I filed the application form for EAD with the help of our lawyer in the Atlanta office on January 8, 2004. Two months later we got the Notice of Action from Missouri office with two dates - Received Date: January 8, 2004 and Notice Date: March 8, 2004, which was a little bit confusing.

My EAD renewal (at VSC) had been pending for more than 110 days, so I decided to go to the CIS office in Bloomington, MN to get an interim EAD.On Jan 22, 04 the temperature was -10F with the windchill of -30F. I arrived at the CIS office at 7.25 AM. The office was already open. Inside, there were already 50 or so people in the line. The security officer gave me a ticket. After waiting in the line for an hour, I finally reached the security gate and went to the waiting room. It was 8.40 AM.

I got my Interim EAD card based on OPT.

I went to the Bloomington USCIS office (MN) around 4:20 am on Jan 7, 2004. As the weather was cold there were not many people. Somebody made a list and I was the fiteenth person.

Around 6 a.m, we made a line based on the list.

The office opened at 6:30 am.

The officer there started work at 7am. She asked me the reason why I was there and gave me a ticket. I got a ticket and went to another office.

Philadelphia district office EAD Interview scheduled 2.5 months after filing the marriage-based I485 package. People visiting for appointments need not wait in the line. The interview process is only taking a photo, leaving the finger print. the EAD card was printed out right away. The whole process took about 20 minutes, excluding waiting time in the waiting room.

I would like to first thank you for all your support and help to the
community with their immigration matters.

Here is our ( unpleasant experience ) getting my wife's Interim EAD (we applied Sept 23, 03 ) at San Francisco USCIS.
January 09 2004

8:50 am Got to the USCIS office.

I went at 10.15 am with I-140,I-765 and I-485 receipt, they gave me a token and new I-765 application to be filled up and called me at 2.15 pm. They checked the above documents, Passport and took my photo and gave me EAD instantly.There is no need to take separate photos and go.

Just wanted to share me and my wife's experience in at the Memphis Sub-Office on January 5, 2004. The Memphis office is severely backlogged currently in regards to AOS and EAD applications. We filed the I-765 for my wife on September 10th and hadn't heard anything. After corresponding with our congressional representative, we were told to travel to Memphis (a 350 mile trip) on any Monday to receive an interim EAD. We traveled to Memphis on Sunday to be ready first thing in the morning. Sunday night we decided to check out the office and went to the front door.

I had filed for my EAD renewal 3 months before the expiry date (September 16th). While my EAD was approved a little before 90 days, my wife's EAD was not renewed. They requested additional evidence (marraige certificate and I140 approval notice). After USCIS received the evidence and the USCIS website was updated, we went to Memphis on friday, January 2nd, 2004 (the day of the week when interim EADs are issued in Memphis) hoping that they would issue an interim EAD (since it was more than 90 days after the original receipt notice).