I just got my passport stamped in the USCIS Des Moines, Iowa office. Before I forget, I would like to post some details that may be useful to other people.
The office is in the Federal Building in downtown Des Moines. The guards at the door did not ask for Infopass printout. You just give them your bag and empty your pocket for the scanner.
The USCIS office is on thrid floor, but the whole setup is a "farmers' operation." (Not to offend farmers out there, I love farmers) They have colored posters/notice the size of 8.5 by 11 on the door and walls. Now there are three doors in that office. They are all the standard yellow office doors. Each door is assigned different functions. The notice is an interesting story. It has three colored 2 by 2 inch squares, pink, yellow and blue, with the number 1, 2, and 3 printed in the square. Then alongside the colored squares, in smaller print, it tells what you should do. But the problem is no one knows what the squares are for and what the numbers mean. Normally, you would think they mean step 1, 2, and 3, by the way they are arranged on the poster/notice. But you are wrong, my friend. The colored sqaures correspond to another piece of 8.5 by 11 colored paper they tape above the door frame. So if your business has to do with what the pink square says, you go to the pink door, etc. Remember the doors are all yellow, and you need to look above the door frame to find the coded color. Also note that, if you are color blind, you are screwed.
The door for passport stamping is pink. Actually pink takes care of all Infopass business. The notice says if you don't have an Infopass appointment, you can use the yellow form to request one. If you have an emergency, you can use the blue form to request an emergency appointment, blah blah blah. BUT, it does NOT have anything to do with what you should do if you HAVE an Inforpass appointment. If you take your printout and walk to the window, then you will meet your firendly INS lady in the uniform. Her last name is Howe, or something like that. She will direct you to read the notice, which does not tell you what to do, and she will not take your Infopass printout. You read the notice, and you will be puzzled, and she will repeat what she just said, as if you don't understand English, although you probably have more education than her whole family combined. Still not sure what to do and since she refuses to tell you more and keeps saying read the notice, you will leave the window and walk to the pink door. There you will find the big secret: a folder that is taped on the door. You know, one of them valina or brown paper bag thingy. On the thing, you will see handwritten notice that says you are supposed to put your infopass printout in the bag and wait. So you put it in there and you wait, while you wonder why the Howe lady couldn't simply say put your printout in that bag, or simply take the damn printout, because later, you obvserve that she opens the door and takes your printout anyway.
Then it was your turn. This part was not that bad. You just give her the papers or whatever and you are done within 10, 20 minutes. Before you leave, the Howe lady will give you a card you can fill out on your way out. You can write comments about the quality of their service, etc on that card. If you want to get them, this is your chance. Think about it, people, this is once in a life time opportunity. You are an alien, with horns on your head and you drip saliva from your mouth all the time, like all the outer space creatures in the movies, and you don't understand English. Now the good old INS is asking for your comment, you should be honored.
One more little detail: the Howe lady did not give a comment card to the girl in front of me because obviously, that girl was pissed off, along with many other confused and angry "aliens"
So the major points of my story:
1. Look up above the door frames; This is America, the Liberty Lady is looking up in the sky, so should you.
2. Don't be color blind. If you are, don't bother applying for a green card. Actually, the card itself is not green, so INS must be color blind. But hey, they can be whatever they want to be, you are still an alien;
3. Don't bother asking any questions. I have the answer to all your questions right here: "Read the notice." As a matter of fact, they should put a recorder there saying "read the notice" I bet they can save a lot of money. Talk about budget cut. That is the way to go.
The office is in the Federal Building in downtown Des Moines. The guards at the door did not ask for Infopass printout. You just give them your bag and empty your pocket for the scanner.
The USCIS office is on thrid floor, but the whole setup is a "farmers' operation." (Not to offend farmers out there, I love farmers) They have colored posters/notice the size of 8.5 by 11 on the door and walls. Now there are three doors in that office. They are all the standard yellow office doors. Each door is assigned different functions. The notice is an interesting story. It has three colored 2 by 2 inch squares, pink, yellow and blue, with the number 1, 2, and 3 printed in the square. Then alongside the colored squares, in smaller print, it tells what you should do. But the problem is no one knows what the squares are for and what the numbers mean. Normally, you would think they mean step 1, 2, and 3, by the way they are arranged on the poster/notice. But you are wrong, my friend. The colored sqaures correspond to another piece of 8.5 by 11 colored paper they tape above the door frame. So if your business has to do with what the pink square says, you go to the pink door, etc. Remember the doors are all yellow, and you need to look above the door frame to find the coded color. Also note that, if you are color blind, you are screwed.
The door for passport stamping is pink. Actually pink takes care of all Infopass business. The notice says if you don't have an Infopass appointment, you can use the yellow form to request one. If you have an emergency, you can use the blue form to request an emergency appointment, blah blah blah. BUT, it does NOT have anything to do with what you should do if you HAVE an Inforpass appointment. If you take your printout and walk to the window, then you will meet your firendly INS lady in the uniform. Her last name is Howe, or something like that. She will direct you to read the notice, which does not tell you what to do, and she will not take your Infopass printout. You read the notice, and you will be puzzled, and she will repeat what she just said, as if you don't understand English, although you probably have more education than her whole family combined. Still not sure what to do and since she refuses to tell you more and keeps saying read the notice, you will leave the window and walk to the pink door. There you will find the big secret: a folder that is taped on the door. You know, one of them valina or brown paper bag thingy. On the thing, you will see handwritten notice that says you are supposed to put your infopass printout in the bag and wait. So you put it in there and you wait, while you wonder why the Howe lady couldn't simply say put your printout in that bag, or simply take the damn printout, because later, you obvserve that she opens the door and takes your printout anyway.
Then it was your turn. This part was not that bad. You just give her the papers or whatever and you are done within 10, 20 minutes. Before you leave, the Howe lady will give you a card you can fill out on your way out. You can write comments about the quality of their service, etc on that card. If you want to get them, this is your chance. Think about it, people, this is once in a life time opportunity. You are an alien, with horns on your head and you drip saliva from your mouth all the time, like all the outer space creatures in the movies, and you don't understand English. Now the good old INS is asking for your comment, you should be honored.
One more little detail: the Howe lady did not give a comment card to the girl in front of me because obviously, that girl was pissed off, along with many other confused and angry "aliens"
So the major points of my story:
1. Look up above the door frames; This is America, the Liberty Lady is looking up in the sky, so should you.
2. Don't be color blind. If you are, don't bother applying for a green card. Actually, the card itself is not green, so INS must be color blind. But hey, they can be whatever they want to be, you are still an alien;
3. Don't bother asking any questions. I have the answer to all your questions right here: "Read the notice." As a matter of fact, they should put a recorder there saying "read the notice" I bet they can save a lot of money. Talk about budget cut. That is the way to go.