and future reference in case it is needed.
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Parents – Guidance at School May Not be Enough
Guidance
By: Brian Sanders
Most parents assume that schools are providing the necessary college and career planning guidance to their children. But findings gleaned from over 10 years of research studies reveal that students are not getting the help they need to make good decisions about life after high school.
How Much Counseling Time Does Each Student Get?
38 minutes per year is the estimated amount of time the average student receives from a school counselor on college advising. This statistic is based on national averages of student-to-counselor ratios and counselor time allocation research according to 2005 report entitled “Counseling and College Counseling in America’s High Schools” by Dr. Patricia McDonough.
This of course is an average. While the actual amount of time varies widely by school and by student, interviews with parents reveal that it is a large concern. Despite the best of intentions, the level of personalized guidance provided is not evenly distributed to all students.
“My child is a solid student. He isn’t at the top of his class, but he’s not struggling either. The school clearly pays the most attention to the students that standout… either at the top, or the bottom. If you aren’t in one of those groups, you fall between the cracks,” said the mother of a senior from a large Connecticut public high school.
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