My trip to the INS Center in Atlanta.

[ramanathansunda]

Guys and Gals, I drove 350 miles on the 4th to my friends Citizenship interview, in Atlanta. While there I decided to go in to see how the system worked just for the heck of it. To my surprise everyone was extremely friendly. These observations would help some of you on this forum.
1) EAD Cards are issued on the same day ( Yes cards and not a stamp on your passport) to those that can show a receipt notice with proof of waiting 90 days. There is a big hall with a sign saying Employment auth in front of it. Two separate INS officers said we could come in anytime before 2 PM and get our cards, with proof of filing.The security officers in front of the building screen you on the basis of your visit and direct you to different lines. ( A answer such as I just came here with my friend is also acceptable!!! ). Tokens are issued to the general public for personal time with an INS officer between 7.30AM and noon, but the decision to stop issuing tokens can be made at any time based on the case load. Although I did not get a token, I still managed to get my questions answered just by hanging around. Everyone was helpful.

 

[vzexemp]

About Atlanta INS

I went there( Atlanta INS) some time ago to get interim EAD after not having heard from Texas Service center for nearly 90 days. On 90th day, I got the EAD at Atlanta. The customer service people and the EAD officer were very professional, and handed me the EAD on 90th day without fuss.
After a week I got the real EAD from Texas Servicecenter!
But, the EAD officer in Atlanta told me that I would not
get another EAD from Texas.
Overall I felt that Atlanta INS office is really efficient. It processes some EAD and APs in advance and
people need to walk in get them in a few minutes though they
still have to stand in line. The walk-ins would take more time, since the officers have to performs the checks that they would
have done in advance otherwise. On most days the EAD and AP
processing seems to take only about 5 hours with people
waiting. The rest of the time must be spent by the officers in processing the applications in advance.

Also I asked if there is indication of the change of address I had provided earlier. The EAD officer said that there is no indication of it in the system. Surprise. I got the EAD to my correct address from the Texas Service center, though I filed it from the previous address. I came away with good feeling after visiting the
Atlanta office. The same cannot be said about the Texas Service
center. However, I did not have any problem with INS except for
the pending resolution of my I485 case. The online status
has not changed in a long time. There is no indication of the
receipt of the first FP though FBI acknowledged
processing it, and there is no indication of second FP notice in
the online status information
though my lawyer says that second FP notice has been received.
The Texas service center does not work correctly at all. I am not
not sure how the management at the Texas service center is so
tolerant of this much inefficiency. After having visited an
application service center in Tampa Florida, and after having visited Atlanta INS office, I feel that the people are really doing their jobs in the government. They seem to know the rules. Other government offices including other BCIS service centers and field offices and application centers seem to be much more efficient. I am wondering what is really going on at Texas Service center. Is it the attitude or is it the mode of operation or is it the
lack of human resources or is it any unresolved gap in the processing procedures that is causing so much anguish?

This is my two cents worth of thought for the day.