Question about transportation and biometrics

[amishbaby 407]

1 hour ago, p-ana said:

If you go to this page, https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=offices.type&OfficeLocator.office_type=ASC scroll down and put your zip code where stated, you can find out which asc you'll need to go on your biometrics appointment.

 

Although I have a license from my home country, I've never driven here, my husband travels for work all the time and I don't really have anyone close to rely on so I had to get out there and find a way. I took an uber, a train and a bus to get to my asc appointment, same to get back. I only had a 10 day notice before the appointment.

 

You can do it! Don't fear and you start planning out things from now is the right thing to do. 

 

Best set of luck in your journey

Thanks for the information! It says Philadelphia is the one I'll be going to. If I get a last minute notice and can't rely on someone, I'm gonna probably get a rental car and drive there and get there extremely early if possible with him. Not too early, but early enough. 

 

I hope to god I get an early notice though. I can take an Amtrack but the problem is I would still have to pay for an Uber or something to get to my destination since it's another 45 minutes from the station after arriving in Philadelphia. And I would have to make sure that the bus schedule corresponds with my appointment. If my appointment is extremely early, I would have to leave a day ahead and get in Philadelphia and stay at a hotel with my fiancee, which is costly. If I have the money, I don't mind paying extra. I wanna try and do this under a budget. Everything else is expensive as is. But I have a few things in mind, not sure which one will be the one I choose, but at least I have a couple options.

 

Thanks again~ !  

[Lemonslice 4,886]

Are you the petitioner or beneficiary? Are you a US citizen?

[evapaula 230]

If you're comfortable driving, renting a car is probably the best way, you wouldn't depend on public transportation's schedule, wouldn't need to use a hotel, and might also be the cheapest. 

[amishbaby 407]

1 hour ago, Lemonslice said:

Are you the petitioner or beneficiary? Are you a US citizen?

Petitioner. I know the bio-metrics appointment is for him, but I am trying to sort transportation arrangements but I think I got a handle on it.

[amishbaby 407]

1 hour ago, evapaula said:

If you're comfortable driving, renting a car is probably the best way, you wouldn't depend on public transportation's schedule, wouldn't need to use a hotel, and might also be the cheapest. 

I was thinking the same thing. It's a bit iffy, it's been a while since I drove without a vehicle. I have my license though. This would be my first legitimate long road trip, so it would be different! If I had a car right now I would just make a road trip out there just so I know where it's at! 

 

But that's the cheapest. I was actually thinking on going that route. 

[m8cl 5]

Car rental and if overight stay is needed for an early morning appointment, check out Airbnb.  Might be available not to far from the center where you need to be,   

[amishbaby 407]

1 hour ago, m8cl said:

Car rental and if overight stay is needed for an early morning appointment, check out Airbnb.  Might be available not to far from the center where you need to be,   

Interesting mention. Thanks!

[bellylaugh 14]

The Philadelphia Biometrics office is in the North East of the city and will be a pain to get to if you don't have a car. It's possible to get out there from center city using mass transit but it will involve a subway and bus ride plus another half mile of walking at the end (and would take over an hour). 

 

The actual interview office (if you have an interview later on) is more conventionally located in the university city/west Philadelphia area and is easy to walk to from center city.

[amishbaby 407]

1 hour ago, bellylaugh said:

The Philadelphia Biometrics office is in the North East of the city and will be a pain to get to if you don't have a car. It's possible to get out there from center city using mass transit but it will involve a subway and bus ride plus another half mile of walking at the end (and would take over an hour). 

 

The actual interview office (if you have an interview later on) is more conventionally located in the university city/west Philadelphia area and is easy to walk to from center city.

Well, with that information in mind, I will either be getting a car rental or a ride from a family member! Yikes, don't really want the added stress with that! I would rather leave a day early if it came down to it and find a place to stay at for the night. Or, I can just leave really early to make sure I find the place in time, even if I got there earlier than I anticipate. 

 

Did you take public transportation?

 

Thanks for that information! 

[bellylaugh 14]

7 minutes ago, amishbaby said:

 Well, with that information in mind, I will either be getting a car rental or a ride from a family member! Yikes, don't really want the added stress with that! I would rather leave a day early if it came down to it and find a place to stay at for the night. Or, I can just leave really early to make sure I find the place in time, even if I got therse earlier than I anticipate. 

 

Did you take public transportation?

 

Thanks for that information! 

We drove to both biometrics but I did check to see if public transportation was possible. We did take the train to the interview (we are 40 minutes from Philly and on a regional rail route).

[amishbaby 407]

1 hour ago, bellylaugh said:

We drove to both biometrics but I did check to see if public transportation was possible. We did take the train to the interview (we are 40 minutes from Philly and on a regional rail route).

Oh okay. I hate that I'm so far away! 

[Philly512 26]

I moved out of the 19608 area not too long ago. My biometrics and interview were in philly ...I know greyhound and Bieber buses have routes all over the philly and close towns area so look into that for sure. Maybe you won't have a bus terminal in town but maybe a friend can drop you off at the nearest one and then go from there 

[AK_2014 113]

21 hours ago, amishbaby said:

OK, that's really good. For some reason I was thinking they only give you a short notice. If I don't have a short notice, I should definitely have it figured out. That would be the goal, to find someone like a friend or family to take me to the appointment. I'll probably ask my aunt or uncle before a friend though, as other people are hard to trust for situations like this. But worst case scenario, I'll take about $300 with me for each trip if I have to take a bus or something. 

Heads up -- you might get notice a month in advance, or you might not get much lead time.

 

In our case, we were out of town for about 6 days. Came home in the early afternoon, checked the mail, discovered the biometrics notice had arrived sometime in the past 6 days... for an appointment that very afternoon. A bit of a scramble to get over to the office (the appointment time was mid-afternoon), but we made it.

 

Also, some offices will let you do walk-in biometrics early, as long as you have already received your appointment letter. If you have any occasion to catch a ride to a biometrics place after the letter arrives but before your actual appointment day, it might be worth a try.

[amishbaby 407]

2 hours ago, AK_2014 said:

Heads up -- you might get notice a month in advance, or you might not get much lead time.

 

In our case, we were out of town for about 6 days. Came home in the early afternoon, checked the mail, discovered the biometrics notice had arrived sometime in the past 6 days... for an appointment that very afternoon. A bit of a scramble to get over to the office (the appointment time was mid-afternoon), but we made it.

 

Also, some offices will let you do walk-in biometrics early, as long as you have already received your appointment letter. If you have any occasion to catch a ride to a biometrics place after the letter arrives but before your actual appointment day, it might be worth a try.

I was thinking of borrowing a car and then trying to do a walk-in. That seems to be the best option available for me right now. 

When the time comes, would I be able to call them and find out if they take walk-ins? Do they tell you over the phone?

[AK_2014 113]

5 hours ago, amishbaby said:

I was thinking of borrowing a car and then trying to do a walk-in. That seems to be the best option available for me right now. 

When the time comes, would I be able to call them and find out if they take walk-ins? Do they tell you over the phone?

If you try searching for early walk-in biometrics and whichever service center(s) you are thinking of trying, you can find other peoples' experiences. I found a couple threads right away where it looks like people have had success in Philly (and York and Pittsburgh, too), so that's a good sign: 

 

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/367977-thinking-of-early-walk-in-for-biometrics/?page=11

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/562467-anyone-done-early-walk-in-biometrics-at-philadelphia/

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/372053-doing-walk-for-biometrics-appt-at-drummond-road-philadelphia/