Lost green card, cannot schedule infopass, no ID for biometrics. Please help!

[lesleypowers 3]

Hey everyone, I'm in a really sticky situation and at my wits end trying to deal with it.

 

I recently lost my green card, unfortunately at around the same time my British passport expired. I do not have any other forms of ID as I can't drive and honestly didn't know state ID cards existed (I know, I'm an idiot). I have already filed my I-90 and applied for my renewed British passport, which involved me posting my expired passport to the UK- it's due to arrive in about 5 weeks. Currently the only ID I have is my old expired conditional green card, which is not valid for anything.

 

I desperately need to make an appointment to get an I-551 stamp in my soon-to-arrive passport, presumably before my biometrics appointment for the I-90. However, when I try to schedule one online it says "ATTENTION: In two weeks, this USCIS office will stop accepting walk-in requests and scheduling InfoPass appointments for information services. At that time, appointments for document services (such as passport stamps and advance parole) and true emergencies can be made by contacting the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283." But when I call this number to schedule an appointment, it says they no longer make any infopass appointments over the phone and they have to be made online. I've spent 2 hours on the phone this morning going through various menu options to try and speak to a human and am having no luck.

 

Any advice very much appreciated!

 

 

 

 

[Going through 5,668]

4 minutes ago, lesleypowers said:

However, when I try to schedule one online it says "ATTENTION: In two weeks, this USCIS office will stop accepting walk-in requests and scheduling InfoPass appointments for information services. At that time, appointments for document services (such as passport stamps and advance parole) and true emergencies can be made by contacting the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283." But when I call this number to schedule an appointment, it says they no longer make any infopass appointments over the phone and they have to be made online.

Presumably you are getting this message because as it states they are not accepting online appointment scheduling AFTER the next two weeks or so...until then, you'll be redirected to use the online scheduling.

 

For the other question regarding ID....bring the NOA for your recently filed i-90 to your biometrics appointment, and bring the old expired conditional green card.    The expired green card is just that---an expired card...doesn't mean your LPR status is expired.

[lesleypowers 3]

5 minutes ago, Going through said:

Presumably you are getting this message because as it states they are not accepting online appointment scheduling AFTER the next two weeks or so...until then, you'll be redirected to use the online scheduling.

 

For the other question regarding ID....bring the NOA for your recently filed i-90 to your biometrics appointment, and bring the old expired conditional green card.    The expired green card is just that---an expired card...doesn't mean your LPR status is expired.

There are no available appointments within the next two weeks and I need one about 6 weeks out anyway so my passport has time to arrive. I don't understand why it requests that I call, but then when I call it says they don't ever make appointments over the phone. So in two weeks will I just be up creek without a paddle? Am I missing something?

 

For the I-90 biometrics appointment it explicitly says I have to bring a valid photo ID so I don't think they'll accept the expired card. I understand that it doesn't indicate my residency is expired, but it was a conditional 2yr card which I petitioned to remove the conditions from, so it doesn't offer any proof that I am currently lawfully resident.

[Going through 5,668]

13 minutes ago, lesleypowers said:

For the I-90 biometrics appointment it explicitly says I have to bring a valid photo ID so I don't think they'll accept the expired card. I understand that it doesn't indicate my residency is expired, but it was a conditional 2yr card which I petitioned to remove the conditions from, so it doesn't offer any proof that I am currently lawfully resident.

The idea of bringing ID to the biometrics is to prove it's you when showing up for the appointment, not to prove your status...the card, although expired, has the date you became a resident/your photo/your name/etc.  which matches their databases.

 

Considering the agent will be able to see that the biometrics appointment is for a i-90 lost card, it's safe to say that they won't expect you to have your current GC with you to show them.  You can't bring what you don't have---but what you DO have is the expired GC and the NOA, so better to bring that then walk in there with nothing.

 

13 minutes ago, lesleypowers said:

I don't understand why it requests that I call, but then when I call it says they don't ever make appointments over the phone. So in two weeks will I just be up creek without a paddle? Am I missing something?

I'm presuming the message was posted on the site early to warn people they were phasing out the online appointments shortly.  This is happening country-wide, so it will become the norm soon.  When the online scheduling is phased out completely for your field office, you can schedule the appointment over the phone (and likely will get an appointment since it's for the passport stamp).

Edited June 17, 2019 by Going through

[Elf 146]

I have no advice or experience with Infopass appointments, but it may be helpful to know that you might get your UK passport back a bit sooner than you expect.  When I renewed mine a year or so ago, I had both the new and the expired passports in my hands just 10 days after the UKPA received the application.

[lesleypowers 3]

9 minutes ago, Elf said:

I have no advice or experience with Infopass appointments, but it may be helpful to know that you might get your UK passport back a bit sooner than you expect.  When I renewed mine a year or so ago, I had both the new and the expired passports in my hands just 10 days after the UKPA received the application.

 Thanks, you're actually the second person today to have told me that so that gives me hope! It's a straightforward renewal so crossing all my fingers.

[lesleypowers 3]

4 hours ago, Going through said:

The idea of bringing ID to the biometrics is to prove it's you when showing up for the appointment, not to prove your status...the card, although expired, has the date you became a resident/your photo/your name/etc.  which matches their databases.

 

Considering the agent will be able to see that the biometrics appointment is for a i-90 lost card, it's safe to say that they won't expect you to have your current GC with you to show them.  You can't bring what you don't have---but what you DO have is the expired GC and the NOA, so better to bring that then walk in there with nothing.

 

I'm presuming the message was posted on the site early to warn people they were phasing out the online appointments shortly.  This is happening country-wide, so it will become the norm soon.  When the online scheduling is phased out completely for your field office, you can schedule the appointment over the phone (and likely will get an appointment since it's for the passport stamp).

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense and definitely makes me feel better. I was thinking I would have to reschedule the biometrics if I hadn't got an I-551 stamp but perhaps not in that case. I'll wait a couple of weeks to try and book that infopass appointment again.

[Elf 146]

If you gave them your cellphone number, you'll get texts at every stage of the process.  Mine was straightforward other than the fact that my UK passport had been expired for about five years, and the photo I uploaded was taken with my cellphone by a co-worker.  No problems or hitches at all.  The period between filling out the application online and actually getting it to the Post Office was longer than the period from mailing it to getting the new passport.  The UKPA is astonishingly efficient. 

[lesleypowers 3]

10 minutes ago, Elf said:

If you gave them your cellphone number, you'll get texts at every stage of the process.  Mine was straightforward other than the fact that my UK passport had been expired for about five years, and the photo I uploaded was taken with my cellphone by a co-worker.  No problems or hitches at all.  The period between filling out the application online and actually getting it to the Post Office was longer than the period from mailing it to getting the new passport.  The UKPA is astonishingly efficient. 

Mired in the boggy depths of USCIS, I will concede that this is enough to make me feel a tiny bit patriotic to the UK