Internet Zaps Long Lines at Immigration Offices

A dreaded rite of passage for immigrants -- the tedious hours-long wait outside the downtown Los Angeles federal immigration office to process paperwork -- has been greatly diminished by a new Internet scheduling system.

Customers seeking information can now use a system called InfoPass to schedule a date and time to meet with an immigration officer, avoiding the need to queue up for hours in the hopes of being seen on a first-come, first-served basis.

The scheduling service also is available for people served by immigration offices in Santa Ana and San Bernardino.

Before the system, immigrants would sometimes arrive at 6 p.m. the evening before and camp out until the offices opened at 6.15 a.m. the next day, said Jane Arellano, district director for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Los Angeles. But just prior to the introduction of InfoPass last month, customers had typically started arriving at 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. They often would not finish their business until late morning the following day, officials said.

They noted that about 1,300 people would usually be in line by 6 a.m., but due to the overwhelming demand, some customers were turned away.

“It was awful,” said Carlos Oyanguren, 65, a native of Peru, who recalled having to wait in line outside the Federal Building on Los Angeles Street as early as 3 in the morning in order to deal with immigration matters in the past. “It was cold.”

Sometimes there were robberies as those waiting were often carrying large sums of cash to pay for certain services, officials said. Local community leaders said that it was common for people to sell their spot in line for as much as $50.

Now customers are requested to arrive about 15 minutes before their appointment and can be finished with business within an hour.

About 60 people are seen each half hour these days, so long queues never have a chance to develop, officials said. Lines still occur at the main entrance to the Federal Building -- next door to the InfoPass information room -- where those seeking general access to the building wait to undergo security checks.

Queues outside federal immigration information offices had long been the bane of the country’s image-conscious immigration department, and several attempts were made to address the problem -- with varying success. Among other things, officials said they had started to conduct community outreach on weekends and evenings to spread basic details about other ways to access immigration information, like a toll-free number and other electronic initiatives for filing applications.

Information officers had also started to walk the lines outside buildings, distributing pamphlets and referring clients to other locations where their questions could be appropriately addressed.

A “forms only” window was also opened at the back of the building, allowing customers to walk up and request a document, instead of queuing up for long periods just to receive a form, officials said.

So far, however, InfoPass has proved to be the most effective remedy to dramatically reducing the lines and the wait. And these days at 6 a.m., there are typically only about 30 people in line.

No special software is necessary to use the new system. Immigrants need a computer with a browser and Internet access. Once they log on to the website at uscis.gov and type in their ZIP Code, users are directed to the appropriate office. The system generates an electronic appointment notice after a time has been selected.

Those without access to the Internet can make appointments at kiosks located at designated immigration offices, or at the many libraries and community groups that offer public Internet access, immigration officials said.

Oyanguren and his wife, Laura, were among several customers who recently turned up to schedule an appointment using one of four Internet terminals inside a newly spruced-up foyer in the Federal Building. They praised the efficiency of the InfoPass system and lauded the fact that they didn’t have to wait for hours just to enter the building.

“This shows a lot of consideration to non-native American people,” said Laura Oyanguren, 45, who was requesting an appointment in order to rectify an error on her green card. “Before it was like a type of discrimination, because everything else was working wonderfully [except for this].”

Officials said they were encouraging people to rely on InfoPass for scheduling appointments, because walk-in customers would now only be seen in “an absolute emergency.”

The 900-plus appointments typically scheduled in an eight-hour day are now spread out and being dealt with more efficiently, making the process less stressful for customers and the government employees who serve them, officials said.

“Things have definitely changed,” said Peter Janney, 44, who marveled over recently spending less than an hour to schedule an online appointment for his wife, Sabina -- a newcomer to L.A. from the couple’s native Ghana. “Before it would have taken a good day in here. Now I can go back to work.”

Immigration attorneys and local community leaders agree and say that their clients’ experience with the InfoPass, which is already up and running in Miami and Dallas, has so far been positive.

“It’s been a tremendous improvement in efficiency and how people are being treated,” said Crystal Williams, senior director of liaison and information for the Washington-based American Immigration and Lawyers Assn. “It’s a much nicer experience, not to have to stand in line. This is an innovation that we wholeheartedly endorse.”

However, lawyers said they would welcome the speedy establishment of an inquiry system, where they could easily follow up on their clients’ cases. And some community leaders criticized the system’s lack of online instructions in a variety of languages. English and Spanish are offered on the L.A. InfoPass home page, but more than 140 languages are believed to be spoken in Southern California.

Arellano said that an inquiry service for lawyers was under consideration, and that the website serving the Los Angeles area would likely be available in other languages at a later stage. In Miami, InfoPass offers instructions in English, Spanish and Creole.