Passport Stamping Exp. - Charlotte, 03/18/04

A

Anajoti

Registered Users (C)
Just got my passport stamped in Charlotte. Got there around 7AM (planned to come earlier, but the night before was St. Patrick's Day so I went out drinking w/ friends where I stayed), ended up being about 20th in line. They opened up around 7:45AM, let us in, waited in the waiting room until around 9:15, got called. Gave the officer the approval notice, all EADs, original I-94, the passport, and the photos. He took my index finger print on the form, asked me to go back and wait for the stamp. He took the passport in the back, then about 20 min later, another officer brought it back w/ a piece of paper in it. Then the one that processed me, took it, put the stamp in, wrote the A# and the expiration date by hand. Explained to me what the stamp can be used for (proof of legal status, employment, travel), said that the plastic card may take up to 1 year or longer, but if I don't get it, I could always come back and renew the stamp once it expires. Outta there just before 10AM.

Overall, a pretty decent experience. None of the officers I dealt with or observed were extra nice, but they were all very professional and cordial. The building and the USCIS offices are new and very nice. Be careful what you take there, you do go through metal detectors, and I had to have a good samaritan keep my place in line while I ran to my car to dispose of the small Swiss Army multi-tool that I have on my keychain. Also, food and drinks are not allowed.

If anyone else is planning to go there for PP stamp or anything else, and have questions feel free to ask.

RD - 06/01
ND - 06/01
FP - 01/03
Transfer TSC2VSC - 02/04
AD - 03/06/04
Stamping done - 03/18/04
Plastic - ??????
 
Congrats! One question

your case was transferred to VSC in Feb, 04. I wonder whether you asked TSC to transfer your case or they automatically do that though you didn't ask them to do so. And, after transfer, you case was sent to local or to the VSC and got in the line or start new queue. Thanks
 
Congratulations Anajoti

Do you have the exact new address of Charlotte stamping office.

Could you pl provide it.
 
tsc123102, no I never asked TSC to transfer the case. They did it on their own. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because VSC honored the initial RD/ND (way before the current processing dates for them), picked it right up, and approved it within 3 weeks of transfer. And it was the VSC in St Albans, VT that did it, not a local office. The case retained its original receipt #, it was kind of weird to see the approval notice coming from VSC but having the case # that starts with "SRC-..."


Cary6, the address of 6130 Tyvola Centre Dr, Charlotte NC 28217.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.ad...e&state=nc&zipcode=&historyid=&submit=Get+Map
 
which days?

Hi,
Is there a specific day of the week we are supposed to go to the Charlotte office for passport stamping?
thanks in advance
 
Re: which days?

Originally posted by original_007
Hi,
Is there a specific day of the week we are supposed to go to the Charlotte office for passport stamping?
thanks in advance
Click to expand...

The approval notice says Tue-Thu, 8AM-12PM. I suggest you get there well before 7AM. If you live in or close to Charlotte, you may want to try going on a Monday. You never know what can happen, and in the worst case, you'd just have to come back another day.
 
Anajoti, Pl.. advice

Did your approval notice had the address as 6130 Tyvola Centre Dr, Charlotte NC 28217?

I need to do my Passport stamping in Charlotte and the address did not have the Tyvola centre, but something like woodlawn rd..
Don't remember the exact address.

Appreciate your help.
 
Filed in VSC

Sorry, I forgot to mention my case is filed in VSC. Just want to find the passport stamping experience in Charlotte,
 
Go to the Tyvola Drive address. The other address is a valid USCIS office, but they don't do the passport stamping there.
 
got passport stamped

Hi all,
went for passport stamping at the Charlotte center yesterday (3/30/2004), wow, thats 2 years 7 months after ND of the I-485.

Ok, got there at about 6:15am, yup, left North Raleigh at precisely 3am. Took about 2:45 hrs drive time with a 20 min break. there is a rest area around exit 60 on I-85 a little north ~20 miles) of Charlotte. Its at a good location to freshen up after a 2 hr drive. From I-85 , take I-77 and then exit 5 for tyvola road. on tyvola road look for a big sign "Tyvola Center" (on a circular concrete plaque) on the left. It seems like its an enterance to an apartment complex, but its the 'Tyvola Center Drive", I couldn't read the street name. the other option is to keep travelling on tyvola rd, make a left on Tyron, then a left on Tyvola Center drive.

Well, once there, 2 die hard famlies were already there before us. the first one had arrived at 4:30am...what dedication, there was no way i was gonna beat that. It was quite cold that early, so every one sortta stayed in their cars till about 5-6 cars. Around 6:35am the line started forming so I took my spot as #3 in the line. Make sure you take warm clothes, wear a thermal and have a hat. The line area is covered, but the wind will get you. The guards showed up around 7:00am and asked for ppl. who had appointments. they go to a different part of the building.
At around 7:30 or so they started to let ppl. in. The line had about 40-50 ppl. in line. We went through a metal detector, empty your pockets, the magic wand..the usual stuff, oh yeah..turn off your cell phones, and do not use them while in the building..Went to the receptionist guy, showed him the approval letter and got the number...It was B200 and B201 (for me and my wife)...we were the first onces for passport stamping.. the two ppl. infront of us had A001 and A002 numbers for general questions, i believe.
Went to the waiting area, nice chairs and much warmer then outside. The INS officer came at about 7:30am. Our number was called at about 7:45am, gave him the approval notice (both the original from lawyer and courtesy copy), Advance parole and EAD, along with photos and passport with I-94 attached. He said he only needed one copy of the Approval notice and gave the courtesy copy back to us (it doesn't matter which one you take.) He collected the documents for my wife and took the index finger finger-prints and signature. Then since there was no other officer working at this time, he took my approval and the usual paperwork. If there was another officer present, most likely my number might be called out by her/him. So if you are with a spouse, make seperate files for each approval.
He told us that they have to do a security check and we can have a seat. Our names were called out after about an hour at 8:45am. The officer stamped the passport and told us that it is valid for 1 year, and the cards are taking more than a year to make, so come back after a year to get a new stamp. Also, told us that its valid for travel and work, and we do not need to fill out a i-94 any more. i though the officer was pretty polite and professional to actually take the time to show us the stamp, compare the A#s to make sure he wrote them down correctly and explain the benefits of the stamp.
Well, we were outta there at about 8:50am. There were about 80-100 ppl. when we left. A second officer came to duty around 8am, and they were processing about 10 cases per hour, so if you came at 8am, be prepared to spend your lunch hour there. When we left there was no line outside, everyone was seated and it appeared pretty calm and quite, but hey looks can be deceiving. So come early before 7am if you want to leave quickly.
Ok, enough of my rant now, some case stats:
PD - last century some time July 99
ND - 08/2001
FP - 01/2003 - manually requested - very grateful to guys on this board who posted their experience of requesting FP, and prompted me to do the same.
RFE - yup - after 2 and half years, the officers wants to know my status during my school days...1990 - 1998. surprisingly, didn't ask anything about my current job, or if i even have one after the telecom bust!
AD - 3/18/2004, (wife's was on 3/19/2004)
Passport stamp --- wahooooo-- 3/30/2004
awaiting the card...next stop - the blue card, insallah.
btw: i had to go for special registration ( i felt sooooo very special) last year.
also, went to SS yesterday to get that discriminatory 'valid for work with INS authorization' statement off.
good luck to all who are waiting, and thanks to all the dedicated members on this forum.
 
original_007 - That was probably the best narrative/post I have ever seen! You made a boring thing (like waiting in line) sound gripping and interesting while reading! Hope you get your cards soon. Good luck!
 
original_007, I agree, that was such an awesome description, brought back the memories from 2 weeks ago. BTW, I was B210 that day, and I was done just before 10AM. You were hardcore, leaving Raleigh at 3AM, I mean it's not a bad drive, it just sucks if you have to start driving at 3AM. I guess I'm lucky to have friends in Charlotte where I could stay the night, so I didn't have to do the early morning drive, because if there's ever someone who's not an early morning person, then that's me. BTW, I live in North Raleigh too, what do you think about all these airplane accidents happening around here lately????

For other people making this trip, a few more things:

1) Tyvola Center is on the left side if you are going from 77 on Tryon, very easy to miss if you don't pay attention
2) On the way back, if you have to make a stop a good place is the rest area around Burlington, around exit 138 or so (these are the I85 exit numbers, eventhough at that point 40 and 85 run together)
3) Be careful what you bring w/ you to the center, no food or drink is allowed, and the security screening is like at the airport, so make sure you leave all the pocket knives, nailfiles and such in your car
 
thank both original_007 and Anajoti !!

i plan to go there tomorrow, your guides are awesome, i have printed out, so i can enjoy it again when i wait for stemp :p

thank you guys again, you are really great :D
 
cplusplus,

Did you for Chalotte office on April 1, 2004 ?

I assume based on this message that you posted on late night of 31 Mar 2004.

I went to Charlotte office with my wife and child - we got stamping done....

Did you see us there ?
 
Originally posted by Toolongawait
cplusplus,

Did you for Chalotte office on April 1, 2004 ?

I assume based on this message that you posted on late night of 31 Mar 2004.

I went to Charlotte office with my wife and child - we got stamping done....

Did you see us there ?
Click to expand...

so sorry, missed you and your family :rolleyes:

i posted details in your new thread "Stamping experience @ Charlotte 04/01/2004"

i got B201, B200 was couple with child but only wfie got stamp, B2002 was girl, i had no clue to B2003 ...., you may got B210?

i do not want to miss you again in our citizen ceremony in 2009 :p

good luck to you and your family for new life in the states!! :D :D
 
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