New Fingerprinting Procedure for Immigration Court
Author: New York Immigration Lawyer
All respondents in Immigration court have to make sure that the results of the fingerprinting procedure are valid on the date of their Immigration court hearing. Expired results cause delays and adjournments and bring frustration to all participants of the process.
Currently, the Immigration court places the burden of notifying respondents about updating of the biometrics results on their attorneys. Until recently, the procedure required, that respondent submits the Applicant Information Worksheet (AIW) to ICE OCC-NYC at the 11th floor window at 26 Federal Plaza, New York, NY. ICE OCC-NYC would then forward the AIWs to USCIS, and USCIS would determine if an Applicant’s fingerprint checks were expired, and if expired, reschedule the Applicant for an appointment to be physically re-printed.
Effective August 11, 2014, the AIW has to be sent directly to USCIS to
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Attention: AIW
26 Federal Plaza – Room 3-120
New York, NY 10278.
USCIS requests the following on all AIW submissions:
1 – Respondent/attorney clearly indicate the next court date at the top of the AIW and, if possible, attach a copy of the EOIR notice indicating the next court date.
2 – Submit the AIWs to USCIS at least 60 days but no more than 120 days before the next merits court date. USCIS will not entertain any AIWs for reprints if the next court date is more than 120 days out.
3 – USCIS will not entertain any AIWs for reprints if, according to their records, the fingerprints will still be valid at the time of the next court date.