Minneapolis InfoPass Appointment

[JennyJM 0]

Hi guys,

 

So, long story short, I need to get an InfoPass appointment in the Minneapolis field office ASAP in order to get the "temporary evidence" I need to travel to and from the UK. I check many times a day to see if appointments have been added and haven't seen any in the month that I've been checking. When I called USCIS they said there is a kiosk at the field office where I can go in person to make an appointment. My question is - is this worth doing? Will I have access to more appointments or appointments past the 14 days that are posted online?

 

Thanks!!

[Sunnyland 639]

What temporary evidence you need to get? The I-551 stamp? The time I had to use the uscis kiosk gave me the same results (at my local office). But try to see if they can see you there without an appointment and explain them (after you use the kiosk) that you need travel soon and there is no available slot.

 

PS: Try to check online at midnight for available slots. I heard that sometimes that is when you can find availability.

Edited May 3, 2018 by Sunnyland

[JennyJM 0]

Thank you! Yes, I have been setting an alarm for midnight every night. Super fun, especially when we have our 9 month old baby in our room and she wakes up. Just today I set up add-on extensions on my web browser to auto-notify me when the online appointment page changes, i.e. available appointments are posted. 

 

I am not sure exactly what the "temporary evidence" consists of - this is just the term that was used when I called to ask what I needed in order to travel in and out of the country when I'd misplaced my 2-year green card (which had expired, so I can't renew it) but have the letter extending my permanent resident status for a year that I received when I applied for removal of conditions. Does that make sense? 

 

So, you're saying that if I show up at the USCIS field office I can convince them to see me the same day? How does the kiosk system work? When I called USCIS they did not provide helpful information. 

 

Thanks again for the help.

[abby12 13]

I went to the Minneapolis office with an infopass back in december...but I do not remember seeing a kiosk in the building. My main reason for the stamp in my passport because I was going to back home for xmas, but eventually I couldn't  travel. I was not asked for any evidence.

I kept checking the uscis website for the infopass, I admit that it took me about 2 weeks to get it. I found several available slots between 2 and 3am.

If you have a valid extension letter, you should be able to travel like I did,...unless your extension letter is about to expire.

[JennyJM 0]

Thank you! I actually ended up installing web browser extensions on Chrome and an app on my phone that auto-refreshed the appointments web page; at about 3.30pm Friday I got an alert that the page had changed and a slot had come up for Monday at 8.30am, so I jumped on it and got it. You're right, there was no kiosk; if I had gone without an appointment, I would've had to somehow convince security on that floor to let me through so I could talk to the lady at the desk. Not sure how that would have gone. It was pretty painless once I was inside; I got the stamp I needed in my passport and am set for another year. 

 

FYI - the reason I needed an appointment was that I couldn't find my physical green card and panicked. It expired last July and I had received an extension letter, and the agent I met with made it sound like I would have been ok without the green card since I had the letter, but this was not the advice I'd received from the person at USCIS that I had previously spoken with on the phone. Anyhow, I'm relieved that I got it sorted. Phew! 

 

Thanks for the help!

[QBJ05631 0]

Hi JennyJM, what app or web browser extensions did you use? I need to make an InfoPass appointment in Minneapolis, too. I spent almost a month to check the uscis website but couldn't find any slot.

[JennyJM 0]

I got the alert on my phone first - I used an app called Web Alert. I have an Android phone and just found it in the Play Store. It's free. Worked like a charm! I had also been checking the website for over a month at all hours of the day and night and within 18 hours of setting up the alert I got an appt. Good luck!! 

[QBJ05631 0]

Just installed the app. Thank you so much.

[abby12 13]

17 hours ago, JennyJM said:

Thank you! I actually ended up installing web browser extensions on Chrome and an app on my phone that auto-refreshed the appointments web page; at about 3.30pm Friday I got an alert that the page had changed and a slot had come up for Monday at 8.30am, so I jumped on it and got it. You're right, there was no kiosk; if I had gone without an appointment, I would've had to somehow convince security on that floor to let me through so I could talk to the lady at the desk. Not sure how that would have gone. It was pretty painless once I was inside; I got the stamp I needed in my passport and am set for another year. 

 

FYI - the reason I needed an appointment was that I couldn't find my physical green card and panicked. It expired last July and I had received an extension letter, and the agent I met with made it sound like I would have been ok without the green card since I had the letter, but this was not the advice I'd received from the person at USCIS that I had previously spoken with on the phone. Anyhow, I'm relieved that I got it sorted. Phew! 

 

Thanks for the help!

I'm glad you got all sorted out! I would've panicked as well in your case. I  learned here in visajourney that calling uscis and talking to tier 1 or 2 it is kinda a waste of time...no one is on the same page nor have the proper/information.  

I got a slot once in the morning for a 11am appointment, and I missed it when I was filling out the request for the infopass, until I started to check the website around 2am, I got a slot 2 days later, and plenty of time to fill out the request.

And no problem, fer sure !