I teach international graduate students and I often field questions re: immigration. One of my students recently married and has put in all her paperwork in August and has been give an Alien number. Everything is "kosher." She has been told many things concerning how long it will take to get a work permit and her temp. residency status. She has been told it will take up to a year b/c of 9-11.
Is this true? How long can she expect to wait before she can legally work and to get her temp. residency?
Many thanks for your reply.
bill

How long is a piece of string, how many pancakes does it take to cover a rock . . . get the drift? First, 9-11 has nothing to do with the processing of adjustment cases, and any reference thereto is bunk. In order to answer questions such as those you have posed it would be necessary to know what INS District she filed in. Processing times for the District offices are published on the INS web page. My suggestion: If she had hired a competent immigration lawyer she would not have these questions.

EAD (Employment Authorization Document) usually takes up to 90 days, regardless of the location. The application for it is filed with the rest of the papers for AOS (Adjustment of status). If INS fails to issue it in the 90 days period, the applicant is entitled to an "interim" one which he/she can get by going to INS in person.
AOS takes anywhere between 5 months to 2-3 years, depending on the location
Good luck!
Red