Folks,
This morning, we got our passports stamped at Newark.
The entire process took around 3 hours.
Ours was a 10:30 appt. Got there at 10:00. Stood outside in the line for 15 mins. Once in, went to the 3rd floor where they asked for our infopass appts. Then once inside the hall, stood in a line for 35 mins and then got to a window where the officer asked us for the passports, infopass etc. Got a token and were asked to wait untill token # was called.
After 60-70 mins. wait our # was called. There the officer took our I-94s, EAD cards and the I-485 approvals and told us that they were going to do a background check. She asked us to wait again. Since we didn't have any breakfast, we went to the 2nd floor and had some lunch. Don't bother. Horrible ! Undercooked Pizza.
Once back upstairs, our # was called again after 1/2 hr and here she asked us when was the last time we entered the US. They didn't have the most recent entry in their system. Anyway, she said not to worry. She then started to write stuff on our passports such as 485 approved date, EAC #, etc. Then she stamped it with the red stamp which hardly seemed like the thing we had been waiting for 3.5 years ! What a journey just for this little stamp. She congratulated us. "You are now permanent residents and you could use this stamp for MVS, SSN etc." She said it takes between 6 months and a year to receive the cards (is this true ? From our member's experiences, how long does it take these days to receive the plastic cards ? A month or so ?) The passport stamp is valid until Dec. 1st 2005. i.e. a year from now.
We then went to the SSN office on the 10th floor in order to get the DHS work authorization clause removed. They gave us forms and we waited for 20 mins. Then since the line was long, we realized that this could be done by mail. So we left.
Overall, the 3 1/2 hr wait was kinda long but better than the 3 1/2 years wait.
It went pretty smooth. No complaints.
Hope everyone here gets their approvals very soon.
RIR LC Filed: 7/23/2001
LC approved after several RFEs: 9/30/2003
140/485/EAD concurrent filing RD/ND: 11/13/2003 / 11/21/2003
EAD AP: 3/24/2004
140 AP: 8/17/2004
My FP1: 10/23/2004
Wife's FP1: 11/9/2004
485 AD (Wife and I): November 17, 2004
Received I-797C approval notices for Wife and I: November 24, 2004
Passports stamped in Newark with I-551 pending stamp: 12/02/2004
I-551 Plastic 'GREEN' Cards:
This morning, we got our passports stamped at Newark.
The entire process took around 3 hours.
Ours was a 10:30 appt. Got there at 10:00. Stood outside in the line for 15 mins. Once in, went to the 3rd floor where they asked for our infopass appts. Then once inside the hall, stood in a line for 35 mins and then got to a window where the officer asked us for the passports, infopass etc. Got a token and were asked to wait untill token # was called.
After 60-70 mins. wait our # was called. There the officer took our I-94s, EAD cards and the I-485 approvals and told us that they were going to do a background check. She asked us to wait again. Since we didn't have any breakfast, we went to the 2nd floor and had some lunch. Don't bother. Horrible ! Undercooked Pizza.
Once back upstairs, our # was called again after 1/2 hr and here she asked us when was the last time we entered the US. They didn't have the most recent entry in their system. Anyway, she said not to worry. She then started to write stuff on our passports such as 485 approved date, EAC #, etc. Then she stamped it with the red stamp which hardly seemed like the thing we had been waiting for 3.5 years ! What a journey just for this little stamp. She congratulated us. "You are now permanent residents and you could use this stamp for MVS, SSN etc." She said it takes between 6 months and a year to receive the cards (is this true ? From our member's experiences, how long does it take these days to receive the plastic cards ? A month or so ?) The passport stamp is valid until Dec. 1st 2005. i.e. a year from now.
We then went to the SSN office on the 10th floor in order to get the DHS work authorization clause removed. They gave us forms and we waited for 20 mins. Then since the line was long, we realized that this could be done by mail. So we left.
Overall, the 3 1/2 hr wait was kinda long but better than the 3 1/2 years wait.
It went pretty smooth. No complaints.
Hope everyone here gets their approvals very soon.
RIR LC Filed: 7/23/2001
LC approved after several RFEs: 9/30/2003
140/485/EAD concurrent filing RD/ND: 11/13/2003 / 11/21/2003
EAD AP: 3/24/2004
140 AP: 8/17/2004
My FP1: 10/23/2004
Wife's FP1: 11/9/2004
485 AD (Wife and I): November 17, 2004
Received I-797C approval notices for Wife and I: November 24, 2004
Passports stamped in Newark with I-551 pending stamp: 12/02/2004
I-551 Plastic 'GREEN' Cards: