Stamping in Tampa

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Rich00

Registered Users (C)
Hi everybody,

Got our I485 approval notice a week ago :D :D :D. Finally :confused: was able to get an appointment with INFOPASS at our local office in Tampa, in two weeks.
I would appreciate if those who have already went for stamping can suggest what else, beyond what's mentioned in the I-797, would be required.
Also would appreciate if anyone who had such experience at Tampa office can provide any hint on what to expect.

I'm still pinching myself to believe it. :D

BTW, thanks to all those who visit this forum. Has been a great help along the way to understand what is happening and get a better idea of the options we have along the way.

Thanks
Rich
 
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Rich00,

We just got our passports stamped in Tampa office last week of August. Appointment was scheduled for 8AM, we arrived about 7:20AM. People with appointments form the line outside, but they let you in based on appointment time, so they won't call for 8AM appointments until nobody's left with 7 and 7:30AM. Apparently there's no need to be early, if you come ~15 min before your appointment time it will be more then enough. If you have a camera cell phone, leave it in your car - they won't let you in with it anyway.

Once you're inside, you get a number and wait when your number is called. For us the wait time was about 10 min. The guard at the door, and officers inside all were nice and friednly, the whole stamping procedure with fingerprinting took 20-25 mins for all 3 of us. It normally should be less, but I had to redo my son's pictures (his face was too large on the photo) at the photo lab in the same building (they charge you $9 for pictures). The officer didn't ask a lot of questions, just verified our address and city of birth.

We brought everything what's mentioned in the approval notice, and also all our EAD cards and APs, but the officer was not interested in seeng them. When I asked if they need our EADs, she told us to keep them as souvenirs :). In fact, all she needed was our passports with latest I-94s, passport-style pictures and approval notices, that's it. They won't return you the original approval notice, so make yourself a copy before you go, or ask officer to give you a copy.

We were done and out by 8:40AM. In overall it was a pretty nice experience. InfoPass system is obviously much better then waiting in line outside for several hours... Now it's less then 4 weeks after stamping, and all our 3 online statuses changed to "card mailed" two days ago.

Good luck and congrats with your approval!
 
Thanks Teddy_b

Thanks a lot, appreciate your information.

Questions: Did you requested more than one appointment with Infopass for your family or got just one in your name?
If you had only one appointment, did they told you anything about it?

I was puzzled :confused:, and asked Customer Services (twice) :rolleyes:, after long consultations, they told me I had to file one appointment for each case. So, went to it, but Infopass does not allow you to file more than one appointment at the time (even if there were enough slots), from the same computer. We're behind translation, here and at home, so no chance to try form different addresses.
It's totally weird, if they approve the family group, it's easy to figure they will go together. Also, if they must file one appointment per case approval, what's the point of not allowing to file them sequentially. :rolleyes:
I searched for Infopass issues in this forum, but seems to be it depends on the office. Therefore, your information is invaluable and deeply appreciated.

My visits to Tampa office has been always nice and fast, especially after they have a support office. Never had a problem, but don't want to start with this.

Rich
 
Rich,

I made 3 appointments - just in case - and did not have any problems with doing this from the single computer. I made the 2nd and 3rd appointments in about 5 hrs after I made the 1st one though - maybe this helped somehow. But it turned out you don't need more then one. The guard just looked at one appointment letter, asked if we are together, and let us all in. I did not even bother to pull out the 2nd and 3rd letters since I was not asked for them...
 
GREAT! Thanks again

Thanks again Teddy_b.

Will give a try with mine, hopefully nothing bad will happen. Will post our experience.

Rich
 
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Finally STAMPED!!!!

Hi everybody,

We just came back from our appointment in Tampa. Everything went very smooth.
Our appointment was re-scheduled because Jeanne. The office was closed, so no point in even get there. I got an email from INFOPASS re-scheduling it.

We arrived 30 minutes early, and the office was open, with just two guys outside waiting. The door was closed, but few seconds later the officer came out asking. We told him we had an appointment, and he asked for the paper. We gave it to him, and he let us in. No questions about being more than one or having only one appointment.
We were scanned (we knew about the phones and other articles, and let them in the car), and shown the way to the office #1, where we got a ticket with our number. We sat there for about 40 minutes, until our name was called.
The officer asked for our I-797, passports, I-94 and pictures. Then told us to have a seat while he process our papers. About 10 minutes later, he called us again. Told us about the stamp and what it allowed us to do (travel, SSN, and employment), and asked us to go to an office to take our fingerprints (index only), and signatures. After doing so, we were given our passports back and we were done.
Total time was 80 minutes.

My conclusion regarding the need of individual appointments in INFOPASS is it depends on the office and how crowded they are. Particularly Tampa is very easy, and they don't have any problem if the family shows up all together with only one appointment.
Hope the experience is useful. Thanks to Teddy_b for his information.
Rich
 
Difficulty to schedule using Infopass

Hi guys, hope somebody sees this post.

I had my approval on Apr 2005 (after almost 3 years...) and have tried to schedule the passport stamping in Tampa. I get the message "At this time, there are no information appointments available for the office in your area. Please try back again later. "

I have been trying from different computers and at different times, with no success, for about 4 days now.

Anybody experienced the same?

Thanks,
Harley
 
Yes, there are a few threads on it

INFOPASS has a limited amount of appointments for every day. Once the number is exhausted, it gives you that message.
Some people have been lucky going back in the afternoon, but usually you get more chances very early in the morning. Especially if you have a few appointments to make (since you require one per case).

Good luck,
Rich
 
Thanks Rich, I was actually able to get two appointments (using 2 different computers) in the Orlando sub-office just today, for June 3. It's a pain, but it's better than having to try for weeks to get one in Tampa. I gather I'll keep trying, and if I get one, I can always cancel the Orlando ones.

We have a trip to Brazil to visit our family in late June, and we desperately would like to have the passport stamped before that. The advance parole procedures when arriving in Miami are excruciating (it takes us always about 2 hours to clear immigration, as we have to go through the initial lines and then are redirected to a second officer).

Someone told me that when returning from a trip abroad I could probably get the passports stamped, but I think that we would still have to arrange an appointment for fingerprints and signature, etc.


Harley
 
Why don't you try as Walk-In?

If your trip is urgent and you have a way to prove it, take your tickets and any documentation that may help you and show up at the door in Tampa Office.
As I posted before, if they are not too busy, they can be flexible and allow you to get your passports stamped without an appointment.
Get there early, and humbly ask for the officer's help in your case. Don't argue, and be patient, since they can send you to the back burner, and take some time until you get inside. It may take the whole morning, but worth it.
Once inside, get a ticket from the officer at the desk (on the left), and wait for them to call it.

Do not cancel your appointment in Orlando until you have your passports stamped.

Good luck and congratulations for your approval

Rich
 
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