Went to the INS office at 7:15AM. Walked all the way from Penn station. It was a short 10 minutes walk. But there were all kinds of unsavoury looking characters hanging around in the street all the way. So if you go with your family please take a cab.
There were 28 people before me. At 8 they let us in. Went to the 2nd floor and got the token. Then they asked me to go to the 10th floor. At 8:40 my number was called. I gave my EADs., Advance parole, I-94 and photos and took my fingerprint. Then they put all the documents in a envelope and handed them back to me along with some form(we are not supposed to fill in the form). I was asked to go back to my seat. 20 minutes later I was called again. I gave the envelope and the officer told me that he will call me back in 10 minutes. This wait was for the IBIS check. 10 minutes later he called me back and stamped my passport. I was done by 9:10AM. Altogether it was a pleasant experience.
My PD, ND details are here: http://www.immigrationportal.com/WebX?128@31.688Ybt7Weij^338769@.efe70e5
My wife got a third FP notice. So our greencard ordeal is not over yet. Hopefully it will end soon.
Next I went to the Social Security office next door to change my status on the ss card. I was given token #109. Thert were processing token #106 at that time. It took them 2 and half hours to call my number. Most people who came after me threw the token away in disgust and left, because of the long wait. They serviced only those who came in to collect benefits. The status change people like me were given the least priority. So if you need to change your SS status avoid the office in the INS building in Newark. Go to your local SS office.
There were 28 people before me. At 8 they let us in. Went to the 2nd floor and got the token. Then they asked me to go to the 10th floor. At 8:40 my number was called. I gave my EADs., Advance parole, I-94 and photos and took my fingerprint. Then they put all the documents in a envelope and handed them back to me along with some form(we are not supposed to fill in the form). I was asked to go back to my seat. 20 minutes later I was called again. I gave the envelope and the officer told me that he will call me back in 10 minutes. This wait was for the IBIS check. 10 minutes later he called me back and stamped my passport. I was done by 9:10AM. Altogether it was a pleasant experience.
My PD, ND details are here: http://www.immigrationportal.com/WebX?128@31.688Ybt7Weij^338769@.efe70e5
My wife got a third FP notice. So our greencard ordeal is not over yet. Hopefully it will end soon.
Next I went to the Social Security office next door to change my status on the ss card. I was given token #109. Thert were processing token #106 at that time. It took them 2 and half hours to call my number. Most people who came after me threw the token away in disgust and left, because of the long wait. They serviced only those who came in to collect benefits. The status change people like me were given the least priority. So if you need to change your SS status avoid the office in the INS building in Newark. Go to your local SS office.