Judges actually don't like to have a lot of pending cases, as they are also kinda pushed to make decisions as soon as they have all the info on your case, like fingertips and background cleared etc. Biometrics are only good for 1 year btw, so that is probably the case here. Doesn't mean he's gonna grant the asylum, doesn't mean he's gonna deny though, they just can't proceed anyhow if they don't have current biometrics 'cause of the Real Id act.
In very rare cases judges really can grant the asylum without the background check cleared, in fact that how i was supposed to get mine, cause INS was taking forever for some reason when it got to presenting this info at the court, so judge said that at the next hearing date he's gonna approve no matter what (my asulym was granted at the individual hearing waiting for background clearance, had to wait more than a year to actually get approved, btwIs it true that cases get approved at the court without the need for the name check clearance?