The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) introduced a new self-service rescheduling tool for biometrics services appointments on June 28, 2023. USCIS requires biometrics (e.g., fingerprinting) for most benefits and automatically schedules appointments at a local Application Support Center (ASC). Applicants who are unable to attend their scheduled appointment for good cause can now reschedule their appointments online, rather than by calling the USCIS Contact Center.
See the USCIS’s announcement, here, and relevant updates to the USCIS Policy Manual, here.
Applicants, and their attorneys and accredited representatives, can now reschedule most biometric services appointments online at my.uscis.gov before the date of the appointment. The online tool can be used regardless of whether the pending case was submitted online or by mail.
USCIS will consider timely requests to reschedule a biometric services appointment for “good cause.” Examples of good cause may include, but are not limited to:
• Illness, medical appointment, or hospitalization;
• Previously planned travel;
• Significant life events such as a wedding, funeral, or graduation ceremony;
• Inability to obtain transportation to the appointment location;
• Inability to obtain leave from employment or caregiver responsibilities; and
• Late delivered or undelivered biometric services appointment notice.
Applicants may choose to reschedule their appointments by calling the USCIS Contact Center if preferred, but must reschedule by phone if any of the following circumstances apply:
• The request is within 12 hours of the scheduled appointment time;
• This is the third attempt to reschedule the same appointment;
• The request is for a missed appointment; or
• The tool is unavailable due to technical reasons.
It is critical to attend biometrics appointments because USCIS considers a benefit request abandoned and denied if the benefit requestor fails to appear for a biometric appointment unless, by the appointment time, USCIS receives a notice of a change of address or a request to reschedule the appointment that USCIS concludes warrants excusing the failure to appear.
Please contact any member of the Dentons Immigration team if you have any questions regarding the above.
