So bad that I almost forgot to continue the story about what happened to me on August 9, 2001… Okay, let me move on.
Around 8:00pm, all of us arrived at the checkpoint for entry inside the SFO restricted area. We all had our Macau passports and four sealed Manila envelopes with some important documents inside. I should mention that those Manila envelopes were issued by the then INS, and the official from the US Consulate in Hong Kong also reminded us not to open those documents, so we had never known what those were. Whatever, there's nothing we want to know, at that moment I just want to know how long it could be finished! It took quite long time to process our first time entry to the United States. The INS official (I don't know if she was the Customs or INS, I can't even distinguish between an USCIS official and a CBP official) finished processing our initial documents for the first entry to the US, then she asked each of us to sign our names on those documents and passport-style photos. Then the INS official stamped on our Macau Passport, indicated that we're legal permanent residents, and we're authorized to work. The stamp also indicated that it should be the legal document to prove the immigration status before Green Cards were issued. Almost an hour later, we were all allowed to enter the US soil. My first time in my life, how's my feeling? I can tell you, nothing but uncomfortable. I had never felt that stress before I came, but something made me not feeling good.
There were also a small incident while we arrived another checkpoint, the US Customs Checkpoint, and I'll continue with my story tomorrow.
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