Employment Authorization Document (EAD) & Green Card production delays at USCIS

On July 21, 2020 following news coverage of Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR)/Greencard production delays, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an Ombudsman’s Alert regarding card production delays. According to the alert, in June 2020, USCIS reduced the capacity to print secure documents after it ended a contract with a third-party card production facility. While USCIS intended to hire federal employees to replace the contractors, the current hiring freeze at USCIS has delayed production of the cards. As such, USCIS has not been producing the permanent resident cards and EAD cards in a timely manner, so some foreign nationals have experienced delays in receiving these secure documents. Such delays are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Should there be a furlough of USCIS employees at the end of August, card production backlogs will likely increase.

The DHS Ombudsman’s Office is assisting individuals whose applications have been approved but whose cards have not yet been produced by sending weekly spreadsheets to USCIS to verify card requests are in line to be processed. Individuals experiencing a delay in receiving their documents can submit a request for case assistance with the Ombudsman. LPRs may obtain proof of their status by requesting an I-551 stamp of temporary evidence in a valid passport at a local USCIS field office.