Okay, so my wife and I were on our way somewhere and we stopped off at the mailbox to see if we’d got any parcels or correspondence and there was a letter from the USCIS in there. I must admit that I was a little worried. I got my 2 year green card in August, which should be all I need for working and travel and should have meant that I was free from any immigration concerns, at least for now - so why were the US authorities writing to me?
I consider myself to be pretty scrupulous when going through all the bureaucracy that officialdom throws at me, but there is so much of it, it crossed my mind that I’d missed sending in a form, or neglected to provide some crucial piece of evidence, or even worse, I’d let something expire, and the USCIS were writing to tell me of the terrible consequences.
But no, when I opened the letter, I found a plastic card inside and a letter saying that here was my temporary work permit. It was completely useless of course, given that I already had my green card. The temporary work permit is something that you are supposed to get whilst you are waiting for your green card. When I checked the dates on the card I couldn’t help but be wryly amused – it was valid from May 2011 until April 2012!
That made it approximately 9 months late!
Oh well, I guess that gives me 3 months to use it before it expires.
