I just want to share my experience at the Charleston Office in South Carolina.

I went there today to get my self registered. I am in the US since 1999 and have been out of status since May 2000 before applying for status change in December of 2002 on family based sponsorship. After reading all the experiences and hearing stories of US Citizens being stripped of their passports and being deported I was well prepared and mentally ready to go to jail. I had also brought $20,000 for bond money incase they give me a high bond due to my violations.

My experience proved me wrong. The INS staff was the most courteous and polite. I had to wait for like 3 hours although there were only 3 other applicants for special registration. The whole process took 4 hours for me as I was the last one to be interviewed. I had no problem. They gave me a form to fill and told me to come back after one hour. There was another Pakistani before me whose entry in US was illegal. They told him to go home as he is not required to register. WOW. I was impressed. In the interview the officer asked me questions what I had filled in the form. To cut in short they just entered the data which I had filled in the form in their system and then asked me to give my finger prints which I did. The Officer then took my picture and told me to come back for registration again in September as I entered the US in Sept 1999.

I must also mention the organization MCRC whose contact I took from this website. They are extremely helpful in giving out information. I spoke to Mr. Ahmad yesterday as I was concerned. He was very helpful and very accurate about what happened to me. I salute them and the creators of this website i.e. AOPP.org for helping out Pakistanis with this valuable information.