biometrics - change the date???

[lady30 0]

hello. today, i finally got the letter for my biometrics. i was waiting for the letter for 4 weeks. my biometric's date is the 13th of may. unfortunatelly, we are going on vacation next saturday and coming back the 14th of may and then 7 days later we are leaving on another vacation.

from your own experience, do you think it would be possible for me to drive there like next week and just walk in and do my biometrics early? who do I call to ask. i tried to call the immigration 1 800 number but it was impossible to get somebody on the phone to talk to.

that place for biometrics is really far from us and i will have to drive there the day before and stay there overnight. so i want to be sure for 100%, that it would really be possible for me to do the biometrics 2 weeks prior to the real date.

thank you very much for any help and advice.

Edited April 23, 2009 by lady30

[lady30 0]

i just want to add, the place for my biometrics is in New Orleans. did any of you do a walk in in New Orleans? thank you!

Edited April 23, 2009 by lady30

[jasminelily 1]

Sorry to tell you the fact, no one can assure that you can do walk in biometrics successfully, so sorry again that you won't find that 100% assurance here. It depends on different center, even if some did it at the same center before, may be it's a different time that they're busy, then they won't let you walk in. It really depends on your luck. Perhaps you can bring your travel itinerary/air tickets/bus tickets/etc. and show them that you really can't make it on the scheduled date, also bring anything to prove your address like DL, electricity bill that show your address, something to show them that you've travelled far, may be they will sympathize your situation. Well... you probably know that already and you would probably doesn't like the truth. But if the following helps any, I'll be glad to share with you:

(1) the secret numbers to get through the maze of mis-information line is 123. But as you know, it's called the "mis-information" line, people who answer the switch board won't be able to tell you much. The best they can tell you is to make an infopass and the IO there at your local office can re-schedule your appointment for you, which I'm already telling you this now.

(2) if you miss the biometrics, you have 30 days to do it without being considered as abandon case. You can always walk in on May 15th (Friday), missing the appointment by 2 days would not have any bad effects on your case. I can also tell you this, if you miss the appointment and go there 2 days later, you will have a greater chance of them letting you walk-in (because people at the ASC would freak out more than you would if they know you're late and just coming in now) than trying to walk in early.

(3) if possible, re-schedule your vacation to make way for this biometrics appointment, another truth that you won't like.

As I've seen a few posts recently on VJ, e.g. should you get a lawyer for filing I-751, should you report parking/speeding ticket on N-400, should you re-schedule citizenship oath ceremony to make way for a baby shower, etc etc., it depends on your own priority and no one else can make the decision for you. Well... that's all I can say. Good Luck!