First off, I am seeking "legal facts" not "legal advice"
(I hate it when I post these types of questions on the net,
and someone responds it with "please go see a lawyer").

My friend was approved for Green Card and received a Visa
Number from the State Department last year. So, my friend
applied for I-485 (Adjustment of Status) and I-765 (Employment
Authorization Document) about a year ago.

Now the EAD is due to expire in 30 days, and another one
was applied for, but the new EAD will not arrive for another
50 days. On the 51st day from today, my friend will be eligible
to have an EAD issued on the spot at the INS office, because
of the special rule that kicks in 90 days after the renewal
application was submitted.

My question is what happens between day 31 and day 50 (counting
from today).

1. Is my friend allowed to stay within the U.S. within
those 20 days?
2. Is my friend allowed to work within those 20 days?
3. If the answer to #2 is "No", is it sufficient for
my friend to take a vacation, or does he/she have to
actually resign from their job?

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Request for Question Clarification by calebu2-ga on 07 Nov 2002 14:26 PST

atr-ga,

It is not totally clear from your question at what stage of the
proceedings your friend is at. It was my understanding that normally a
I-485 and I-765 were filed to apply for green card status - rather
than the other way round.

So it might help if you could let us know under what circumstances
your friend qualified for a green card (US citizen relative, residence
since 1972, etc.)

If he/she has been approved for a green card then I would assume that
the EAD is irrelevant as a green card is pending. By approved do you
mean that the forms were accepted, or that you have received
notification back that a green card will be issued.

With that information I should be able to help you better.

Regards

calebu2-ga

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Clarification of Question by atr-ga on 07 Nov 2002 18:13 PST

Sorry I know it's confusing but that's technically
correct -- "approved for Green Card" means that my friend
received a notice assigning a Priority Date (this was 
many years ago). That's when you go onto the waiting list
for Visa Numbers from the State Department (the backlog
list with current processing dates, a.k.a. Visa Bulletin).

Once your Priority Date becomes Current (several years
after the Approval Notice from INS), you become eligible
to file the I-485 "Adjustment of Status". This is what
happened one year ago.

The EAD is not irrelevant, because it is the only document 
that proves employment eligibility for a person in this status,
since the Green Card will not be issued for another 1 or 2 years,
and there is also no stamp on the passport (instead, you get
yet another document for re-entry permit).

I don't see why the qualifying circumstances would be relevant
at this stage, but for your information, it was family-based.

Also I believe this is a relatively rare situation, because most
people are more "with it" than my friend, most people would not
wait until 75 days before expiration to file for a renewal EAD
(you're supposed to file it at least 90 days in advance, to give
the INS ample time to process it, and to become eligible for
the automatic in-person extension).

But my friend filed it 2 weeks late, and that's the root of the
problem. Now we need to know the workaround to avoid going out
of status.

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Clarification of Question by atr-ga on 08 Nov 2002 08:59 PST

We got lucky and got through to the INS phone lines. They
said my friend will be required to take a vacation within
those intervening days, but won't have to leave the country.