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Debo_nair, here u go detailed experience...
ciba, Here is our stamping experience @ Westminster, ca on Apr 30th. You can post it on your website. Also, Please add me to the Plastic Card tracking
My wife and myself drove from San Jose to Westminster on Sunday. First we really do not want to try on April 30th because of the 245(i) deadline but we had no choice rather than going on Apr 30th looking at the possibilities.
Sunday 7:30PM : We went directly to the INS office to check the lines. To our surprise there weren’t many people except one or two looking at the notices sticked to the door. We checked into the hotel which is close(3.4M) to INS
Sunday 11:00PM : We went to INS once again to check the lines. Not many people were there. So we decided to go there in the morning rather than waiting in the line whole night.
Monday 4:30AM : We checked out the hotel and reached INS at 5AM. To our surprise there is a long curly line of people. Some are sleeping, some sitting in chairs... We were disappointed to see that huge line but we do not want to go back and decided to stand in the line. Approximately there were 150-200 people before us and I was sure that it might grow because their relatives may join when INS starts issuing the tokens.
Monday 6:30AM : Behind us the line increased and it went along the roadside of Magnolia st. Also before us in the line we saw lots of people joined their relative. Security guard showed up and with a loud voice asked to take out the cars that are parked in the reserved parking lots and asked to park in the lot by the side of INS. I do not who owns that lot. Someone opened the gate and my wife parked in the parking lot as we parked our car in the reserved parking lot.
Monday 6:35AM : Again Security guard with loud voice says, those who have 245(i) applications can drop their applications in the box and can go home. A lady was standing besides him with a box. We were VERY HAPPY TO HEAR this. I was sure that lots of people would be gone. The lady with box went along with line to collect the applications. People started dropping their applications in the box. Some people even after dropping in the box waited in the line. The line is now shortened and there were 50-60 people before us. As the line moving, we observed that many people are there to find about the details of 245(i), some for applications etc.. Anyways line moved pretty quickly.
Monday 7:05AM : We went to the counter and mentioned that we were there for stamping. We showed our approval letter and she asked whether we have photos and PP. She tagged photo, approval letter together with a token. We were assigned two numbers one for each. We went inside INS and waited for our number to be displayed.
Monday 7:45 : My number displayed on the display board. As both of our numbers are one after the other. We both went to the counter. In the counter there was black lady officer. I mentioned her that my wife was also there for stamping, she said that\'s ok, "I\'ll do it together". First she asked me for the approval letter, PP. I want to mention here that we went along with the ORIGINAL Approval letters NOT the courtesy copies. She took I-94\'s. She asked whether I have any EADs & APs. I said no. Also, She asked whether I have anything issued by INS regarding any purpose. I don\'t what that means! I said no. She typed my A# on her computer and it displayed my whole history, I looked at it. It has all the details what I filled up during the process. Then she took out a form and took finger prints & signature and stapled the form, approval letter, photos, I-94s together. Congratulating me on becoming PEMANANT RESIDENT, she stamped inside passport. And she has written something above and below the stamp. She said that card will arrive in 6-9 months.
Next she repeated the same process for my wife and congratulated. After completing writing in my wife\'s passport suddenly she remembered something and said to me that she forgot to write my name and DOB below the stamp.
Once again she took my passport and started writing my name, meanwhile some other lady officer came and started discussing about some interview case. The lady officer talking to other officer wrote my DOB as my approval date. I noticed and motioned it to her. She apologized and changed it to my DOB and counter signed. She asked me whether it is ok or do you need other stamp. I said it would be better if I have clean one (hesitatingly...) She apologized once again and canceled the stamp by putting another red stamp across. The stamp says, "CANCELED WITHOUT PREJUDICE". Then she stamped once again and repeated the same. This time everything was ok.
The lady officer was so nice. We had a nice experience. We were out 8:10AM.
From INS, we went to the nearest Social Security Admin office(2.7miles) which is in Garden Grove. This office is located at 12912 BROOKHURST ST, Garden Grove, CA 92840-4835. We surrendered our Social security cards and requested for unrestricted Social Security cards. The officer said our cards will arrive in 2weeks. Here it took 2hrs for them to call our number. We felt INS is better than SSAdministration!!!
At about 11:30AM we drove back to San Jose. It was a nice trip.
question:-areyosamba@hotmail.com
