Reached Newark by car at 10 am. the newark downtown is not exactly very visitor friendly. so car or cab is better than walking from the penn station if you are going with the family. be prepared for rough and agressive drivers on the road and drugged or plain jobless guys standing on the sidewalks.
we parked on the E kinny st paid parking which is next to the Federal building AND is adjecent to the side entrance on Orchard St which is much less crowded compared to the front entrance.
We had decided to take the photograph at Newark to avoid getting turned back from the BCIS office.
Indian photographer shop visible from orchard st entrance lists $15 for green card photos. Prior to getting photographed if you tell the market rate of $ 10 for set of 4, she charges $ 12. felt like i am in Chandigadh or Delhi.
kids' photographs were NOT required and they were NOT finger printed at the BCIS office.
took orchard st side entrance (after showing the approval letter and security check X- ray etc.) it leads to lobby where you take the elevator to 2nd floor. take the token number from the second floor office (we were the only ones at 10:01 am in this room
).
went to 10th floor where at the entrance of the room we were asked to switch off our respective cell phones. once inside took a seat and waited for the guard to call our numbers to stand in a que. this que lead to checking of our approval letters and finger printing and signature on the form ( we are NOT supposed to write onthis form). The lady at the counter guessed (correctly!) from the signature that wife is either doctor or engineer this was the only lighter side of the BCIS employees we could see in the entire process. BTW she did not guess the same about me from my signature so much for the power of predictions from signature analysis.
once the form is in our hand we can not leave the floor till we give it back to the counter where our token number is called (displayed on LED display) second time.
this time we went to the counter and gave our signed and finger printed BLANK form, all EADs, all APs, Passports, Approval letters, Photographs (2 copies). they take families together so all token numbers from one family at the same counter.
we were again asked to wait. it was nearly 11:45 the waiting hall was almost empty but poeple were still comming in and were getting serviced more quickly because of the lesser load.
If you take kids with you take the seats next to the widows on the 10th floor waiting room (keeps them busy with the outside view and also away from the main waiting area so less annoyance to the other people in tha hall.
One perticularly hyper kid was keeping his mom very busy running behind him while his dad was not much concerned and finally the mother decided to establish her authority (over the husband) across the hall to the amusement of the entire hall. though she would have shamed the queens from Chola or Vijayanagar empires with the command over her subject we consoled our selves by recollecting tales of nordic ladies famous for disciplining their hubbies with not so feminine mathods
Better to take some reading material for yourself and kids.
the rest rooms are on the same floor and you dont need gurds' permission to leave the hall with or without kids.
Eating or drinking (even water) is not permitted in the waiting area you can go to 2nd floor cafeteria if you need to eat or drink (except for the period when you have the blank form with fingerprint and signature, you cant leave the floor when the form is with you)
the last time we were called to return our passports with the stamp and the A number and EAC number. we ensured that the numbers are as per our approval notices. the lady who processed this was of african origin and was looking as bored as rest of us so she did not bother telling us the benefits of having green card or when the plastic cards will arrive or welcome to america etc we missed that ritual
went to the next door office of Social security admin to remove the restriction on our SSN. applied for the SSN fo rthe kid. we got almost instant service at this office probably because it was late afternoon.
we left the federal building at 2 pm . paid $ 10 for parking (8.95 actual parking charge)
drank the all american apple juice in the car and proceeded to our favorite Indian restaurant for lunch reminding us that the taste buds and the neurons have still not unlearned the great taste of Indian food.
some things remain same even after the green card
i dont know about the freedom but it feels good to be able to do whatever you want in terms of learning and earning without the fear of breaking some law of the land. it was a feeling of being in India again - the country where everyone was and is truely free with or without a valid visa.
the nepali bangladeshi tibetans and pakistanis with no valid visa or work permit freely move around and earn a living in India even today and so did the Parsees and Jews and siddis(africans) fleeing from persecution in the land of their origins a few centuries back . they till date live happily on the west coast and countless number of descendants of mongols caucasians persians portugeze french british chinese who made india their home. I think the Jahan Panah model of anyone anywhere (Jahan) could take shelter (panah) in India and work his way to prosperatiy was the reason for India's prosperity in those days. America has more or less emulated the same model so far. lets hope it remains free in future too and does not fall in the hands of bigots.
Best wishes to all of you for a speedy approval (everyone will get approved eventually).
Since the BCIS process is really moving fast again be prepared to get the approval earlier than you had expected.
regards
Olman
we parked on the E kinny st paid parking which is next to the Federal building AND is adjecent to the side entrance on Orchard St which is much less crowded compared to the front entrance.
We had decided to take the photograph at Newark to avoid getting turned back from the BCIS office.
Indian photographer shop visible from orchard st entrance lists $15 for green card photos. Prior to getting photographed if you tell the market rate of $ 10 for set of 4, she charges $ 12. felt like i am in Chandigadh or Delhi.
kids' photographs were NOT required and they were NOT finger printed at the BCIS office.
took orchard st side entrance (after showing the approval letter and security check X- ray etc.) it leads to lobby where you take the elevator to 2nd floor. take the token number from the second floor office (we were the only ones at 10:01 am in this room
).went to 10th floor where at the entrance of the room we were asked to switch off our respective cell phones. once inside took a seat and waited for the guard to call our numbers to stand in a que. this que lead to checking of our approval letters and finger printing and signature on the form ( we are NOT supposed to write onthis form). The lady at the counter guessed (correctly!) from the signature that wife is either doctor or engineer this was the only lighter side of the BCIS employees we could see in the entire process. BTW she did not guess the same about me from my signature so much for the power of predictions from signature analysis
.once the form is in our hand we can not leave the floor till we give it back to the counter where our token number is called (displayed on LED display) second time.
this time we went to the counter and gave our signed and finger printed BLANK form, all EADs, all APs, Passports, Approval letters, Photographs (2 copies). they take families together so all token numbers from one family at the same counter.
we were again asked to wait. it was nearly 11:45 the waiting hall was almost empty but poeple were still comming in and were getting serviced more quickly because of the lesser load.
If you take kids with you take the seats next to the widows on the 10th floor waiting room (keeps them busy with the outside view and also away from the main waiting area so less annoyance to the other people in tha hall.
One perticularly hyper kid was keeping his mom very busy running behind him while his dad was not much concerned and finally the mother decided to establish her authority (over the husband) across the hall to the amusement of the entire hall. though she would have shamed the queens from Chola or Vijayanagar empires with the command over her subject we consoled our selves by recollecting tales of nordic ladies famous for disciplining their hubbies with not so feminine mathods
Better to take some reading material for yourself and kids.
the rest rooms are on the same floor and you dont need gurds' permission to leave the hall with or without kids.
Eating or drinking (even water) is not permitted in the waiting area you can go to 2nd floor cafeteria if you need to eat or drink (except for the period when you have the blank form with fingerprint and signature, you cant leave the floor when the form is with you)
the last time we were called to return our passports with the stamp and the A number and EAC number. we ensured that the numbers are as per our approval notices. the lady who processed this was of african origin and was looking as bored as rest of us so she did not bother telling us the benefits of having green card or when the plastic cards will arrive or welcome to america etc we missed that ritual
went to the next door office of Social security admin to remove the restriction on our SSN. applied for the SSN fo rthe kid. we got almost instant service at this office probably because it was late afternoon.
we left the federal building at 2 pm . paid $ 10 for parking (8.95 actual parking charge)
drank the all american apple juice in the car and proceeded to our favorite Indian restaurant for lunch reminding us that the taste buds and the neurons have still not unlearned the great taste of Indian food.
some things remain same even after the green card
i dont know about the freedom but it feels good to be able to do whatever you want in terms of learning and earning without the fear of breaking some law of the land. it was a feeling of being in India again - the country where everyone was and is truely free with or without a valid visa.
the nepali bangladeshi tibetans and pakistanis with no valid visa or work permit freely move around and earn a living in India even today and so did the Parsees and Jews and siddis(africans) fleeing from persecution in the land of their origins a few centuries back . they till date live happily on the west coast and countless number of descendants of mongols caucasians persians portugeze french british chinese who made india their home. I think the Jahan Panah model of anyone anywhere (Jahan) could take shelter (panah) in India and work his way to prosperatiy was the reason for India's prosperity in those days. America has more or less emulated the same model so far. lets hope it remains free in future too and does not fall in the hands of bigots.
Best wishes to all of you for a speedy approval (everyone will get approved eventually).
Since the BCIS process is really moving fast again be prepared to get the approval earlier than you had expected.
regards
Olman