All,
We got our stamping done today at the BCIS in Newark.
Decided to take the train (NJ Transit's NE Corridor) into Newark and then walked about 10 mins to the Federal Building. Got there by about 8:10 AM. Went through the typical security check and proceeded to Room 1022 on the 10th floor. At the entrance to the room, the security guard made us (my wife and I) switch off our cellphones in front of him. We entered and were told to sit down.
The security guard then announced our token number and we got into a line to get our signatures and fingerprints recorded. We got this form back and sat down. Then started the agonizing wait. The BCIS folks were moving real slow, and to top it all the building decided to conduct a fire drill ! So promptly at 9:20 everyone stopped working (even though the fire drill supervisor accounced that the drill will start at 9:30). Then to make matters worse, they did the drill first for floors 13,14 and 15. But the officers on our floor did not work during that time. At about 9:45 they announced the "All Clear" for floors 13,14 & 15, and then it was our turn to perform the "drill". So we all started evacuating and proceeded to the stairs and started our climb down. We were supposed to go to the 6th floor, but when we were at the 8th floor, someone announced that we should turn around and head back...so there was considerable confusion, but nevertheless we returned back to room 1022. The time now was 10:15 AM...so we had wasted a full 1 hr on a fire drill for a building that we probably will never ever visit again !
Anywho...once they started processing our number was finally called at 11 AM...the officer took our approval notice, our passports and our EADs and asked us to go back and sit down. Then I asked him if he needed our APs and he realized that he had forgotten to take them ! So I submitted our APs and got back on our seats.
In about 15 mins he called us back, stamped our passports, congratulated us for our Green Card and told us that we should expect our cards in the mail in about 6 months.
Once done at the BCIS, we decided to go to the SSN office next door to get the H1 restriction removed from our SSN card. Waited there for about 30 mins, and then our number was called. Thankfully the SSN office was able to locate our A number on their database (the person on the window told us that its common that they dont find the A number on their database), so she was able to complete the process in about 10 mins. She told us that our cards will arrive in the mail in about 14 days.
We were finally out of the Federal Building by 12:15....total time taken was 4 hrs 15 mins....
I hope this was our last "standing in line" experience.....
All the best everyone.
We got our stamping done today at the BCIS in Newark.
Decided to take the train (NJ Transit's NE Corridor) into Newark and then walked about 10 mins to the Federal Building. Got there by about 8:10 AM. Went through the typical security check and proceeded to Room 1022 on the 10th floor. At the entrance to the room, the security guard made us (my wife and I) switch off our cellphones in front of him. We entered and were told to sit down.
The security guard then announced our token number and we got into a line to get our signatures and fingerprints recorded. We got this form back and sat down. Then started the agonizing wait. The BCIS folks were moving real slow, and to top it all the building decided to conduct a fire drill ! So promptly at 9:20 everyone stopped working (even though the fire drill supervisor accounced that the drill will start at 9:30). Then to make matters worse, they did the drill first for floors 13,14 and 15. But the officers on our floor did not work during that time. At about 9:45 they announced the "All Clear" for floors 13,14 & 15, and then it was our turn to perform the "drill". So we all started evacuating and proceeded to the stairs and started our climb down. We were supposed to go to the 6th floor, but when we were at the 8th floor, someone announced that we should turn around and head back...so there was considerable confusion, but nevertheless we returned back to room 1022. The time now was 10:15 AM...so we had wasted a full 1 hr on a fire drill for a building that we probably will never ever visit again !
Anywho...once they started processing our number was finally called at 11 AM...the officer took our approval notice, our passports and our EADs and asked us to go back and sit down. Then I asked him if he needed our APs and he realized that he had forgotten to take them ! So I submitted our APs and got back on our seats.
In about 15 mins he called us back, stamped our passports, congratulated us for our Green Card and told us that we should expect our cards in the mail in about 6 months.
Once done at the BCIS, we decided to go to the SSN office next door to get the H1 restriction removed from our SSN card. Waited there for about 30 mins, and then our number was called. Thankfully the SSN office was able to locate our A number on their database (the person on the window told us that its common that they dont find the A number on their database), so she was able to complete the process in about 10 mins. She told us that our cards will arrive in the mail in about 14 days.
We were finally out of the Federal Building by 12:15....total time taken was 4 hrs 15 mins....
I hope this was our last "standing in line" experience.....
All the best everyone.
ct/18
