Fingerprinting/Bio-metrics Experience

[squareleg 69]

Hello! - I begin my first post with sharing my bio-metrics/fingerprinting experience.

Background:

I (sometimes) wear a brace on my forearm (especially after workout or after riding motorcycle) to avoid re-occurrence of an old injury.

Experience:

I arrived at the "location A", 15-minutes ahead of the scheduled appointment for bio-metrics. However, I was asked to see the manager who declined to have me fingerprinted due to brace on my arm. I tried to reason that, it doesn't interfere with fingerprinting and I plan to remove it while my bio-metrics are taken. However, I was not approved to have my bio-metrics taken, even after mentioning that I had to take a day-off to make myself available.

After leaving the facility, I called USCIS. The representative on phone suggested that I could get a doctor's note and visit the same or different location for bio-metrics and/or alternatively, try to reschedule.

Next day, I was traveling on business and I decided to do a walk-in at "location-B". The manger here asked me to wait, since, they have take the scheduled appointments first. I was successfully able to complete the bio-metrics in 45-minutes. They stamped my bio-metrics notice and gave me a booklet for naturalization test.

Question(s):

1 - Does it impact my timeline for Naturalization that I completed bio-metrics at a different location and a day late?

2 - If someone can highlight the processing time from bio-metrics to interview to oath? This will be helpful, given my upcoming travel. I applied for the Form N-400 (Application for Naturalization) in November-2015.

Thanks!

[TBoneTX 45,309]

*** Thread moved from US Citizenship main forum to the Case Progress subforum. ***

[JimmyHou 611]

Hello! - I begin my first post with sharing my bio-metrics/fingerprinting experience.

Background:

I (sometimes) wear a brace on my forearm (especially after workout or after riding motorcycle) to avoid re-occurrence of an old injury.

Experience:

I arrived at the "location A", 15-minutes ahead of the scheduled appointment for bio-metrics. However, I was asked to see the manager who declined to have me fingerprinted due to brace on my arm. I tried to reason that, it doesn't interfere with fingerprinting and I plan to remove it while my bio-metrics are taken. However, I was not approved to have my bio-metrics taken, even after mentioning that I had to take a day-off to make myself available.

After leaving the facility, I called USCIS. The representative on phone suggested that I could get a doctor's note and visit the same or different location for bio-metrics and/or alternatively, try to reschedule.

Next day, I was traveling on business and I decided to do a walk-in at "location-B". The manger here asked me to wait, since, they have take the scheduled appointments first. I was successfully able to complete the bio-metrics in 45-minutes. They stamped my bio-metrics notice and gave me a booklet for naturalization test.

Question(s):

1 - Does it impact my timeline for Naturalization that I completed bio-metrics at a different location and a day late?

2 - If someone can highlight the processing time from bio-metrics to interview to oath? This will be helpful, given my upcoming travel. I applied for the Form N-400 (Application for Naturalization) in November-2015.

Thanks!

1- No impact whatsoever. Good for you for being proactive and trying s new location!

2- Depending on your location and when you applied it can take anywhere between 1 month and 6 or more months before your interview. Look through the timeline tables on the monthly threads for the last year to find people who applied at your office. You will very likely have 4 or 5 weeks notice for your interview, so you can plan travel around that. Some people are placed in line for interview (your next step) within days of biometrics but then wait months for an interview date and for others it's the other way around. If you applied 90 days early, it is very unlikely that you will get an interview date for your green card anniversary. The scheduling of the oath ceremony also varies widely from office to office. You may take the oath on the same day as your interview if your office offers this option. Or you may wait a few more months for your oath letter to arrive in the mail. In most cases the whole process from application to oath takes 4 to 8 months, but it can be slower or faster. For example, in Houston, where I am, most recent applicants who applied to 90 days early received their interview letter about four months after applying, were interviewed five months after applying, and took the citizenship of either five or six months after applying.

[squareleg 69]

Thanks JimmyHou for the detailed response.