Biometrics Appointment for AOS

[Cody]

I submitted my wife's I-485 early in August, and the receipt that they mailed me states that "USCIS will schedule your biometrics appointment. You will be receiving an appointment notice."

 

I haven't received an appointment notice yet. Does anyone know how long it should take before receiving a notice?

 

Also, I'm trying to find the processing dates for our application, but I'm not sure which USCIS service center it's at. We live in PA, and sent it to the Chicago lockbox... does it stay in Chicago, go to my local USCIS office in Philly, or does it end up at the Vermont Service Center?

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[tywy_99]

You have your I-797C receipt notice.

Call the NCSC toll free number, 1 (800) 375-5283 and press 1-2-3. The 1 is for English. This will put you in touch with the USCIS appointment schedulers. With the Application Support Center (ASC) code number off your receipt notice, they will schedule an appointment for you.

 

Your I-485 appointment will be held at your local USCIS field office that has jurisdiction of your residence. In many cases, they have been mailing the greencard lately without an interview.

[frank1538]

My step son had to get biometrics twice. The first time, we were instructed to make the appointmnet with the Application Support Center. The second time, USCIS sent us a notice that it had scheduled the appointment. I'd be inclined to call the APC as ty suggests to see if you can control when the appointment will be. I suspect that timing of when the appointment will be depends on the workload of the APC. In Atlanta, we were able to schedule the biometrics within a month of filing the I-485.

 

As far as where your application is now, I'm not familiar with the process post Chicago lockbox. Pre lockbox, the applications were to have gove to the local office for eventual interview, but Jingwen and her daughter did not have to go for interviews and their "Welcome to America" came from the NBC with a Chicago PO box address. My step son's application is still pending and is now at the California Service Center.

[cosmiclobster]

We got a similar notice and waited a month and nothing happened.

I think what they meant to say was thay they will schedule an appointment for you AFTER you call them and ask for it!!!

Call asap as the AOS process clock starts ticking AFTER the biometrics are done (by my observations)

[tmkeith]

We got a similar notice and waited a month and nothing happened.

I think what they meant to say was thay they will schedule an appointment for you AFTER you call them and ask for it!!!

Call asap as the AOS process clock starts ticking AFTER the biometrics are done (by my observations)

170086[/snapback]

We got the appointment notice about 8 weeks after receiving the receipt notice (stating that they will schedule the appt.) Now, we live close to Oakland, and there are tons of Application Support Centers for biometrics in the Bay Area, so we may have had an advantage over some on the simple basis of convenience only.

 

As far as processing dates for the 485...they were showing for the National Service Center but it stopped appearing on the updates about a month ago (it was around 13 months at that time.) We were so focused on the EAD timeframe that the 485 is secondary. She's here, we're married, and she will get her green card at some point. All that's in our way is time and bureaucracy.

 

P.S. I gave Wei her first driving lesson today...and will be drinking heavily for the rest of the evaning. (actually, she was great...I'm the wreck.)

[BuffaloPaul]

We got a similar notice and waited a month and nothing happened.

I think what they meant to say was thay they will schedule an appointment for you AFTER you call them and ask for it!!!

Call asap as the AOS process clock starts ticking AFTER the biometrics are done (by my observations)

170086[/snapback]

Don't think the clock started after biometrics. We got appt without any biometrics done yet.

[NY-Viking]

We just called and were told that we had to wait.

 

I was told that I had to follow the instructions of the form, which was to wait. I told the woman that this is taking too long.

 

We filed in mid-October -- both I485 and I765 - the I797Cs for both state that biometrics is the next step and that USCIS will schedule that - and let us know when they do. I know others have been waiting much longer - but I can't fathom why scheduling the biometrics is taking so long.

 

I mentioned to the woman that friends have scheduled their appointments by calling USCIS and she told me every application is different and cannot be compared to another, and that things may have changed if their applications were filed prior to ours. True, but, c'mon.

 

I asked her what we should do. She said follow the instructions on the form. I said ok, so we just sit back and wait? She wouldn't even tell me yes for some reason. Go figure.

 

 

Edit: The reason for the rush is that my wife has had some job interviews that look promising recently and it seems pretty ridiculous that she can't accept them because the government is dragging its feet.

Edited December 1, 2005 by NY-Viking (see edit history)

[david_dawei]

My form also said to wait...

 

But I took Tony's encouragement to call.. and they asked if the form stated to call them [ ] ... anyways... based on my answer to them, they gave me an appointment for just a few days away. Seems that there were about five days in a row basically wide open.

[NY-Viking]

My form also said to wait...

 

But I took Tony's encouragement to call..  and they asked if the form stated to call them [    ] ... anyways... based on my answer to them, they gave me an appointment for just a few days away.  Seems that there were about five days in a row basically wide open.

173681[/snapback]

OK ... now here's a big WTF from me.

 

WTF?

 

WTF?

 

WTF???????

 

So you told them the form said to call them? If so I'm going to call back tomorrow and tell them the same thing. When I spoke to them last time I gave no personal information, only that the form said to wait. And the woman I spoke to told me to sit back and wait.

 

But my wife has had to turn down at least one job because of this nonsensical wait.

 

WTF?

[david_dawei]

My form also said to wait...

 

But I took Tony's encouragement to call..  and they asked if the form stated to call them [    ] ... anyways... based on my answer to them, they gave me an appointment for just a few days away.  Seems that there were about five days in a row basically wide open.

173681[/snapback]

OK ... now here's a big WTF from me.

 

WTF?

 

WTF?

 

WTF???????

 

So you told them the form said to call them? If so I'm going to call back tomorrow and tell them the same thing. When I spoke to them last time I gave no personal information, only that the form said to wait. And the woman I spoke to told me to sit back and wait.

 

But my wife has had to turn down at least one job because of this nonsensical wait.

 

WTF?

173719[/snapback]

Call them... I think you know what to say...

 

They did ask to speak to my wife [which I anticipated].. asked her to state her name ,and then asked if she approved of me requesting an appointment on her behalf...

 

Since my appointment is in a few days, I can update and state the outcome... but I cannot imagine them telling me to go home just because the paper says I was supposed to wait for them...

[awch]

My husband just recieved his NOA today with the information to wait for the biometrics appt. So it seems most people's opinion is to call for an appoitment, not to wait.

 

Will he be able to do biometrics for AOS and EAD at the same time??

 

Also, I tried to look up the case status on the USCIS website but I get an error saying that case is not in the system. Is there normally a waiting time before it shows up?

Edited December 6, 2005 by awch (see edit history)

[NY-Viking]

My form also said to wait...

 

But I took Tony's encouragement to call..  and they asked if the form stated to call them [    ] ... anyways... based on my answer to them, they gave me an appointment for just a few days away.  Seems that there were about five days in a row basically wide open.

173681[/snapback]

OK ... now here's a big WTF from me.

 

WTF?

 

WTF?

 

WTF???????

 

So you told them the form said to call them? If so I'm going to call back tomorrow and tell them the same thing. When I spoke to them last time I gave no personal information, only that the form said to wait. And the woman I spoke to told me to sit back and wait.

 

But my wife has had to turn down at least one job because of this nonsensical wait.

 

WTF?

173719[/snapback]

Call them... I think you know what to say...

 

They did ask to speak to my wife [which I anticipated].. asked her to state her name ,and then asked if she approved of me requesting an appointment on her behalf...

 

Since my appointment is in a few days, I can update and state the outcome... but I cannot imagine them telling me to go home just because the paper says I was supposed to wait for them...

173750[/snapback]

My wife was rejected from another job today - not because she was not qualified, but because the employer said they had to wait until she had employment authorization.

 

This really pisses me off.

 

I have the choice of lying to the government about a form that they sent us, or waiting. I know that by mid-January (90 days) she can go get a temporary employment card for free, but how many $$$ are we losing until then?

 

And I'm not sure if calling and lying to them about what the form says will help in the long run. We'll get an earlier date for biometrics, but will this necessarily translate into an earlier date for the EAD issue?

[C4Racer]

I submitted my wife's I-485 early in August, and the receipt that they mailed me states that "USCIS will schedule your biometrics appointment.  You will be receiving an appointment notice."

 

I haven't received an appointment notice yet.  Does anyone know how long it should take before receiving a notice?

 

Also, I'm trying to find the processing dates for our application, but I'm not sure which USCIS service center it's at.  We live in PA, and sent it to the Chicago lockbox... does it stay in Chicago, go to my local USCIS office in Philly, or does it end up at the Vermont Service Center?

 

Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks.

170029[/snapback]

The form goes from Chicago to one of the Service Centers (VSC, NSC, CSC, TSC or MSC) of thier choosing. They are suppose to select the sevice center least backed up at the time. This is simply for processing. The old method was for you to submit it to the local office and they would send it to the service center. My wife's app went to MSC, even though we live in Portland, OR and have NSC as our center. USCIS has done this to spread out the work load and help reduce the backup at certain centers.

 

The wait for Bio and the interview has little to do with which process center it goes through and more to do with your local office. You can view the local office processing dates on USCIS web site. It is updated about every month. It will list the current application date they are working on. Some are 5 months others are 1 or two years behind.

 

The good news is what my friend was told. He lives in Cape Cod area with Boston, MA as his office. They are listing two years behind. He was told you could request the application be transferred to another office in the same region for faster processing. Not sure this is true, but it could be worth a try...

 

Here he is with two year wait. Lisa (my SO) had 7 months to wait from the time we sent in the app. Some how this does not seem to be fair, but this is how the system works.

[C4Racer]

My form also said to wait...

 

But I took Tony's encouragement to call..  and they asked if the form stated to call them [    ] ... anyways... based on my answer to them, they gave me an appointment for just a few days away.  Seems that there were about five days in a row basically wide open.

173681[/snapback]

OK ... now here's a big WTF from me.

 

WTF?

 

WTF?

 

WTF???????

 

So you told them the form said to call them? If so I'm going to call back tomorrow and tell them the same thing. When I spoke to them last time I gave no personal information, only that the form said to wait. And the woman I spoke to told me to sit back and wait.

 

But my wife has had to turn down at least one job because of this nonsensical wait.

 

WTF?

173719[/snapback]

Call them... I think you know what to say...

 

They did ask to speak to my wife [which I anticipated].. asked her to state her name ,and then asked if she approved of me requesting an appointment on her behalf...

 

Since my appointment is in a few days, I can update and state the outcome... but I cannot imagine them telling me to go home just because the paper says I was supposed to wait for them...

173750[/snapback]

My wife was rejected from another job today - not because she was not qualified, but because the employer said they had to wait until she had employment authorization.

 

This really pisses me off.

 

I have the choice of lying to the government about a form that they sent us, or waiting. I know that by mid-January (90 days) she can go get a temporary employment card for free, but how many $$$ are we losing until then?

 

And I'm not sure if calling and lying to them about what the form says will help in the long run. We'll get an earlier date for biometrics, but will this necessarily translate into an earlier date for the EAD issue?

173950[/snapback]

She needs bio metrics for both I-485 (AOS) and for I-765 (EAD). These forms are filed together, but processed separate. She will get a separate appointment for each. They are similar, but different. She needs picture and fingerprints for AOS. EAD she will only need a picture. You should have your I-797C for AOS and another one for EAD. The one you are most interested in is for EAD. What does it say for bio appointment? It should have you make an appointment or schedule one soon, because once bio is done for EAD, they send you her card.

You can also do all bios in one visit, just have the all I-797C's with you.

[yuehan123]

I also tried calling for an appointment. No luck. The lady said '...the appointment letter will be sent to you, you must wait for it.'

 

most others I know had bios within 2-4 weeks of the receipt letter.