When your biometrics fingerprints fail

[rlogan 2,036]

We've been through a nightmare with biometrics. So far we have waited ten months, done numerous service requests, and opened a congressional case and FINALLY got an appointment for biometrics... and it failed. Meaning that the Support Center took her fingerprints but the FBI rejected them as unreadable so we drove the 900 mile trip again, 2,700 miles total now including adjustment of status just to have fingerprints done, and don't know if the FBI will accept them yet.

The support center said that it was common for fisherman, doctors, nurses, mechanics, people with bush lifestyles like us - anyone who works with their hands a lot or gets them wet a lot to have them fail for being unreadable. They can make you do them twice, and if they fail again what you have to do is obtain police reports from everywhere you have lived the last five years.

They advised us not to get her hands wet for two days before the biometrics and not to do any heavy work with her hands. From my musician background I can see how playing stringed instruments would cause a problem too.

She had a different technician this time and he tried a lot harder to make them good prints. The machine will actually tell you if they are completely unreadable or poor. Don't let them get away with poor prints.

[TBoneTX 43,045]

Good grief, good advice, and good luck, si man!

[sjr09 155]

We had to fly over to Oahu for my wife’s biometrics lucky it’s not 2,700 miles, but the guy taking the fingerprints did both electronic and manual ink print. just in case the reader failed we had a back-up (Was told it’s some what common) "anyone who works with their hands a lot" and hopefully would not have to come back. No problem.

[rlogan 2,036]

We had to fly over to Oahu for my wife’s biometrics lucky it’s not 2,700 miles, but the guy taking the fingerprints did both electronic and manual ink print. just in case the reader failed we had a back-up (Was told it’s some what common) "anyone who works with their hands a lot" and hopefully would not have to come back. No problem.

Thanks for the information on the manual back-up - for the sake of anyone else going through this kind of nightmare in the future. We're pretty confident these last ones we did will fail too and that we will have to produce the records.

This is the kind of dysfunctional disgrace in immigration we have become accustomed to the last four years. After your fingerprints fail, it's "Oh yea, happens all the time..." with USCIS producing ZERO information to help applicants avoid this nightmare.

The USCIS lists a non-existent office at the Fairbanks Airport for their support center. The office has been closed for TEN YEARS. But people just like us go there, and are directed by the airport manager to a customs office. The customs office told us they are tired of people like us coming in desperate to get information or fingerprints done for the last ten years. The information site was dutifully updated every single year, with the wrong information, ten years running now.

Edited June 4, 2012 by rlogan

[Indomex 10]

How soon after you completed your biometrics did you find out that they were bad? And through what communication channel? Did USCIS or the FBI call you?

We've been through a nightmare with biometrics. So far we have waited ten months, done numerous service requests, and opened a congressional case and FINALLY got an appointment for biometrics... and it failed. Meaning that the Support Center took her fingerprints but the FBI rejected them as unreadable so we drove the 900 mile trip again, 2,700 miles total now including adjustment of status just to have fingerprints done, and don't know if the FBI will accept them yet.

The support center said that it was common for fisherman, doctors, nurses, mechanics, people with bush lifestyles like us - anyone who works with their hands a lot or gets them wet a lot to have them fail for being unreadable. They can make you do them twice, and if they fail again what you have to do is obtain police reports from everywhere you have lived the last five years.

They advised us not to get her hands wet for two days before the biometrics and not to do any heavy work with her hands. From my musician background I can see how playing stringed instruments would cause a problem too.

She had a different technician this time and he tried a lot harder to make them good prints. The machine will actually tell you if they are completely unreadable or poor. Don't let them get away with poor prints.

[rlogan 2,036]

How soon after you completed your biometrics did you find out that they were bad? And through what communication channel? Did USCIS or the FBI call you?

Three business days later I got a call from the manager of the Service Center. I can't say that would have happened (the call) for anyone else.

Prior to that my congressman's office had contacted him to ask why I had not received a biometrics appointment after so many requests for service. The manager called us at home and we drove straight down the next day, meeting him personally. But he did not do the fingerprints. A technician did. Since our Congressman's office had gotten involved, I am sure that motivated him to call right away when they were rejected.

They do not have much business at that office. They are not open every day and it is closed by like 3 pm.

Edited June 24, 2012 by rlogan