Special Registration Stories.

From: Farhan Memon (farhanmemon_2000@y...)
Subject: INS Special Registration Information
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.arabic, soc.culture.somalia,
alt.culture.tunisia
Date: 2003-01-01 23:41:46 PST


Salaam Alaikum

Even if this does not apply to you please read this
carefully, surely someone you know will be affected.

I am not a lawyer, but here is some information about
the INS Special Registration that I have learned over
the past couple of weeks. Perhaps as a "normal" person
explaining it to other "normal" people it might answer
some questions that you may have.

CONSULT A QUALIFIED ATTORNEY IN YOUR AREA IF YOU HAVE
QUESTIONS. I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY. THIS IS NOT LEGAL
ADVICE.

You must register by January 10, 2003 if you are a
citizen or nation of these countries: Afghanistan,
Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North
Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab
Emirates and Yemen

You must register by February 21, if you are a citizen
of Pakistan or Saudi Arabia.

EVEN IF YOU THINK THAT THIS DOESN'T APPLY TO YOU
CONTINUE READING THERE IS IMPORTANT INFORMATION BELOW

If you are in the United States as a diplomat,
permanent resident, refugee and or asylum seeker you
do not have to register.

Unless you have actually physically received your
Green Card (permanentnant residency status) and are a
citizen/national of one of the above countries you
probably do have to register. CONSULT A LAWYER TO KNOW
IF THIS APPLIES TO YOU.

If your brother, sister, son, daughter, mother,
father, wife, husband or another relative is a Green
Card holder or a US citizen but YOU are not and YOU
come from one of the countries above. YOU may have to
register. CONSULT A LAWYERKNOW IF THIS APPLIES TO
YOU.

If you hold citizenship of a country other than the
United States but were BORN in one of the countries
above you still may have to register. For example if
you were born in Afghanistan but obtained Canadian
citizenship you still may have to register. This is
because the rules are written in such a way that a
person is considered a national/citizen of a country
unless he/she renounces that citizenship in the proper
way. Even if you disagree with the policies of a
particular regime and left the country a long time ago
you continue to be a citizen/national of that country.
CONSULT A LAWYER TO KNOW IF THIS APPLIES TO YOU.

If you think that you need to register you should
consult with an immigration lawyer to review your
status in the United States. There may be things about
your case or your past history that may come up when
you go to register.

TAKE THE ATTORNEY WITH YOU. If you can afford it I
would advise you to take your attorney with you when
you register. This way if there is a problem you will
be represented immediately and may avoid certain
predicaments. Especially if you have immigration
attorneys provided to you by your company I would
insist that they accompany you. I have interviewed
detainees whose corporate counsel was too lazy to go
with them. Detention is not fun. BRING YOUR LAWYER.

DO NOT PUT THIS OFF. Register as soon as you can. This
way you will avoid the last minute crush of people. A
lot of the detentions occurred in December were as
a result of INS officials being overwhelmed.

IF YOU MISS THE DEADLINE DO NOT GO TO THE INS ALONE.
First consult with an attorney. Then bring the
attorney with you. INSIST THAT THEY COME. The last
time most people who came in late were detained.

IF YOU ARE A "WELL EDUCATED" PROFESSIONAL YOU WON'T BE
TREATED ANY DIFFERENTLY. I interviewed INS detainees
who were silicon valley engineers on valid work visas.
Having an education or being a professional won't
matter in the initial stages of detention. Don't be a
snob and think you're superior to those that are
"fresh off the boat."

Hopefully the INS will have better mechanism to deal
with detentions, but just in case here are some things
you can do in case you are detained:

1. If you go without a lawyer make sure that you at
least have the name and number of one and leave it
with a designated person. Memorize the lawyer's name
and contact number.

2. Inform someone that you are going to the INS. Make
sure that they will be at a place where you can reach
them. Memorize their contact number.

3. Buy a phone card and memorize the number. In
detention unless you have a phone card you can only
make collect calls. This can add up. One person I know
had $700 in phone charges in 2 days.

4. Carry at least $100 in cash on you. In detention
your money will be put into a bank account which you
can draw on for warm clothing, phone cards, and
sundries (cigarettes etc.)

5. Wear warm clothing. You may be transported to
places unknown and kept in very cold rooms before you
are issued prison uniforms. Having proper clothes will
keep you warm.

6. Get a good night's sleep before you go. If you are
detained you will undoubtedly not get much sleep, but
detainees have also reported that INS guards purposely
prevent them from sleeping as they were being
processed. At least with a good night's sleep the
night before you won't "hit the wall" as fast.

Hope this is helpful.

Farhan Memon
1L Golden Gate University,
School of Law
farhanmemon_2000@y...
 

Was posted in another group, just for an idea to fellows here too.
----------
Subject: I registered today........To Whom It May Concern


Assalaamoalaikum,

(I am writing this for the benefit of fellow less fortunate DESIS who
haven't made into heaven (green card) yet)

I went to register this morning. Arrived at 7:00 AM. There were 4
special
registeration applicants in front of me. Offices opened at 7:30. My
turn
came at 7:50. I was given a form to fill out requesting:

-Both of my parent's age and/or date of birth (I entered approximate
ages
after asking an officer).
-Both my parent's address.
-A local point of contact.

At about 9:30 (after those of us waiting, had almost decided what
needs
to be done to change the fate of our country, and agreed upon how
people
in Pakistan are innocent/ignorant of what goes on in the rest of the
world and which political groups run which areas of our country) I was
called for the interview. My interviewer was S. Patel who was having
some
kind of family emergency so she called home during my interview to
check
on her parents. Her computer froze up couple of times. She got locked
out
of the system because her password expired. Then she had to go to her
colleague next door to do part of the work. I know, I know I am
coming to
the details of the interview....

I had brought my passport with I-94, apartment lease and the phone
bill
with me. Shri S. Patel started by asking my name, my occupation,
school,
confirming information that I had entered about my parents. She asked
my
major, whether it relates to my work, the dates of my F-1, Employment
Authorization, H-1---making sure there weren't any lapses. She asked
me
for H-1 Visa Petition approval info (I797A). I hadn't brought this
with
me; but then she let me call home and have my wife give that info over
the phone. She called my work and talked to the Personnel dept. to
confirm employment, date of hire and my position at work (our
personnel
person freaked out and thought I was under arrest and being
deported).
Anyway, at about 11:15 AM my interview ended. She wrote a no. on my I-
94,
gave me some reading material about this whole registeration thing,
told
me that I am supposed to come back in a year +- 10 days and escorted
me
back.

All in all, it was an interesting experience. I thought my interview
took
very long. Average was about an hour. I think Miss Patel was little
more
particular about details. Other people (actually only one person, but
who
is counting) that gave the interview didn't mention calling employer
or
being particular about lapses in status.

Anyway, here is the national help line for INS:
1-800-375-5283
For finding INS offices near you, call this no. choose option 2,
choose
option 2 again and then when prompted enter your zip code.

I am also attaching the two documents that I downloaded from INS'
website
detailing the procedures. These are also available for download in
Urdu
and Arabic.

Questions welcome.....

Qamar

From:  "Abdul Qayyum <abdulq@h...>" <abdulq@h...> Date:  Thu Jan 16, 2003  1:26 pm Subject:  > Subject: My Special Registration Experience

This email was forwarded to me from friend of mine who went for registration. This might give some insight. > > Hello Guys: > > I had the opportunity to become the first Pakistani > in Phoenix to register and it went very smoothly. > Until 9:30, I was the only Pakistani there. > > The first available appointment is 7:30 and you > don't need to go at 6:00AM like I did. Just get > there at 7:00, when the office officially opens. > They can only process 10 - 15 people because only 2 > officers are available. The total time I spent > inside the building was one and a half hours. Total > time with the officer was 20 minutes. You fill a > very basic form and give the receptionist your > passport and the form. Your name will be called by > anl officer who greets you with a handshake and > escorts you out of his office with another handshake > and a good luck at the end. Apparently, they only > care about your current status. > > The documents asked were Passport, I-94, driver's > license and bank card. Nothing else. > > > After a 10 second oath of concience, the questions > asked were > > 1. Full Name and Address > 2. Social Security # > 3. Employer and Address > 4. Name and Address of 2 friends or relatives not > living with you > > Finger prints of both index fingers only and a > picture taken from a $29 camera ends the whole > registration process. You remain seated on the same > seat while everything happens. The reason they gave > was that moving people around makes them nervous and > they discourage that. > > 75% of the whole time is waiting time so make sure > to take some reading material with you. The only > gadget allowed is a cellphone. > > If you're currently legal, my advice is to go there > as you're going there to apply for a visa. The only > tention you should have is the tension of curiosity. > That's it. > > > It's mostly data entry for the underpaid and > overworked officer who cheerfully told me that he > got a bigger officer out of this registration duty. > While I was there, I was able to convince him to > switch to cable modem. (During our casual > conversation about the internet, I sensed his > frustration on slow dialup modem he had at home). > > If you need more information, let me know. Hope > this helps > > > Nadeem >

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