Finally I got the passport stamping done at San Jose today. I just followed bigshot's suggestions. (My I-485 approval letter said that I have to go to Boston INS office since I started my GC processing when I was working in Boston. I recently moved to the Bay area).
- Reached INS office at 6:30am. There were two queues.
One of them was for "appointments only" with about 5 people in it and the other was for non-apptmt with about 50+ people already. (An interesting fact: the guy who was standing first in the non-apptmt line got there at midnight and the second guy was there from 2am!). Even the appointment line builds up pretty quick when it gets close to 7am. Be there by 6-6:30 to be sure.
- Just stand in the "appointments only" queue. Dont bother asking the security. They will let in all the appointments cases before even starting the other queue.
- At 7:10 I got in. Security looked at I-485 approval letter (he doesnt read it, so out of state applicants need not worry!) and a photo id.
- Next is the annoying security check. Remove shoes, belts, any sort of metal chains, finger rings. Try to avoid these if possible (not a big deal). They specifically dont let in any cell phones with cameras. Leave those in the car.
- After the security check, walk straight ahead and stand in the next line to get a token. Dont waste time here. Others might jump ahead.
- The lady giving the token saw my I-485 letter from Boston and asked me if I live in San Jose. I said Santa Clara county and that was it. No one verified that I really do live here!!
- Waited for about 20 minutes and my number was called.
- Gave my I-485 approval letter, passport, old/new APs, EAD, I-94, 2 photos
(That is all that I took with me). Signed and took (index only) finger print.
Was asked to wait.
- 20 minutes later, I got my passport back with the stamp on it. The temporary GC is valid for 1 yr (if your passport doesnt expire before that).
If you get there by 6:30 _atleast_, you are likely to be out by 8:30am. It was not all that crowded inside for the first few hours.
Thats all folks!