I doubt it would have a negative impact on the case – in my experience, they adjudicate the cases without regard to whether a mandamus was filed or not. Good luck, Jason

Yes, Jason, I’ve followed all those steps – contacting senators and representatives multiple times, inquiring about my case, and requesting expedited processing twice. I believe it’s time to consider filing a mandamus. Do you think filing a mandamus could have a negative impact on my case?

You should try to expedite the “normal” way before filing a mandamus (I wrote about some ideas to expedite on March 23, 2022). If you do not do that, the judge in the mandamus case could deny your case for failure to “exhaust your remedies” (i.e., attempting to expedite in the normal ways). For mandamus cases, normally the Asylum Office agrees to a schedule by which they will give you an interview and a decision. Without an agreement on the time frame for a decision, I agree with you that the mandamus would be pretty useless. Take care, Jason

Asking why USCIS would do anything is a recipe for going insane, and so I have no idea. You should have received a 2-year EAD based on category a-5, but the fact that USCIS made a mistake is not really news. I am not sure whether you are technically able to use the c-8 card once the a-5 card expires, but I am not sure why it would make much difference. Also, you actually do not need any EAD to work lawfully once you have asylum (see https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-resources/handbook-for-employers-m-274/70-evidence-of-employment-authorization-for-certain-categories/73-refugees-and-asylees). Finally, you no longer have to wait a year to apply for the Green Card (I wrote about this on February 8, 2023), and so you may want to file for that soon. Once you have the GC, you no longer need an EAD. Take care, Jason

Hope you’re doing well! I have my EAD C08 category with an expiration date Sep 2024. When my Asylum was approved, the office sent me EAD A05 Category with an expiration date Feb 2024! Can I assume I can use my C08 card since it’s expiration date is until Sep-24? And why would they do that?

Best Regards,

I forgot – that is new. If you had a case with the asylum office, it was referred to court and then dismissed, if you file again with the asylum office, they may send you back to court. One advantage is that if you have 10 years inside the US at that point, you might also be eligible for Cancellation of Removal. If not, this seems like a huge waste of time. Note that if the person never had a case with the asylum office, they can file there and the asylum office should process the case. Take care, Jason

After checking the special instructions it seems there is a new updated guidance. Unfortunately it seems that it should no longer be filed with the Atlanta vetting service but with the general office based on region and that uscis will now directly refer the case to eoir skipping the interview altogether. This is extremely unfortunate.

It depends what other options they may have (for example getting a GC in the US or overseas based on family or a job). If they have no other options and assuming the court case was dismissed and not just administratively closed, we are generally filing a new I-589. It gets filed at the Asylum Vetting Center in Atlanta, GA (see the Special Instructions on the I-589 web page at http://www.uscis.gov). Such cases must be filed by mail and so far, none of the cases we have filed this way got a fast interview under LIFO, and all are currently in the backlog. We have not done this too often, but maybe 3 to 5 times so far. I do not think that any of the cases will be interviewed any time soon, but they can get a new work permit after they wait 150 days. Also, if your friend has an old work permit, they should be able to use that until it expires (the law on this point is a little unclear, but most lawyers now seem to say that the EAD is usable until it expires). Take care, Jason