The old InfoPass self-scheduling tool is gone. To get an InfoPass appointment today, you request a field office visit through the myUSCIS portal at my.uscis.gov/appointment or by calling the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283, and a USCIS officer decides whether your problem actually requires seeing someone in person.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Schedule an Appointment – myUSCIS2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Contact Center You can no longer pick your own date from a public calendar. The agency screens each request and grants an appointment only when digital tools and phone support cannot solve the issue.
What Actually Qualifies for a Field Office Visit
The myUSCIS appointment request page lists four categories of eligible services: ADIT stamps, emergency advance parole, immigration judge grants, and a catch-all “other” for situations that don’t fit neatly elsewhere.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Schedule an Appointment – myUSCIS
An ADIT stamp, also called an I-551 stamp, is the most common reason people need a field office visit. If your Green Card has been lost, stolen, or expired while you wait for a replacement, an officer can stamp your passport as temporary proof of lawful permanent resident status. USCIS sets the validity period on a case-by-case basis rather than applying a fixed expiration.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Volume 11 – Travel and Identity Documents, Part B – Permanent Resident Cards, Chapter 2 – Replacement of Permanent Resident Card
Emergency advance parole is the other major reason. If you have a critical need to leave the country within 15 days and your travel document has not been issued yet, USCIS may grant an emergency travel document at a field office. Qualifying emergencies include urgent medical treatment abroad, the death or serious illness of a family member, or a pressing professional or academic commitment when you already applied for a travel document, requested expedited processing, and the case is still pending.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Emergency Travel
Field offices also handle document errors that block employment or travel, immigration judge grants requiring in-person verification, and humanitarian emergencies. The common thread: each situation involves something a website or phone call physically cannot do.
How to Request the Appointment
Through myUSCIS Online
Start at my.uscis.gov/appointment. You can submit an online request for an ADIT stamp, emergency advance parole, an immigration judge grant, or other field office services directly through the portal.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Schedule an Appointment – myUSCIS For most categories this is not true self-scheduling. You submit the request, and USCIS evaluates whether an in-person visit is warranted before assigning a date. The one exception is a narrow one: if you have a pending case at the Arlington Asylum Office related to asylum, NACARA, or a credible fear or reasonable fear screening, you can book that appointment directly online.
Through the USCIS Contact Center
If the online tools do not resolve your issue, call 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833). Live agents and the Emma virtual chat assistant are available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Contact Center You can also open Emma by clicking “Need Help? Chat with Emma” in the lower-right corner of most pages on uscis.gov.
The person who answers is a Tier 1 officer. Explain your specific need and have your case information ready. The Tier 1 officer screens whether your situation meets the threshold for a field office visit. If it does, the case is escalated to a Tier 2 officer for a deeper review.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Contact Center
The Tier 2 officer typically calls you back, and for urgent matters that callback can come within a few business days. During that conversation, the officer confirms the details, checks availability at your local field office, and either approves or denies the request. If approved, you receive a confirmation notice by email or mail with a specific date and time. That notice is your entry permit for the appointment. Don’t lose it.
What to Have Ready Before You Request
Organized paperwork is the difference between a smooth process and a frustrating runaround. At minimum you need your nine-digit Alien Registration Number (A-Number), which appears on most immigration documents and correspondence.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Number If you have a pending application, have the receipt number handy too; it is printed on your I-797 Notice of Action. Have your full legal name exactly as it appears on your filings and your date of birth ready, because even small mismatches can prevent records from pulling up correctly.
Supporting evidence depends on why you’re going in. For emergency advance parole, bring a completed and signed Form I-131 (Application for Travel Documents) with any applicable filing fee, evidence supporting your eligibility for the travel document, evidence of the emergency itself, and two passport-style photos. Even if you already have a pending Form I-131, you still need to file a new one with a fee at the appointment.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Emergency Travel Emergency evidence typically means medical records, death certificates, or documentation of the professional or academic commitment driving the travel need.
If your appointment relates to an expedited work authorization or other benefit request, be ready to document the financial or personal hardship. USCIS generally requires evidence to support any expedite request, and the Contact Center representative will ask about it during your call.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Expedite Requests
Translations for Foreign-Language Documents
Any document not in English must include a full English translation. Federal regulations require the translator to certify that the translation is complete and accurate and that the translator is competent to translate from the foreign language into English.7eCFR. 8 CFR 103.2 – Submission and Adjudication of Benefit Requests In practice, that means the translator signs a short written statement attesting to both their competence and the accuracy of the translation. The translator does not need to be a professional, but a sloppy or incomplete translation can lead USCIS to reject the document.
If You Can’t Make It: Rescheduling and No-Shows
Missing an appointment without notice can be costly. For biometric services appointments, USCIS treats most no-shows as an abandonment of the underlying benefit request, which results in a denial.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Policy Alert – Application Support Center Reschedule Requests and Missed Appointments The same risk applies to field office appointments tied to pending applications. Failing to appear signals to USCIS that you’ve given up on the case.
If you know you can’t make it, request a reschedule before your appointment. For appointments managed through your USCIS online account, submit the request at least 12 hours before the scheduled time. If you are inside that 12-hour window or have already missed the appointment, call the Contact Center or use Emma chat to explain.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Preparing for Your Biometric Services Appointment USCIS may still consider a late reschedule request, but you need to show good cause for why you could not request it sooner. “I forgot” generally will not work.
Bringing an Attorney or Interpreter
You have the right to bring an attorney or accredited representative. The representative must file a Form G-28 (Notice of Entry of Appearance) for your case, signed by both you and the representative.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form G-28 – Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative If your attorney is appearing in person at a DHS office for a limited purpose and is not already the representative of record, they can complete and submit the G-28 at the office that day.
If you’re not comfortable communicating in English, you can bring your own interpreter. For formal interviews at domestic field offices, USCIS has specific rules: the interpreter must be fluent in both English and your language, able to interpret competently and without bias, and both you and the interpreter must sign a Declaration for Interpreted USCIS Interview (Form G-1256) under oath. Your attorney or accredited representative cannot double as your interpreter.11U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The Role and Use of Interpreters in Domestic Field Office Interviews Note that this formal policy does not apply to general customer-service inquiries like the kind handled at most field office appointments. For a routine ADIT stamp or document correction, the requirements are less formal, but bringing someone fluent in both languages is still a good idea.
What to Expect at the Field Office
USCIS field offices are federal facilities, so you pass through a security screening similar to what you’d encounter at a courthouse. Expect a metal detector and bag screening. Your appointment confirmation notice and a valid, unexpired photo ID (passport, Green Card, or driver’s license) are required to get past security.12U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 2 – Biometrics Collection
Federal facility rules prohibit firearms and replica weapons, knives with blades over 2½ inches, pepper spray and mace, fireworks and explosives, and martial arts weapons. Tools like screwdrivers, scissors with pointed tips, and crowbars are classified as controlled items and are also barred for visitors. Leave anything you wouldn’t take through airport security in your car.
Cell phones are allowed inside most USCIS offices, but the rules on using them are strict. Silence your phone in the waiting area and keep conversations quiet. During your appointment or while being served at the information counter, your phone must be turned off entirely. No one may photograph or record inside a USCIS office, with the sole exception of naturalization and citizenship ceremonies.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Conduct in USCIS Facilities
After clearing security, you check in at the information desk where staff verify your appointment. Then you wait. Field offices operate on a queuing system, and even with an appointment wait times vary by day. Bring something to read.
When your name is called, the officer reviews your documentation and handles the specific matter you came in for. For an ADIT stamp, the officer can typically place the stamp in your passport during that same visit. For emergency advance parole, the officer processes your Form I-131 and may issue the travel document on the spot if your emergency is verified. Document corrections might be resolved immediately or may require the officer to submit the correction and mail the corrected document later.
Keep your original documents; officers may make copies but should return everything to you. If something isn’t resolved to your satisfaction, ask the officer about your options before you leave. Getting clarity face-to-face is far easier than sorting it out over the phone later.