INS calls for fingerprinting and escalation of confusion

[swamynath]

Some background:
-----------------
i) Filed for 485 in November (for both my wife and I)
ii) Havent applied for EAD or AP for both
iii) She is currently in India and expected return is
3rd week of April (has to complete her exams)
iv) H-1B to expire in 02-April-2002
v) Applied for H-1B extension in November.

Current State:
--------------
i) INS calls for finger printing in Jan 2002 (for both)


Confusion and Need direction:
----------------------------
I) Should I file for myself and reschedule for my wife?
Will there be any complications with this option?
II) Should I reschedule for both? Will not know when
they will reschedule. If its less than 3 months, will
have to reschedule, otherwise i will be losing 3
months of processing time.
III) Can you finish the fingerprinting and go back? Any
implications to this scenario

Appreciate your help. Thx in advance

[suomilainen]

Reschedule for both of you. You will lose processing time, but think of the alternative: You are planning to bring your wife back in on her H-4 visa. If you have your fingerprinting done and your green card is approved before she returns, you will no longer be H-1. So, how could she be H-4? She will also not have an Advance Parole to return with.

She may make it home safely, but why risk it?

Does anybody else have any input? I'm curious, too.

[swamynath]

The reason this is an issue is bcos I might have to reschedule
it number of times before she comes back in April (24th to be
precise). Dont know if this is a good idea?

Lawyer says that it is probably ok to call her and get the
FP done. She can then go back. He says this is a good option
bcos

i) FP is done as per INS process flow and we are not confusing
them.
ii)He says there is not a chance in the world to have an the
approval by end of April (as my RD = 12/4/2001)
iii)Even if we get the approval before April, she will file for H-4
in India, the lawyer would send her the approval notice. She
will enter the US and show the officials her approval notice.
She needs to get her stamping done in 10 days after
entry into US.

I am still very confused. I have 10 more days to decide. Let
me know if u have anything else to say on this situation

[p2002]

INS calls for fingerprinting and escalation of confusion

I can understand your situation bcoz I am in the same boat. I am on H-4. We filed for I-485 and came to India. Now my husband has gone back to USA and I am still in India. While we were in India we got the notice for fingerprinting. We could not attend that so applied for rescheduling. We have not got any response regarding FP. We also got Advance Parole( I am not sure). Can we go seperately for FP or do we have to go together? Also my husband got his EAD and I have not got mine. So after how many days do I get my EAD? I have no information about this. I dont know what to do. If I want info regarding all this what do I do? I dont have any documents with me now. Will there be any problem for me while going back to USA? Please help.........

[suomilainen]

Is it possible for your wife to come to the U.S. to have fingerprinting done at the appointed time? Even if you and your wife show up a week or two late for the appointment, most INS offices will still accept you for fingerprinting.

I've noticed that the INS has gotten "smart" to the fact that some people are putting off their fingerprint appointments because they've gone home to India for a while. Here in California, they're limiting how many times a person can put off their appointment. In other areas, they're sending out appointment notices that say something like:

"Come to have your fingerprints taken on February 14, 2002. You can appear on any Wednesday after that. If you don't come before April 14, 2002, your petition will be considered abandoned."

If your wife can come to the U.S. to have fingerprints done, then go back for exams, then come back later on with her H-4 (with or without I-485 approval), that would be great.