Biometrics Appointment Report

[Al422 221]

It is rare that the US Government provides a service with which we are eminently pleased, but such a thing happened today. We went for my wife's biometrics appointment.

We were sent to eastern Suffolk County, outside the city. No big deal as the trip was traffic free and probably faster than working our way downtown to Federal Plaza at the height of the business day.

Since we had no idea how long it would take to get there and since we needed a buffer in the event of traffic, we got there 40 minutes early. Security was tight, as one would expect with all this ISIS stuff going on. We had to empty our pockets and remove belts and shoes. We knew enough to not even try to bring our cell phones in the building, as we left them in the car. That took about 10 minutes, mostly for removal and putting back on shoes and belts.

So we arrived at the biometrics line 30 minutes early. I would not even call it a line, as the first security person was sitting in a chair and waiting for his next customer. He checked my wife's passport and biometric appointment letter and gave us a short form to fill out (name, former name, height, weight, not much else). We went back on his line and got a number fo the queue. This took all of five minutes. We were still 25 minutes ahead of our appointed time.

There was one security person on duty taking the electronic fingerprints. Five minutes into our waiting time, she was ready for us. My wife went to the fingerprinting area, as I was told I was not allowed there. No problem; after all security is security. She took one set of prints, but most got rejected by the computer because my wife was wearing hand lotion. She then cleaned my wife's fingers with alcohol and took a second set, which came out fine.

We then left the building 10 minutes before our appointment was even set to begin.

We could not have asked for a more pleasant experience. In and out, start to finish, in 30 minutes. Everybody was pleasant, professional and polite and knew exactly what they were doing. Security was tight, but with ISIS and all the other stuff going on, I agree with whoever set security at that level that it is necessary. The only wrinkle was of our own doing, the use of hand lotion, which the people there knew exatly how to fix.

Next step is to wait for an interview date, green card in the mail or RFE, whichever comes first.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Al422

[Thomas&Cleofe 358]

Security wasn't tight because of the ISIS up rise. Security was tight due to the creation of the Dept. of Homeland Security after the events that took place on

Tuesday September 11, 2001.