Well My wife and I got our passports stamped yesterday at the Chicago office. It went really well. We had our Infopass appt for 9:10 and we got there around 8. We looked for the state state parking (the one thats $6 all day) but we noticed that the lot everyone has been talking about had a price of $8 per day...so maybe the price went up. Anyways, we found another parking lot on Balboa and State...it was kind of hidden...the guy asked us how long we would be there..and we said till 10:30..so he said $6 for that.
Anywyas, we got to the INS building and the lady downstairs looked at our infopass..and said....well your appt is not till 9:10...so come back around 9. I remember reading that someone got there early and they got to go in before their infopass appt. So we went over to Dunkin Donuts for some coffee. We got back in the building by 9 and went through security and they told us to go the 2nd floor. When we got there...the lady right by the entrance looked at our infopass and wanted to see our pictures. Since we had heard all the stories about the pictures and the ears not showing...I made my wife take 2 different pics just incase one doesn't work. Anyways...so she looked at my picture and said it was OK and then she looked at my wife's picture and said that the picture doesn't show her right ear correctly and we would have to take another pic. So we showed her the second pic and same thing...right ear is not visible. She gave us a ticket and on the ticket it said that the waiting time was 37 minutes. So we went over to walgreens and took the picture. Apparently she had taken her previous pics with her hair tied and since she has small ears...they made her leave her hair down for pic so her ears were more visible. (Just extra detail for those people who would face this problem in the future). Ok so we went back and thru security...again and back up to the second floor..then we showed the lady the new pic and she approved. Then we went over to the waiting area and they were only 6-7 numbers away from our number. There was an African American lady on booth 4 who was really really really rude to the other people. We literally heard her saying...."Now Move away from here....GO GO GO" to a couple who were asking her some questions. My wife and I were thinking...OH NO we hope we don't get her. We also noticed there was a really nice White guy at booth 6 (i think his name was Richard Harding or soemthing)...and we were hoping to get him. Then our number came..and it was at booth 6....THANK GOD!!! We get there..and he asks us to give us our Passports, courtesy copy, I-94, EAD and pics. We didn't have any APs. We asked him how long before we get our plastic card..he said 6 -12 months. He said we could travel on the stamped passport. Then he told us to wait and He said he would do his thing and call us when it was done. We sat around for like 15 mins and he called us..and took us in the back...he showed us the passport and where it was stamped. He kept our 1-94s..and then told us we would need to give our fingerprints and signature. We signed and gave our fingerprints and THAT WAS IT. We walked out and thought to ourselves.....FINALLY ITS DONE!!!. Just thought I would share my experience with the other. let me know if you have any questions..
Anywyas, we got to the INS building and the lady downstairs looked at our infopass..and said....well your appt is not till 9:10...so come back around 9. I remember reading that someone got there early and they got to go in before their infopass appt. So we went over to Dunkin Donuts for some coffee. We got back in the building by 9 and went through security and they told us to go the 2nd floor. When we got there...the lady right by the entrance looked at our infopass and wanted to see our pictures. Since we had heard all the stories about the pictures and the ears not showing...I made my wife take 2 different pics just incase one doesn't work. Anyways...so she looked at my picture and said it was OK and then she looked at my wife's picture and said that the picture doesn't show her right ear correctly and we would have to take another pic. So we showed her the second pic and same thing...right ear is not visible. She gave us a ticket and on the ticket it said that the waiting time was 37 minutes. So we went over to walgreens and took the picture. Apparently she had taken her previous pics with her hair tied and since she has small ears...they made her leave her hair down for pic so her ears were more visible. (Just extra detail for those people who would face this problem in the future). Ok so we went back and thru security...again and back up to the second floor..then we showed the lady the new pic and she approved. Then we went over to the waiting area and they were only 6-7 numbers away from our number. There was an African American lady on booth 4 who was really really really rude to the other people. We literally heard her saying...."Now Move away from here....GO GO GO" to a couple who were asking her some questions. My wife and I were thinking...OH NO we hope we don't get her. We also noticed there was a really nice White guy at booth 6 (i think his name was Richard Harding or soemthing)...and we were hoping to get him. Then our number came..and it was at booth 6....THANK GOD!!! We get there..and he asks us to give us our Passports, courtesy copy, I-94, EAD and pics. We didn't have any APs. We asked him how long before we get our plastic card..he said 6 -12 months. He said we could travel on the stamped passport. Then he told us to wait and He said he would do his thing and call us when it was done. We sat around for like 15 mins and he called us..and took us in the back...he showed us the passport and where it was stamped. He kept our 1-94s..and then told us we would need to give our fingerprints and signature. We signed and gave our fingerprints and THAT WAS IT. We walked out and thought to ourselves.....FINALLY ITS DONE!!!. Just thought I would share my experience with the other. let me know if you have any questions..
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