I went yesterday to the SJ INS office.
I got there at 3 am at which time there were already about 50 people in the line. My wife and children joined me later at about 6.30 am. The doors opened at 7 am - you pass through a metal detector and get your bags x-rayed - much like the procedure at the airport. You are asked not to bring in any food, drinks or water - however, you can take a diaper bag with baby food if you have a small baby (they check the contents of the bag physically). We saw others bring in a stroller too - we had left ours in the car because I thought it may not be allowed in.
You get a number and settle down to wait - the numbers are based on the kind of business you have come there for - we got numbers 312 and 313, in the series starting with 301 - others get different series of numbers. After you get the number, you can go out to the car park and come back if needed.
Based on the initial pace, when there was only one window (only 2-3 of the 12 windows were manned) processing cases in the 300 series, I thought we were in for a long wait, with each person taking about 20-30 minutes at the counter. Suddenly, at about 9 am, four more windows started up, and our numbers were called before we knew it. I think it helped that I had a baby sleeping on my shoulder - the officer only took my approval notice, advance parole (I never had an EAD), photographs and passport with I-94, took my fingerprints and went back to affix the stamp on my passport and I was done in less than 5 minutes! I think the others took longer because they were asked to partially fill out some form - in my case, she did it herself after I had left the counter! We were out at 10 am.
Generally - a plesant experience, except for the long wait in the morning. As others have recommended before - take a folding chair, dress warmly, and if you want to read, take a flashlight. I would also recommend that the day before you go, drive by the place and familiarize yourself with the location and the parking lot.
Hope this is useful.
I got there at 3 am at which time there were already about 50 people in the line. My wife and children joined me later at about 6.30 am. The doors opened at 7 am - you pass through a metal detector and get your bags x-rayed - much like the procedure at the airport. You are asked not to bring in any food, drinks or water - however, you can take a diaper bag with baby food if you have a small baby (they check the contents of the bag physically). We saw others bring in a stroller too - we had left ours in the car because I thought it may not be allowed in.
You get a number and settle down to wait - the numbers are based on the kind of business you have come there for - we got numbers 312 and 313, in the series starting with 301 - others get different series of numbers. After you get the number, you can go out to the car park and come back if needed.
Based on the initial pace, when there was only one window (only 2-3 of the 12 windows were manned) processing cases in the 300 series, I thought we were in for a long wait, with each person taking about 20-30 minutes at the counter. Suddenly, at about 9 am, four more windows started up, and our numbers were called before we knew it. I think it helped that I had a baby sleeping on my shoulder - the officer only took my approval notice, advance parole (I never had an EAD), photographs and passport with I-94, took my fingerprints and went back to affix the stamp on my passport and I was done in less than 5 minutes! I think the others took longer because they were asked to partially fill out some form - in my case, she did it herself after I had left the counter! We were out at 10 am.
Generally - a plesant experience, except for the long wait in the morning. As others have recommended before - take a folding chair, dress warmly, and if you want to read, take a flashlight. I would also recommend that the day before you go, drive by the place and familiarize yourself with the location and the parking lot.
Hope this is useful.