I went to get my passport stamped in Newark, NJ yesterday. I have read some relatively positive experiences of people here but I think you need an early morning appointment to get in and out relatively quickly.
My appointment was for 11:15. I arrived at 10:30 and was told that I could not get in line until 11:00 at the earliest. So, at 11:00 I got in line and it took roughly 45 minutes to get to the counter and receive a number. Basically the representative examines all of your documentation, takes your fingerprint and signature, and gives you a number for processing.
It is at this point I realised that my appointment time was bad. Shortly after I had taken a seat, a supervisor announced that the staff would be going for lunch shortly. So, bascially between the hours of 12 and 2 there was hardly any cases being processed. After around 2:15 they started up again. I was finally called around 3pm and the representative processed my documents, informed me that everything looked okay and that once my background check clears they will stamp my passport.
I sat down again and waited about 30 minutes to get my passport back and was told that my card should arrive in 6 to 12 months.
So, my advice is that it is probably better to have an early morning appointment. If your case has not been called by the time they start taking lunch then you'll most likely have to wait until after 2pm.
Good luck!
My appointment was for 11:15. I arrived at 10:30 and was told that I could not get in line until 11:00 at the earliest. So, at 11:00 I got in line and it took roughly 45 minutes to get to the counter and receive a number. Basically the representative examines all of your documentation, takes your fingerprint and signature, and gives you a number for processing.
It is at this point I realised that my appointment time was bad. Shortly after I had taken a seat, a supervisor announced that the staff would be going for lunch shortly. So, bascially between the hours of 12 and 2 there was hardly any cases being processed. After around 2:15 they started up again. I was finally called around 3pm and the representative processed my documents, informed me that everything looked okay and that once my background check clears they will stamp my passport.
I sat down again and waited about 30 minutes to get my passport back and was told that my card should arrive in 6 to 12 months.
So, my advice is that it is probably better to have an early morning appointment. If your case has not been called by the time they start taking lunch then you'll most likely have to wait until after 2pm.
Good luck!