Requesting new finger prints for FBI Fingerprinting AGAIN???

[Raju in Philly]

Hi Friends,
I was fingerprinted for FBI background check by INS on Jan 16 2004.I think fingerprints are valid only for 15 months which means mine might have expired already or might expire soon. How do I request them(INS) to take fingerprints again? (I have no idea why fingerprints expire in 15 months after all they are so unique and it is not like they change you know what I mean?) Money again I guess. So how do I request them to take my prints again? Do I call the 1-800 # for a letter for request of new prints? Or do I just wait till they send me a notice for new prints? Any thoughts. Please suggest. I really appreciate it. Thank you.
Raju
Ps I will be travelling to India on AP in Aug so I really hope I can take care of this one before I leave the US. I live in Philly

 

[Thecla]

Hi,

I was reading your post and I actually had my fingerprints taken recently because they had expired, I had an info pass appointment to inquire about my case and the officer told me that she anticipated that they will ask me soon to take the prints so she gave me an appointment to take them, maybe if you get an appoint and see them they will do the same for you?

 

[Raju in Philly]

Fingerprints

Hello Thecla,
Thank you so much for your response. Well I just sent my renewal papers for EAD (work-permit) so I am sure when they touch my file AGAIN (Just a month ago I got my AP) Anyway so I hope they send me a letter for fingerprints when they see my file again. If not I will call and make appointment I guess. In any case thanks for your response.
Raju

 

[2incali]

almost the same situation here, only in a more advanced stage. my wife and i just received the email notification that the i485 has been approved (woo-hoo) and they mailed some extra documents. since we recently moved, i called the toll free number to make sure they have our address ok. (they dont, 2 1/2 months after we made the notification. oh well, hope usps will be able to find us.) i asked the officer what would be my next step, he said "fingerprints". wait, wait, wait, ive done that last year in august. he said yup, but this is what it says here in my computer.

i have a feeling that they actually changed (or added to) the fingerprinting procedure. last year when i made my fingerprints i dont remember them to take photos, whereas my wife (thad made the same thing a couple of months ago) said they did. but it may be that my memory is short. lately i heard about "fingerprints and biometrics", so i told myself, maybe my file is missing the biometrics. again, this is just speculation, but as a service to the forum, next time i will go for the fingerprinting i will ask and post what they tell me. (if anything.) the double fingerprinting may dissapear in time, after theyre done with all of us that have been only half-fingerprinted lol.

work permit and travel docs situation is similar for me. they expire in august. we want to travel at the end of august. i asked the officer that i talked to whether i should start the procedure for extending their validity. he said that once my i-485 has been approved i am technically just as good as having the green card. the i-485 approval should be enough for employment, and if i need to travel i should schedule an appointment thru their website (uscis.gov and follow the infopass link, top right side of the page). appointment will be made with a local center, and they will put a sort of visa stamp in my passport that's gonna be good to re-enter in the us. hope they will.

Raju, not sure whether all of the above apply to you, but apparently youre not the only one that need fingerprinting twice. relax, youre still on the right track, it just takes incredibly long.