do they do this at all biometrics offices?

[Robin28 2]

We went to the Pittsburg office .. there was five of us total !! My husband and step daughter ( as we had no babysitter ) and myself and my two kids ( all had bio appointments ) we all sat together and they did it all in the same room .. nothing but a desk between the cubby's they did the fingerprinting in and the chairs you wait in .. It was fast and everyone was kind ..

PS .. The gaurd was so nice he let the kids come behind his desk and sharpen their own pencils .. heheh and when i was done he joked with me .. asking if i wanted to try out his fancy sharpener as well .. and told me how nice of children i had ..

Edited April 11, 2007 by Robin28

[john_and_marlene 162]

When I took Marlene to her biometrics appointment, they wouldn't even let me inside the building. I had to wait in the car.

[athena_ny 1]

What a crappy experience! I can't imagine why they wouldn't let you sit together. That's bizaar.

We were told the same the letter said, only those who needed to be accompanied for some good enough reason could stay inside, but they only asked people to leave when the room got more crowded, maybe that is what happened to the OP as well.

No that is not what happened. They let everyone stay, we just could not sit together. Those getting biometrics done were on one side, those who accompanied them were on another side. No one was told to leave.

[*JG* 2]

We had biometrics this morning (awful experience by the way, they were taking 1 person every half hour and there were 20 people in front of him) ... and we couldn't sit together! Now that it's over I don't care, but I just thought it was weird. Sitting in a corner by yourself for 3.5 hours is never fun.

Sorry. That is kind of wierd. We were in and out of both appointments withing 15 minutes.

The not sitting together I can see. There were signs everywhere (and I think it was mentioned on the appointment letter) that there may only be room for the applicants. Fortunately, ours never came to that.

[athena_ny 1]

We went in to Baltimore too and although the letter did ask that no unnecessary people accompany you, David came in after all because I'd say only about one tenth of the chairs were taken. It was us and another family. The biometrics was done in about 7 minutes so I have no idea why they were doing only 1 per half hour as was your situation.

Well .. at least it's over now, right?

Mo

Well, I know why it was taking so long but I'm not going to get into that, really. Let's just say that when a supervisor showed up they all started scurrying.

[Freda 0]

We went to Birmigham and they stopped my husband and son at the door and wouldn't let them in they waitied outside. Luckily there was another couple with a child about the same age who also had to wait outside so the dads got to compare USCIS experiences and the kids got to play. It was a nice day so it wasn't so bad. I was upset about it but I got over it. As far as inside it was so stupid they made us sit in chairs like kidergardeners with the next person in line in the front left side and as one person went we all had to shuffle over a seat. Rather bizzare. Everyone was complaining. Not sure of the logic but oh well. The staff were all rather rude and lazy so it was a long wait while they went to the restroom and coffee break between each one and other stupid things and kept switching workers around from one station to another.

[Jasman0717 9]

I wasn't able to sit with Claudeth either!

[athena_ny 1]

We went to Birmigham and they stopped my husband and son at the door and wouldn't let them in they waitied outside. Luckily there was another couple with a child about the same age who also had to wait outside so the dads got to compare USCIS experiences and the kids got to play. It was a nice day so it wasn't so bad. I was upset about it but I got over it. As far as inside it was so stupid they made us sit in chairs like kidergardeners with the next person in line in the front left side and as one person went we all had to shuffle over a seat. Rather bizzare. Everyone was complaining. Not sure of the logic but oh well. The staff were all rather rude and lazy so it was a long wait while they went to the restroom and coffee break between each one and other stupid things and kept switching workers around from one station to another.

Same exact situation inside the office...a lot of fooling around and fighting over who was buying breakfast...;(

[Mags 112]

Hubby came in with me to the waiting area. Within 5 minutes I was called in and he remained in there. Everyone was polite and VERY efficient. I was in and out within ten minutes.

[eau_xplain 2]

We had ours in Charlotte almost two years ago now. They allowed everyone in to this one big room but there were two "sets" of seating. The smaller set were for those who have been pre-processed and waiting for their turn for the biometrics. Hubby sat at the general seating section. There were plenty of empty seats near us so I waved hubby over to join me and my son and nobody stopped him nor complained. All in all we were there for only 30 minutes (including the waiting time).

[Creel 0]

We went to the Modesto, CA office. The whole thing was over in 15-20 minutes. The guy at the main door asked for my documents. I told him my husband didn't speak English and he let me right in. The room for the finger prints was just an area partitioned off with cube walls. We didn't even ask. I walked right in with him and stood within 2 feet of the lady the whole time she was printing him. She even pointed out that he had a scar on one of his fingers that showed up on the print. Overall a fine experience. I think it depends totally on the location and the mood of the people on that day. Sorry your experience was so bad.