Urgent: FP Not taken - Asked to come back

S

sg1973

Registered Users (C)
All,
We are one of those unlucky people at Newark ASC who could not give the FP, today, bcuz ASC had reached the limit of 800/day much before our arrival. We got there around 11.30 for a 1PM appointment and I wasn't planning to go early as I didn't want to risk being returned to come back later and the weather was not very good either.

Our notices got the initials from the manager of ASC and we were told to come back any day, preferably early.
We are thinking of going early during one of the week days.

I am wondering if I will have any issues going for the FP next week, like the ASC refusing to take us in though the manager signed our notices? or any other issues with the 485 processing?

Thanks,
SG
 
sg1973 please reply.....

You said you were there by 11.30 am, by that time did ASC complete 800 FPs and you were turned back? Unbelievable, how could they do 800 FPs so early or did I understood your message in a wrong way? I am very much worried about as our FPs (mine and my wife's) are scheduled for 8th April at 2 PM at Newark center. And recently we moved to a town near Boston and it will be a 200+ miles each way for us to attend our FPs and a day off from work.

I do not understand if Newark ASC is not following scheduled appointment timings.

sg1973 can you please clarify this issue whether Newark ASC is doing first come first served. Do you advise us to go as early as possible like around 10 am for our 2pm schedule. In that case do they accept us? Since its a long drive and a day off from work, I don't want to miss it.
Please give your inputs which will help us a lot.
 
First come First Served!

Hi,
My husband and I had recently gone for our fingerprinting - April 2nd infact at Newark ASC. Our appointment was for 9AM on April 2nd (mine was infact for April 5th). We reached there at 8:50AM and there were already 280 people ahead of us. (Based on the token number we were given for fingerprinting)
I truly believe this is a first come first serve basis. I would go there preferably at 8AM "IF" there was a next time. Also, they never checked the time or date or anything. I was able to go in and get my finger-printing done earliar than April 5th.
Please pick a nice sunny day to do this as you would have to stand out in the cold and rain or snow or whatever the weather conditions are for that day. Come prepared to wait a long time and please have a hearty breakfast as you will be in line for a long long time before it is over!
We were out of the building around 12:30PM. The later you come, the bigger the queue.
Here is the chronology of the fingerprinting queue:
First you stand in one queue outside the building and wait for someone to open the door. They let you in few at a time.
Then you get to stand in queue in a big room downstairs.
Then you stand in a queue up the stairs to fill out forms,
Then you get to sit for filling out the forms (15 min). A
After filling the form, you get to stand in a queue to get called into "THE" room for fingerprinting. If you think it is over once you are called, you are mistaken. You have to wait a long long time AFTER you are called. At least you get a place to sit at this point.
We had to wait about an hour before we were again called to get our fingerprints and photo taken.
Fingerprinting and Photo took all of 10 minutes.
Total wait time from start to finish was around 3:30 hrs.
We were a little lucky since people in queue were kind enough to allow us to get through the door quickly because we had an infant. So our wait time was much less than other people. I would add another 1 hr for persons without an infant.

Overall, this was our experience and thought I should share this with whoever needs their fingerprinting taken since it would have been very helpful to us had we known in advance as to what to expect.

It is my belief that the system is truly a first come first serve basis or maybe we were just lucky. But there is no harm in trying to get there early!
 
Missed another point

You get a token once you are called into "THE" room for fingerprinting. That is where you get to sit and wait for a long time.
 
That was the exact same experience for us at Newark (for some other work) but we had gone without an appointment. One thing I did notice was that there was a seperate line for people with appointments and they were whisked in fairly quickly from another side of the building (from the Main door). Their line was short and hardly anybody had to stand out.

Us on the other hand, were standing out in the bitter cold for what seemed like hours and the line spilled upto the end of the street.

If you do get stuck in that line, and are hungry...there is a nice place one block away from the front of the building where they serve hot coffee and home-fries...which saved us from certain hypothermia :)

Anyway, my suggestion is to reach early...before 9AM at the latest but ALSO DOUBLE-CHECK if there is a seperate line for ppl with appointments lest you waste hrs of your time for nothing.

Good luck and do come back and share your experience as we are also going to Newark for fingerprinting on the 15th of April.
 
I agree

Pregnant,
Thanks for the info.
I am actually planning to tomorrow or wednesday around 7AM just to make sure we get out faster.
We are very concerned about the wait time as we have a 1-year infant too.
However, I have to get it done in the next few days so I can't wait for the sunny days:(
however, tomorrow and wednesday are going to be ok i guess.

SG
 
Let me qualify my last post by saying that this was back in 2003...rules may have changed since then but again, no harm double checking if there is a seperate line for ppl with appointments.
 
Really??????? They had a seperate entrance for persons with appointments????
I wish I had known sooner.
All, check this option out before you stand out in the rain!

SG, Tuesday or Wednesday is fine. Don't go there on Thursday or Friday... RAIN...
 
I am pretty positive about this because while we were standing in that longer line, I saw this smaller line (just a handful of ppl) standing in front of the main door and I went and asked them if they were also waiting to get in like us and right then one of the "officer" taking care of the line shouted "only for people with appointments, rest please go and stand in the other line".

At that time, I didnt even know what those appointments were for and how to get it.

Anyway, to get an idea of the current procedures its best to get a response from others in the forum who have actually gotten in quickly into the Newark office using their appointment. Anybody?
 
I have a biometrics appt(code 3) for tomorrow at 3:30pm in Newark.

This thread makes me feel like I should be going there at 7am in the morning.

Have any of you guys had afternoon appointments at around 3pm at Newark, and if so, at what time did you show up? I took a day off from work tomorrow to get this done, and I don't want to have to waste another day if they have some kind of limit on the number of FPs they can do in a day.

Thanks.
 
appointment was for 3pm

got there at 10:30 am. there was 1 line for everyone.

walked out the door at 3:45pm

took me a total of 5 hours and 15 mins.
 
canadian2005 please reply....

canadian2005,
My wife and me have FP appointments at Newark center on Friday 8th April at 2PM. Yours was at 3PM and you went there at 10.30 am. Were you allowed in four and half hours in advance. We have an infant and 8 years old kid with us. I wonder if we go there by 8am, will they allow us to get in? Please reply with your experience and thanks in advance.
 
Raaj,

I got there at 10:30am and went inside to speak to the security officer, because I thought they would just tell me to come back later and not even allow me to get in the queue so early since my appt was for 3pm.

But the security guy said that people with afternoon appointments could only start getting inside the building at 11am. So I just joined the queue outside the building and by the time the line moved and reached the 1st checkpoint into the large waiting room described in a previous email, it was 11am and they let me in.

So I don't know if they will let you in if you show up earlier than 11am. If you have a child, they may, but I don't know for sure. I did see quite a few families with kids waiting in line once I got into the building. They may let you avoid the queue outside the building, but I doubt they let ppl with kids bypass the queue altogether.

Also, they started turning people back around 1 or 1:30 pm even if they had appointments. I think it was because they couldn't do any more fingerprints for the day. So even though your appt is for the afternoon, definitely do not show up later than 10 or 10:30am.

Hope this helps.
 
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