140_takes_4ever
Registered Users (C)
Received my approval letter in the mail on Saturday, and after having waiting 39 months for the damn thing, wasn't going to lose any more time. Was up at 4:00 am on Monday morning, and managed to get in line by 5:00 am. Office opened at 7:00 am, got inside the building and took a number at 7:40 am. Was the 20th person in the 'D' group (PP stamping), and had my passport stamped at 8:40 am. I was told that I would receive the card in 3 - 6 months.
Documents taken for stamping:
1. 2 passport photographs (from Costco)
2. Passport
3. I-94
4. 2-EAD's
5. 4-AP's.
Now for the long version and conclusions:
1. I was 46th in line at 5:00 am, stood for close to 3 hours, and sat for 1 hour. There weren't so many people behind me, I was probably at the midway mark. So I guess it makes sense to go a little later, get your sleep in, and reaching anytime before 6:00 am is good.
2. Though it is summer, it was slightly cold, nothing a light jacket couldn't manage.
3. If you aren't the first 10 people to arrive, it makes sense to get one of those camping chairs, (the light aluminum ones), the people who bought those chairs seemed a lot more comfortable than I did.
4. The rent-a-mob, seems to have a more American face these days than before, and they are slightly less rude, but very slightly.
5. As mentioned in countless other posts, you cannot take anything inside the building, other than papers. Food, water, weapons, camera's, laptop's, cell phones with camera's need to left outside.
6. There was this super efficient woman at counter #11 who was cranking out the 'D' tokens like no one's business. While there were many different categories, (C, I, H, etc.) none of the others had made it to a count of 6, before D reached 20. Offcourse having 4 counters for stamping must have definitely helped, but this one woman did the bulk of the work.
7. While waiting for my paper work to be accepted, I sneaked a peek at the computer screen they were typing at, the database seems to be pretty darn fast, she typed my A# and less than a second later, my case was pulled up.
8. Another interesting observation was that the moment the IIO calls a number a little timer goes off that actually measures how long each clerk takes to deal with a case. I am sure this is used for training and bonus purposes, in which case, it will do wonders for the INS efficiency.
9. The stamp is definitely very anti-climatic, can't believe we have spent years waiting for this little unimpressive stamp. I am hoping the card will make up for it, but I doubt that.
10. Oh and you need to be on the look out for the CIS board, because otherwise you will just miss it in the dark and have to make a U turn.
Documents taken for stamping:
1. 2 passport photographs (from Costco)
2. Passport
3. I-94
4. 2-EAD's
5. 4-AP's.
Now for the long version and conclusions:
1. I was 46th in line at 5:00 am, stood for close to 3 hours, and sat for 1 hour. There weren't so many people behind me, I was probably at the midway mark. So I guess it makes sense to go a little later, get your sleep in, and reaching anytime before 6:00 am is good.
2. Though it is summer, it was slightly cold, nothing a light jacket couldn't manage.
3. If you aren't the first 10 people to arrive, it makes sense to get one of those camping chairs, (the light aluminum ones), the people who bought those chairs seemed a lot more comfortable than I did.
4. The rent-a-mob, seems to have a more American face these days than before, and they are slightly less rude, but very slightly.
5. As mentioned in countless other posts, you cannot take anything inside the building, other than papers. Food, water, weapons, camera's, laptop's, cell phones with camera's need to left outside.
6. There was this super efficient woman at counter #11 who was cranking out the 'D' tokens like no one's business. While there were many different categories, (C, I, H, etc.) none of the others had made it to a count of 6, before D reached 20. Offcourse having 4 counters for stamping must have definitely helped, but this one woman did the bulk of the work.
7. While waiting for my paper work to be accepted, I sneaked a peek at the computer screen they were typing at, the database seems to be pretty darn fast, she typed my A# and less than a second later, my case was pulled up.
8. Another interesting observation was that the moment the IIO calls a number a little timer goes off that actually measures how long each clerk takes to deal with a case. I am sure this is used for training and bonus purposes, in which case, it will do wonders for the INS efficiency.
9. The stamp is definitely very anti-climatic, can't believe we have spent years waiting for this little unimpressive stamp. I am hoping the card will make up for it, but I doubt that.
10. Oh and you need to be on the look out for the CIS board, because otherwise you will just miss it in the dark and have to make a U turn.
