shallOvercomeSomeday
New Member
Here are my particulars:
Priority Date: Not known
Receipt Date: April 18, 2001
Notice Date: May 04, 2001
Approval Date: March 07, 2001
Country: India
Category: EB2, RIR
Acknowledgment:
This forum has been very useful - I found useful information and considerable support during the long process. As my bit, I am describing below the passport standing experience at Chicago INS in explicit boring details ):
Passport Stamping at Chicago INS:
I got my passport stamped on Monday: Reached INS and was in the queue at 5:40 a.m. I took the first Metra train from the suburbs to Union Station. At Union station I took the Jackson Street exit and walked straight down Jackson street a couple of blocks to the INS office. I was in the queue at 5:40 a.m. - there were 40 to 50 people ahead of me. It was chilly outside.
The gates opened at 7:00 a.m. and I could get in to the building in the first batch - I think they let in another ten people after me. At the lobby the INS personnel sorted people into groups - the I-485 approval cases were sorted out and we were each given an yellow sheet with a number on it and told to stand in a separate line. They have security like at an airport check in - we had to take off our jackets, put belongings on a belt for scanning and walk through a gate. After we had all walked through the security check, an INS employee guided the group into two elevators, she came up with us and we were conducted into a room on the third floor. This room was arranged kind of like a school class room - rows of chairs facing two desks up in front where the IIOs sit. An IIO came in, wished us "Good Morning" - we chanted back "Good Morning" and she got down to the business of the day. Another IIO came in after about 15 minutes and also started processing cases. She did comment to the other IIO when she walked in that "we have a large crowd here today". I think because it was immediately after the Good Friday long weekend more than the average number had turned up. When my turn came, I walked up and sat down at the chair at the second IIO\'s desk: She took all that was listed in the I-485 approval notice - (1) original I-485 approval notice, (2) EAD card (I had only one), (3) Advanced parole (I had all three as I had not traveled), (4) I-94 - the latest one that I had (dated year 2000) obtained at Chicago airport when re-entering US after a trip to India, (5) Two Immigration style photographs (I had mine taken at my local Walgreen). I had printed my name and A-number at the back of both photographs with a pencil (this instruction too is on the I-485 approval notice). Also, the INS personnel who had seated us at the room had reminded us to print our name and A-number at the back of the photographs. She had also instructed us to have our Advanced Parole/s and EAD card/s ready and had told us that we were required by law to hand these over to the IIO.
The IIO made me sign and took my finger-print: the finger-print is the old style finger-print - press your finger on an inked pad and press on paper (not the computerized, hi-fi, trouble prone finger-printing of the 485 stage). She then put a stamp on my passport. The stamp is very simple and plain looking, no impressive emblems or photographs. It says at the end - Authorized for employment. The IIO mentioned that as well, i.e., I am authorized for employment. The whole process at the IIO\'s desk took about five minutes. I collected my stuff, left the IIO\'s desk, trashed the yellow sheet - took a careful look at the stamp on my passport and walked out the room.
I took the elevator down to the lobby, took another look at the stamp and left the INS building: it was 7:45 a.m. I counted the number of people in the queue outside the building - there were about 100. It is my guess that most people, like me, show up very early and perhaps as the morning advances the crowd begins to thin and the wait is less.
As
Priority Date: Not known
Receipt Date: April 18, 2001
Notice Date: May 04, 2001
Approval Date: March 07, 2001
Country: India
Category: EB2, RIR
Acknowledgment:
This forum has been very useful - I found useful information and considerable support during the long process. As my bit, I am describing below the passport standing experience at Chicago INS in explicit boring details ):
Passport Stamping at Chicago INS:
I got my passport stamped on Monday: Reached INS and was in the queue at 5:40 a.m. I took the first Metra train from the suburbs to Union Station. At Union station I took the Jackson Street exit and walked straight down Jackson street a couple of blocks to the INS office. I was in the queue at 5:40 a.m. - there were 40 to 50 people ahead of me. It was chilly outside.
The gates opened at 7:00 a.m. and I could get in to the building in the first batch - I think they let in another ten people after me. At the lobby the INS personnel sorted people into groups - the I-485 approval cases were sorted out and we were each given an yellow sheet with a number on it and told to stand in a separate line. They have security like at an airport check in - we had to take off our jackets, put belongings on a belt for scanning and walk through a gate. After we had all walked through the security check, an INS employee guided the group into two elevators, she came up with us and we were conducted into a room on the third floor. This room was arranged kind of like a school class room - rows of chairs facing two desks up in front where the IIOs sit. An IIO came in, wished us "Good Morning" - we chanted back "Good Morning" and she got down to the business of the day. Another IIO came in after about 15 minutes and also started processing cases. She did comment to the other IIO when she walked in that "we have a large crowd here today". I think because it was immediately after the Good Friday long weekend more than the average number had turned up. When my turn came, I walked up and sat down at the chair at the second IIO\'s desk: She took all that was listed in the I-485 approval notice - (1) original I-485 approval notice, (2) EAD card (I had only one), (3) Advanced parole (I had all three as I had not traveled), (4) I-94 - the latest one that I had (dated year 2000) obtained at Chicago airport when re-entering US after a trip to India, (5) Two Immigration style photographs (I had mine taken at my local Walgreen). I had printed my name and A-number at the back of both photographs with a pencil (this instruction too is on the I-485 approval notice). Also, the INS personnel who had seated us at the room had reminded us to print our name and A-number at the back of the photographs. She had also instructed us to have our Advanced Parole/s and EAD card/s ready and had told us that we were required by law to hand these over to the IIO.
The IIO made me sign and took my finger-print: the finger-print is the old style finger-print - press your finger on an inked pad and press on paper (not the computerized, hi-fi, trouble prone finger-printing of the 485 stage). She then put a stamp on my passport. The stamp is very simple and plain looking, no impressive emblems or photographs. It says at the end - Authorized for employment. The IIO mentioned that as well, i.e., I am authorized for employment. The whole process at the IIO\'s desk took about five minutes. I collected my stuff, left the IIO\'s desk, trashed the yellow sheet - took a careful look at the stamp on my passport and walked out the room.
I took the elevator down to the lobby, took another look at the stamp and left the INS building: it was 7:45 a.m. I counted the number of people in the queue outside the building - there were about 100. It is my guess that most people, like me, show up very early and perhaps as the morning advances the crowd begins to thin and the wait is less.
As
