When to make an Infopass appointment

[vkhutchings 15]

Hi all, I filed for my ROC with the Vermont SC in May 2016. I've seen threads on here before saying that the one year extension has been interpreted by immigration officials as one year from the Green Card expiry OR one year from the filing date on the extension letter. I'm travelling out of the country in May - should I book an Infopass appointment and get a passport stamp already? Just in case when I fly back immigration officials think my letter has run out in May... 

 

Also, any tips for getting the Infopass appointment? I live in NYC, and it says there are no appointments available?

 

Thanks,
Kate

[Sukie 1,465]

The extension is one year from the expiry date on your Green Card.  There is always the possibility you may get a dud at the border who thinks it is the letter date, but it is not.

 

They will usually not give you a stamp in your passport until you are about one month from your expiry date.  But we are going to try at 8 weeks before, because we are leaving the country for 3 months six weeks before the green card extension expires.

 

Good luck.  Given VSC dates, you will not get your 10-year green card until June 2017.  I'm an April 2016 VSC filer.  Only ONE of our group has been approved.

 

Sukie in NY

[ntcb 1]

You have to try to get the info pass between 12am to 6am. I tried at 4am yesterday and got through. Also keep refreshing the page a few times and see if that works.

[vkhutchings 15]

Thanks to you both - this is extremely useful info. Okay, so I'll hold off on the Infopass until closer to my expiry date in July and cross my fingers the border guards are clued up!

 

4am for booking the Infopass - that's crazy!! I'll bear that in mind if I need to get one. Thank you!

[nightingalejules 678]

2 hours ago, vkhutchings said:

Thanks to you both - this is extremely useful info. Okay, so I'll hold off on the Infopass until closer to my expiry date in July and cross my fingers the border guards are clued up!

 

4am for booking the Infopass - that's crazy!! I'll bear that in mind if I need to get one. Thank you!

The booking system seems to add new times around midnight (local time - because it's you're local office) so if you're a night owl like me you might be able to sign in then instead of waking up crazy early. I've experimented with this (without actually booking one of the times, of course) and it looks like every night at midnight, they open up the times for the day 2 weeks out. (IE: tonight at midnight (officially Apr 7) they'll open up the appointments for Apr 21.)

[Sukie 1,465]

11 hours ago, nightingalejules said:

The booking system seems to add new times around midnight (local time - because it's you're local office) so if you're a night owl like me you might be able to sign in then instead of waking up crazy early. I've experimented with this (without actually booking one of the times, of course) and it looks like every night at midnight, they open up the times for the day 2 weeks out. (IE: tonight at midnight (officially Apr 7) they'll open up the appointments for Apr 21.)

Good to know, Nightingale.  Thanks for the heads up.  I'm an early bird, but it's good to understand how the system works.

 

Sukie in NY

[mindthegap 2,606]

13 hours ago, nightingalejules said:

The booking system seems to add new times around midnight (local time - because it's you're local office) so if you're a night owl like me you might be able to sign in then instead of waking up crazy early. I've experimented with this (without actually booking one of the times, of course) and it looks like every night at midnight, they open up the times for the day 2 weeks out. (IE: tonight at midnight (officially Apr 7) they'll open up the appointments for Apr 21.)

Almost right...

They usually open up at 00:01 every night monday thru friday for the corresponding monday thru friday 2 weeks ahead.

No appointments appear at 00:01 on a saturday or a sunday, as of course the offices arent open saturdays or sundays.

There also seems to sometimes be a further dump of slots much later - although this appears to be sporadic and is not guaranteed.

 

I am also not sure if it is always dependent on local time zone - one appointment I made in California, appointments for the local office opened up at 9pm PST (which is, of course, midnight EST).

 

Those are my observations anyway, from having made eight infopass appointments at various places around the country. 

 

 

 

It is, after all, USCIS, so you wouldn't really expect the process to be straightforward or easy would you!

 

[talha_mk 1]

FYI all, today, I was able to get the I-551 one year extension stamp on my passport even though I'm still more than two weeks out from the one year anniversary of the date on the I-797 letter. It probably just depends on the officer you deal with on whether they refuse to stamp your passport.