Must read - Passport Stamping Experience: Buffalo

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Subject: Must read - Passport Stamping Experience: Buffalo
  After receiving my PR letter last week, I came to Buffalo yesterday
(Wednesday) to have my visa stamped in person in a same-day turn-around today (Thursday). A few details of my experience seem to differ in minor ways from some of the earlier accounts so I thought I´d post my observations here.


ARRIVING EARLY, AND THE LINE-UP: I arrived at the HSBC building just
after 7AM, expecting to get a coffee and then get in the Canadian
Consulate line in the lobby.


Wrong! It seems their security procedures are in flux, and may change yet again. For my visit:


1) The man at the security desk made me sign in, took my passport,
scanned it into a data-base machine, and made up an ID badge with my
name and other info which I was to stick on my coat and have displayed at all times while in the building. This, I believe, is a relatively new procedure judging from from previous posts..


2) He then went on to tell me I could NOT stand in the "Canadian
Consulate" line (there was a sign and a rope along a wall) until
7:45am, and neither could anyone else! He directed me to the cafeteria on the same floor and advised I get something to eat and chill until 7:45. I believe this is also a new policy (or perhaps just a preference of that particular security person?


So I did get breakfast at the cafeteria -- there is also a news stand and coffee bar on the lobby level. A caution to the renally-challenged: there are no public restrooms in the public portions of the building; you will have to wait until you get upstairs to the Consulate for that.


Close to 7:40 I saw many visitors with similar ID tags lurking around various portions of the lobby so I got in the rope line, and others followed immediately. The Security Man did not object.


By 7:45 about 30 people were in line. Some were there to get PR
Passport stamps, but others were there for other visa business (e.g., work visa, travel visa, PR interviews, etc). At 7:45 a nice lady came down and oriented everyone to the procedure once upstairs. She asked everyone if they had the photos they needed; several individuals and a whole family had not come with passport-sized photos -- ouch! She directed them to somewhere nearby (block or so from the building) where they could get said photos done. She asked if those who were there for work and visit visas had cash only for their fees (no checks or credit cards accepted) and for those who did not she directed them to the ATM machines elsewhere in the lobby and even told them how much cash they needed for what type of visa. Also before we went upstairs she named several things people could do for the lunchtime/afternoon wait with directions to each -- local restaurants, the Marina, the library, the farmer´s market, etc. She mentioned a few public outdoor concerts happening in the evening for those staying over. Very helpful.


At exactly 8AM she counted off the first 10 of us in line, and took us to the elevators. Each of us stopped at another security person by the elevators and showed our badge IDs, which were checked carefully before we were allowed to proceed to the elevators.


UPSTAIRS AT THE CONSULATE:
A small room with many chairs, a TV, and restrooms. We got in one of
two lines at two different service windows: a line for PR stamps (there were 4 of us in the first batch of 10) and a different line/window for all other visa types and PR interviews. While in the PR line, a poor fellow at the other window was asked why he was here: apparently the letter he received specified that he come in (perhaps for an interview?) on MAY 31 at 9AM. In other words, he apparently had a specific appointment, yet had just shown up, seemingly never having noted the appointed date and time. Double-ouch! I was called to the window at that point, so I did not see if he was taken in for an interview or was sent away until next week!


At the window, the person behind the glass asked for my PR letter, my 3 photos, and my passport. He asked if I would be picking it up today. I said yes, and he wrote a number on a card and told me to bring the card back between 1:30 and 3:00 today.


As I was leaving, the same "orientation elevator lady" gave me a few
suggestions. She said there was little point in lining up at 1:30 or
even earlier in the lobby. She seemed to feel that the biggest crowds of both AM and afternoon sessions do that, and so for those who come back at 2:00 or later there would be little or no line (although one would still have to wait for her to fetch them from the lobby and be accompanied upstairs). She reminded me to wear my ID badge when returning. We also talked for a few minutes about the many eager applicants they process: she said she felt sorry for people who call, write, or fax the consulate asking for updates on their applications, because "they are just ignored and never answered" and "there is nothing to be done but wait" until they send something back to the applicant.


RETURNING IN THE AFTERNOON
I arrived back at the HSBC building around 1:30, and indeed there was a Consulate lineup of about 20 anxious-looking people in the lobby. I decided to have a coffee and went into the HSBC cafeteria. When I returned to the lobby about 15 mins later there was no line: she had apparently taken everyone up. So I got in line and a few minutes later the escort returned and brought us upstairs (there was now only 5 people in the lobby line). In the consulate, several people from the first group were already lined up in front of the PR window. She had us sit down in chairs in order, and we slowly moved our way down to the window; because each person was at the window only for a minute or two, the wait was not bad at all. Once I reached the window the fellow took my card from this morning, pulled out my file, and gave me my passport with PR visa and my landing papers, instructing me NOT to sign the latter until I actually land and I am in the presence of the immigration officer. He also asked me to check over the facts and dates on my visa and landing papers before leaving the Consulate. I did that, all was in order, so out into the street I went. It´s now 2:50Pm and I´m back in my hotel room.


Overall it was extremely efficient, friendly, quick, and painless
(leaving aside having to travel to downtown Buffalo, which is not the most scintillating place in the world, IMHO). Anyone worried about timing, or losing place in line, or being "first" in the lineup or whatever should not worry: clarly the biggest crowds arrive at line-up time, plus they have traffic control down to a science and there is no need to worry about somehow getting lost in the process or being left behind. They seem to have a good understanding of the eagerness and anxiety of applicant visitors, and obviously go out of their way to be helpful. Perhaps the personnel will be different during others´ visits, but for me this was a very easy day.


Hope this account is useful to someone considering an in-person
stamping.
Cheers,
E2W


http://tinyurl.com/787p9

[26-05-2005,18:40]
[**.177.110.183]
Kenny
(in reply to: Must read - Passport Stamping Experience: Buffalo)
Many many Congratualtions Kenny!!! Thanks from all of us who would benefit in future from the DETAILED information you´ve cared to share. I must also confess that you are a prolific writer too...very interesting and exciting read. Congrats again & welcome to beautiful Vancouver.

Cheers!!!

[27-05-2005,06:43]
[**.183.112.122]
Robinhood
(in reply to: Must read - Passport Stamping Experience: Buffalo)
The above mentioned experience is not mine.

I read the above mentioned experience of a person on another forum who recently got his PR visa stamped from Buffalo. Sorry about the confusion.

[27-05-2005,15:49]
[**.177.110.183]
Kenny
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