u/Kamikaze1466

I wanted to ask if anyone in this community has experience filing a Writ of Mandamus against United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for a delayed case, specifically in a VAWA-based case.

In my situation, my EAD renewal has been pending for many months, I already lost my job because of the delay, and I’ve pretty much exhausted every option: service requests, expedite attempts, Ombudsman, congressional inquiry, senator inquiry… and still nothing.

I know of one person who filed mandamus, but in their case it only pushed an expedite request and did not lead to movement on the underlying VAWA-related process. That made me wonder if anyone here has had positive outcomes, especially people who filed on their own (pro se / DIY) without hiring an attorney.

I’m trying to understand:
• Did USCIS respond quickly after filing?
• Did it move only the EAD or the whole case?
• Has anyone here successfully done it without a lawyer?

I’d really appreciate hearing real experiences because I’m getting to the point where I feel I’ve exhausted all normal channels.

Thank you

I just wanted to check in with everyone else dealing with these insane EAD delays because honestly… how are you all holding up?

In my case, I’ve been waiting since September 2024. During this process I feel like I’ve gone through every possible stage: desperation, anxiety, depression, anger, numbness… and now I honestly don’t even know what I’m feeling anymore.

I ended up losing my job because of this delay, and I’ve been dealing with everything completely on my own. I live in one of the most expensive cities in the world, bills don’t stop, rent doesn’t stop, life doesn’t stop… but somehow our cases do.

At this point I genuinely don’t know what else to do besides praying and trying to survive day by day.
I guess I’m making this post because I know I can’t be the only one going through this, and lately this whole situation has been feeling very dark.
How are you coping? Seriously.

Hi everyone,

I’m reaching out because my EAD renewal has been stuck for almost 2 years now and I finally lost my job last week because of it. My extension expired and my employer had no choice but to terminate me even though I had been working there for a long time and had recently been promoted.

Over these past months I’ve tried everything:
USCIS service requests

-Ombudsman
-Congressman office inquiries
-Expedite attempts
…but nothing really moved.

Yesterday I contacted Senator Gillibrand’s office through the form on her website and, honestly, it’s the first time in months I’ve felt like someone actually responded. Within an hour I received a case number, instructions, and a request for supporting documentation and a personal statement.

I’m trying not to get my hopes too high, but after feeling ignored for so long it gave me a little hope again.

Has anyone here had experience with Senator Gillibrand’s office helping with an EAD renewal delay? Did involving a senator actually help move your case forward?

For context, this is an EAD renewal connected to a pending adjustment/VAWA-based process.

Thank you

Hi everyone, I honestly just need to vent and maybe hear from people who’ve been through something similar.

Today I lost my job because my work permit didn’t arrive on time. My automatic extension expired last Monday, and even though I filed my renewal back in September 2024, I still haven’t received the new card.

What’s crazy is that literally 20 minutes after getting fired, I randomly met an immigration lawyer while I was saying goodbye to coworkers. She briefly looked at my case and told me I should consider filing for a new work permit instead of just waiting on the renewal that’s already pending.

Now I’m super confused and overwhelmed.
Has anyone here been told to “file again” while already having an EAD renewal pending? What does that even mean exactly? Is it a different category? A new application entirely? Can two EAD applications exist at the same time?

I’ve been crying all day honestly. I really loved my job and fought hard to keep it. I did expedite requests, congress inquiry, ombudsman request, everything I could think of. Still wasn’t enough.

If anyone has gone through something similar with VAWA/EAD delays, I’d really appreciate hearing your experience right now because I feel completely lost.