On Sept 10, I went to have the appointment, which turned out to be a
horrible experience. I went with my family members and while we were
still lining up outside the office, the security guard came out and
demanded everyone's appointment letters (ie notice of appointment)..."
"The office finally opened and the long queue started to move. When it
was our turn, my parents and I got back our appointment letters from
the guard, plus a form to be filled in by each one of us. But my elder
sister still had not got back her form and she was standing at the
doorway. So we asked how come all of 3 of us had got back the
appointment letters but my elder sister had not. Then the guard
accused us of not giving him my sister's appointment letter in the
first place. He refused to admit that he lost my sister's document.
His attitude was very bad and we kept on yelling asking help from
other officers until the officer in charge came out, otherwise no one
would take notice of us. She wasn't of much help though, but her
attitude was better. Minutes later, another officer at the counter
screamed at another applicant who happened to got my sister's
appointment letter by mistake. So the fact was clear that the security
guard got my sister's appointment letter but gave it to another person
lining way before us. So here is a reminder for everyone:
Photocopy all the documents you received and bring them to the
appointment. If the above happens to you, you can still use a clear
photocopy of the letter of appointment as a subsitute. All they need
from the appointment letter was mainly the BARCODE. So the barcode on
the photocopy has to be very clear!
With this complication resolved finally, we sat down to fill in a form
that requires only general personal information. Then we took the
forms to the counter for the officers to double check. After waiting
for a while, we are called to a table where a lady helped us to put a
laser sticker on our green cards. The laser sticker says that the old
green card is extended until March 2006. She didn't put anything on my
passport, but she asked us if we left the country (US) continuously
for 12 months. Of course the answer is no!.."
"Then we waited for another couple of minutes and went to the other
side of the room to have our fingerprints captured and photos taken.
The guy didn't let me see my photo, but you can make the request if
you want to retake the photo in case you don't like the first one."
"So there are two points to take home: 1) photocopy all documents and
bring them to the appointment. You never know when these careless
people will lose your notice of appointment! 2) Make sure your fingers
are not damaged by any paints/chemicals, otherwise your fingerprints
may not come out clearly and have to go again!"
