I think our approval was received within 3-4 days of the initial application. The hard part for us was scheduling our interviews. JFK is the closest location but one of our least favorite drives so we decided to schedule our interview in Rhode Island to be followed by a day at the beach. Unfortunately, when I called them they informed me they were scheduling appointments for January at that time. Really?? Since that's not a great time for a beach day, we gave up and scheduled at JFK at our convenience.

And let me add, our GE interviews were perhaps the first totally well managed experience we've ever had at JFK or with any government office or agency. Plenty of parking; very easy to locate the US Border Patrol office once there; an easy sign-in with plenty of seating and not only were they running on time, but they were ahead of schedule. The staff was beyond pleasant and when all was said and done, by the time we got home the same afternoon, our approvals were awaiting us in our email in-boxes. The actual card came a week to the day later which, all in all, is pretty darned efficient for anything government. We sent our passport renewals in the same day and are still waiting but it's only been nine days so far, so no complaints. At least, not yet!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />