Finger printing

[gcfool]

I applied I130+I131+I485 for my parents last month. I received the the finger printing appointment notice yesterday. I haven't got the I130 approval yet, is this okay?

My parents are not with me during the scheduled appointment (they are in the US, but they are visiting my sister), is it okay to reschedule the finger printing appointment? Will the INS delay the finger printing date drastically if we ask for rescheduling? Is it prudent to stick with the given date?


Thanks in advance
gcfool

[TrueBrit]

Fingerprint appointment

Hi GC
The fingerprint appointment is probably related to the I-485 application. If you look at the notice the USCIS sent you, you'll see that you can return the appointment notice to the local service center where it is scheduled and check the box requesting a new appointment date.

While it isn't advisable to try to reschedule any of the appointments, you can do it one of two ways:

1) Return the I-797C for the Fingerprint appointment to the local service center with the box checked to request a reschedule. I don't know how long this takes for them to process and reschedule.

2) Use Infopass on the USCIS website to schedule an 'ask a question about my case' appointment with your local USCIS office. Take the I-797C for the fingerprint appointment with you and explain the situation. They will probably give you a rescheduled appointment that is a little more flexible than option (1) where you can take your parents to the ASC for their fingerprint appointment anytime of day for any day in the following two weeks.

I ended up having to use the option (2) approach when the post office delivered my fingerprint appointment letter about 3 days after the appointment was supposed to have happened!

[kkboy]

question for you, Truebit

What happened in your case? Did you get issued a new FP notice right there or waited for a letter from NBC yet again? Pls let me know. My spouse hasn't yet recnd her FP notice yet (been 3 weeks now)...am concerned, if it go tlost in mail, am thinking of an INFOPASS soon...

[TrueBrit]

Here's what happened KK

In my case the FP notice showed up after the appointment date and there's some rather alarming text in the FP notice that implies that if you fail to show up for the appointment, your application is considered to be abandoned.

So we returned the FP Notice to the ASC (the address and instructions are on the fingerprint notice form) with the box checked requesting a reschedule. We didn't have to return it to the National Benefits Center, only to the Application Support Center where the fingerprints were to be taken. We also sent a covering letter explaining what had happened.

Since the prospect of having them consider our application to be abandoned bothered me, I used the Infopass to set up the 'ask a question appointment' at the local USCIS office. Again this was not the National Benefit Center.

With the appointment, they rescheduled there and then and gave the option to show up at the ASC with a more flexible appointment letter that allowed me to turn up any time of day in the following 10 days.

The best way to tell whether they've sent you a notice is to look at your case on the USCIS website. Using the receipt numbers you can see where they're at. The I-485 and I-765 forms that require the fingerprint should show a date that is about 1-2 weeks after the receipt date if they've sent you the notice. If this is the case, this should be the date on which they sent the FP notice in the mail. Their original FP notice was sent to us on the 1st of the month with an appointment 16 days later on the 17th, so there is about 2-3 weeks between the date they send you the letter and the FP appointment date. I'd check your case status and then set up the Infopass appointment to ask a question about your case based on how long it has been since they've sent you the appointment letter.

[kkboy]

Thx !!!

luckily, our FP and Interview dates have arrived. Thx for the detailed info, appreciate it !