Passport Stamping Experience

A

adman

Registered Users (C)
Got our passports stamped earlier today at the Dallas office (8101 N Stemmons Fwy). Relatively painless experience. My appt was @ 8AM and wife's 8:30AM. We got there around 7:30AM and I had to wait till 7:45 (15 min before the appointment) to get a token, wife had to wait till 8:15. But we got token numbers close to each other and ended up at the counter at the same time (around 8:40AM). The person in the counter took both our passports and processed them at the same time, one after the other. We took all our EAD cards (3 for me and 2 for wife) & APs (2 for both of us) along with 2 ADIT photos & I94. All of the above items were retained by the officer. After stamping, we signed documents along with our right index fingerprint. After that, he crossed out all previous visa stamps in the passport (as well as our expired passports). I recently renewed my passport so I took my new as well as old passport books.

After all that, the last step was stamping the passport with the "temporary" green card. We were told to expect the card within 4-6 weeks.

Good luck to all those who are waiting, especially '01 filers...
 
Questions:

Did you have a valid I-94, mine has expired ? ( I am assuming it is your H1 visa).
Did you get a temporary travel card ? or is the stamp enough ?
Did you provide Arrival and Departure records ? What kind of records ?

Thanks.
 
My I-94 expired in mar '04 along with my H1. I used the EAD thereafter. My understanding is that the stamp in passport is considered equivalent to the Green card till we receive the card in mail. To clarify any confusion, the stamp in pp is what I refered to as "temporary" green card (that's the term the officer at the counter used to explain the stamp to us). And it is valid for 1 year.

I didn't provide any arrival/departure records other than the latest I-94.
 
Thanks !!

Did you schedule your Stamping appt on the web or by telephone ? I am having a hard time scheduling it on the web and I appreciate it if you can pass me the phone number.
 
Did it on the web. Things you may want to try:
1. Log on early in the morning (around 6AM)
2. Take 1 appointment for each member in the household that needs stamping (1 for you and 1 for spouse)
3. Give some time before you make the next appointment through the browser - We were lucky to have 2 different ISPs since we were in the process of switching ISPs. So, did my appointment with 1 ISP and did wife's with the other in a different computer.
4. Try to get the same time slot or adjacent slot for spouse - that'll reduce the time you'll have to wait.
 
Hi Adamn,
I just got mine stamped from OKlahoma city last week, the officer did not stamp passport, instead she stamped in white piece of paper( more likely it looks like a middle part of the I 94 card) with my picture , made it valid for a permanent resident for 1 year till getting the card, even did not take my ead or I 94 card , so I am wondering if I did get the right documents for travel or or not till my original card arrives.
Thanks for all your attention .
 
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