Our passports were stamped on 4/11/01 at INS SFO. We thought of sharing our experience with the folks
on this board from whom we have benefited.
Our 485s( both mine & my wife\'s) were approved on 3/27/01 and have received approval notices
three days after. At this point , I checked our passports to see if they have minimum validity.
I have noticed my passport has hardly 6 months validity. So , I have decided to renew my passport.
I went to Indian consulate at SFO and submitted the application. They almost took 1 week( 5 biz days)
to process my application and issue me a new passport.
Upon receiving my passport, we have decided to go to INS at SFO( 630, Sansome street)
to get the stamping in our passports. Before going there I have put together all required documents(
passport, courtesy copy of 485 approval, EAD , AP , two ADIT style photographs and two I-94s).
Also I have read the passport stamping experiences of other people from CIBA\'s web site and noted
few important points ( like we need to enter the INS building from Sansome St. entrance and also
things like room numbers etc..)
On Wednesday, we stared from our house in Belmont , CA at 7.30 AM and followed the directions
posted by the INS web site to reach INS SFO( basically 280 North, kings St. exit, on to Embarcedero and
left on Washington St.). We did not see any traffic at that time and reached SFO by 8.30 AM.
We circled the INS building few times , found one metered parking slot and parked our car.
We then headed towards INS building.
We entered INS building through Sansome St. entrance at 8.45 AM ( There are two entrances to the INS building.
1) Washington St. entrance : is for all immigration aspects like I-94 , EAD , AP etc..
2) Sansome St. side entrance : mainly for green card related aspects like stamping , interviews etc..)
We were then asked to go to metal detector and our possession were subjected to x-ray scan( Just
the way you do an airport check-in). During this, we have seen many people rushing through
the entrance and guard has some tough time to manage the people. No body asked us whether we have
any appointment or not. We then took elevator to the second floor and turned right to find
room 200. We entered and tried to find sub room 200B. We then reached the door and put in the
our 485 approval notices in the slot. As soon as we dropped them in , some body took them away
instantly. We then tried to settle somewhere. We found that most of the seats opposite to the
200b room were kind of filled up. This is contrary to popular belief that you do not find any crowd
at INS SFO. Even before we settled, our names were announced and asked us to come to window
19. Officer there looked as if he is in hurry. He filled one form ( seems I-89 or something).
He then asked us to sign on both sides of the form and got our finger prints both sides of the
form( right index finger only). He then asked us to wait for few minutes. After 10 min, the officer
appeared at window 19 and called our names and handed over our passports( What an efficiency!)
He then told us the regular things like the stamp in the passport is temporary green card and we get5
actual cards within 1 year etc..) I then looked at our passport stamps and noticed that stamp
in my passport is kind blurred due to excessive ink so that I was not able to read what is stamped.
I went to officer again and showed him the stamp. He then took it inside and got it re stamped
in another page. The second stamp is like the cousin of the first stamp though it atleast
readable. We then thanked the officer and left the INS building by 9.20 AM. The entire process
took us only 30 min!.
We then drove straight to Social security office in San Mateo to update our records.
We filled the S5 forms( the one we filled initially to get SS cards) and presented them to
the representative along with our passports. She then updated our records( both mine & my wife\'
on this board from whom we have benefited.
Our 485s( both mine & my wife\'s) were approved on 3/27/01 and have received approval notices
three days after. At this point , I checked our passports to see if they have minimum validity.
I have noticed my passport has hardly 6 months validity. So , I have decided to renew my passport.
I went to Indian consulate at SFO and submitted the application. They almost took 1 week( 5 biz days)
to process my application and issue me a new passport.
Upon receiving my passport, we have decided to go to INS at SFO( 630, Sansome street)
to get the stamping in our passports. Before going there I have put together all required documents(
passport, courtesy copy of 485 approval, EAD , AP , two ADIT style photographs and two I-94s).
Also I have read the passport stamping experiences of other people from CIBA\'s web site and noted
few important points ( like we need to enter the INS building from Sansome St. entrance and also
things like room numbers etc..)
On Wednesday, we stared from our house in Belmont , CA at 7.30 AM and followed the directions
posted by the INS web site to reach INS SFO( basically 280 North, kings St. exit, on to Embarcedero and
left on Washington St.). We did not see any traffic at that time and reached SFO by 8.30 AM.
We circled the INS building few times , found one metered parking slot and parked our car.
We then headed towards INS building.
We entered INS building through Sansome St. entrance at 8.45 AM ( There are two entrances to the INS building.
1) Washington St. entrance : is for all immigration aspects like I-94 , EAD , AP etc..
2) Sansome St. side entrance : mainly for green card related aspects like stamping , interviews etc..)
We were then asked to go to metal detector and our possession were subjected to x-ray scan( Just
the way you do an airport check-in). During this, we have seen many people rushing through
the entrance and guard has some tough time to manage the people. No body asked us whether we have
any appointment or not. We then took elevator to the second floor and turned right to find
room 200. We entered and tried to find sub room 200B. We then reached the door and put in the
our 485 approval notices in the slot. As soon as we dropped them in , some body took them away
instantly. We then tried to settle somewhere. We found that most of the seats opposite to the
200b room were kind of filled up. This is contrary to popular belief that you do not find any crowd
at INS SFO. Even before we settled, our names were announced and asked us to come to window
19. Officer there looked as if he is in hurry. He filled one form ( seems I-89 or something).
He then asked us to sign on both sides of the form and got our finger prints both sides of the
form( right index finger only). He then asked us to wait for few minutes. After 10 min, the officer
appeared at window 19 and called our names and handed over our passports( What an efficiency!)
He then told us the regular things like the stamp in the passport is temporary green card and we get5
actual cards within 1 year etc..) I then looked at our passport stamps and noticed that stamp
in my passport is kind blurred due to excessive ink so that I was not able to read what is stamped.
I went to officer again and showed him the stamp. He then took it inside and got it re stamped
in another page. The second stamp is like the cousin of the first stamp though it atleast
readable. We then thanked the officer and left the INS building by 9.20 AM. The entire process
took us only 30 min!.
We then drove straight to Social security office in San Mateo to update our records.
We filled the S5 forms( the one we filled initially to get SS cards) and presented them to
the representative along with our passports. She then updated our records( both mine & my wife\'