Early FP in Philly

D

DaG

Registered Users (C)
Hello, everybody!

Since I couldn't find anything posted recently re the subject, I am hoping that someone will help me with some tips or/and info.

I have received FP notice recently with the scheduled date in March @ Philly Service Center. Since I am going to be out of the country at that time, I am going to try to go for an early FP.

Did anybody go for early FP to Philadelphia recently? Any suggestions or tips especially for the day of the week or time (morning vs. afternoon)?

Any advise would be appreciated! Thank you!
 
Go on your scheduled date. They don't entertain walk-ins. Not in my case. Some are lucky, though.
 
I did my early finger prints in Oct'04. They allowed me to do.
If was there early in the morning. They let me in.
 
JLCF485 said:
Go on your scheduled date. They don't entertain walk-ins. Not in my case. Some are lucky, though.
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Unfortunately there is no way to go on the scheduled date for FP w/o loosing couple thousand $ since I am going to be overseas at that time. So I either can try an early FP or reschedule it (if they would refuse me) as the last chance.
 
Try it. I did it early and at a different centers.

If you search (advance), you will find many people have done early successfully including Philly.
 
No problem. Pick the right day and right time. They close at 3:45PM, you can come in at 3:00 - 3:20, if nobody is there waiting, they will let you do it. Saturday is bad because there are so many people waiting.

Ask people here if INS does FP on days besides Wed. and Sat. There might be less people on those days.

Good luck.
 
I know a lot of ppl including me who did early FP, and I got my 485 approval 2 weeks after the FP, so there's no harm in doing an early FP. I went on a saturday around 1PM, that place was relatively empty, I have heard Wednesday mornings are good too. If they ask why you are early, just tell them you are travelling during that time.

Hope this helps!

PS: If you search this forum, there are plenty of threads about early FP (clue: check around nov '04 timeframe).
 
joyd said:
PS: If you search this forum, there are plenty of threads about early FP (clue: check around nov '04 timeframe).
Click to expand...

Yes, I did that and have found some useful information. And just wanted to make sure that nothing has changed since then.

joyd said:
I know a lot of ppl including me who did early FP, and I got my 485 approval 2 weeks after the FP, so there's no harm in doing an early FP.
Click to expand...

I am not that optimistic that I would be expecting to get an approval within next couple weeks since my I-485 was filed in Aug '04 only.

joyd said:
If they ask why you are early, just tell them you are travelling during that time.
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Yes, I am going to take the required documents, my airplane ticket and to try my luck tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. Lets see what happens.

Thanks to everobody for your time and answers!
 
An update

OK, here is my story.

I went to Philadelphia Service Center for early FP (biometrics) yesterday (Thursday). It wasn't the best day to go because of the snow - who lives around here knows how crazy traffic gets in the city even because of some flurries. Anyhow, I was there before 12 PM, parked my car across the street in the parking lot and went inside the USCIS building. To my surprise the place was packed (I guess because people have to get biometrics done for EADs now ). The guard looked at my notice, stamped and told me to take a seat. 10-15 min later all people who have 1:30 PM appointments were asked to fill out the forms and get a token. Since my original appointment time was 1:30 PM (of course the date wasn't the same ;) ) I also filled out the form and got a token. No questions asked about the wrong date. And then we waited and waited, and waited... All people with FP notices were seated on one side of the room leaving the other side for lucky ;) people who came to get PP stamped (they had priority to get FP done faster than us). Finally my turn came at ~2:50 PM (remember, I was there before 12 PM). A lady checked my FP notice again (with no questions about the date), first took a print of my index finger, then I had to sign on the touch-pad and was seated for the picture. After my picture was taken, she took prints of all my fingers - fortunately all of them passed. I was seated again, she finished working on the computer, stamped my original FP notice and gave it back to me. I had a copy of my I-485 receipt but nobody asked for it - all they needed was my passport and FP notice. I left the building at ~ 3:15 PM leaving ~35 people still waiting for their turn. I guess I should consider myself lucky. :)

My LUD changed yesterday and today w/o the change of the message.

P.S. The staff seems to be pretty friendly but everything takes incredibly long. Get a book to keep yourself occupied when you go. Just in case. ;)
 
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