Ellis Island in the 21st Century

I got my Green Card 2 years ago, not long after myself and Husband tied the knot. But when you get your Green Card through marriage, its issued to you as “Conditional” for the first 2 years. After the 2 years you have to prove you are still married and re-apply to have the “Conditions” lifted. Right now I’m at the point where I am looking to have these “Conditions” lifted.

Now when I applied originally, among the many hoops US Immigration made me jump through, one was I had to go and get finger printed and mug shot. A letter arrived telling me where (Downtown) and when (12.00pm) to go and get these “Biometrics” done and cos I am a stickler for punctuality I arrived 15 minutes prior to my appointment. Well, come to realize when I got there, hundreds of other Green Card seekers from all corners of the globe were also told to be there at noon. I can’t tell you how pissed I was. For some reason I thought US Immigration ran something like corporate US, as in if you had an appointment at noon, then you would be seen at noon. But no, this was the complete opposite.

We waited in line just to sign in and have our purses searched. Then it was onwards to another line to show all our documents and I.D and complete a few more forms, before they finally issued us with a number and released us into the waiting area, where we sat and sat and sat, for hours, watching an over sized digital clock announce which lucky number was next. Honestly, it’s a very daunting and impersonal process. You know you are nothing but a number in a system of thousands and nobody cares who you are, where you’re from or why you’re here. They just want to get your prints and mug shot, stamp your form and move you on in the application process.

But anyway, now that I’m applying for my permanent Green Card I have yet again to do more finger printing and mug shooting. Which is frustrating. Seriously, can’t they just use what they have on file from 2 years ago?? I know I’ve probably aged a bit, but my fingerprints, I assure you, have not changed or aged in anyway. But because they have all the power in this situation, I keep my opinion to myself; otherwise I could end up in a small rowboat, in the middle of the Atlantic looking for directions to Ireland.

So this time I was ready. I knew what I was in for, so I plan ahead. My “appointment” was for 2pm, and knowing this was going to take hours, I cleared my day of any other commitments. I also planned to get there an hour early. I figured if I arrived about 1pm, then I would have a shot at getting out of there before rush hour traffic in the evening.
I also packed some snacks, a book and an ipod. Yes, today, I was ready for them.

But I knew something wasn’t right when I pulled into the parking lot and saw plenty of available parking. I even managed to get a spot close to the entrance. “Something’s not right” I told myself. Which is when I had a mini panic, “Shit, what if they close for lunch?” So much for my clever move, now I have to wait till 2pm anyway. I parked and went towards the entrance. The sign said they were “Open”, yet I’m not believing it cos there is no line. No United Colors of Benetton line. What is going on? A man in uniform approaches me as I come in the door. “What time is your appointment mam?” I tell him is 2pm but I came early cos I knew it would take hours, so I wanted to get a head start on the process. He just smiled, told me to go put my bag back in the car and then sign in. Put my bag back? But it has all my picnic stuff and my toys for amusement? Of course I didn’t argue. I just did what I was told. Again, they have all the power.

I come back, signed the forms, showed my documents and straightaway they take me over to fingerprint and mug shoot me. This is unbelieveable. I’m in and out in 15 minutes. They even make eye contact; smile and we exchange some friendly chitchat. Really personable. I leave confused and giddy. What the hell just happened? Was I at the right place? It should not have been that fast, smooth and painless. I’m in total shock. I guess someone finally decided to modernize the Ellis Island way of processing Immigrants and you know what. It’s working.