USCIS Application Support Center: Biometrics and Rescheduling

A USCIS Application Support Center biometrics appointment is a short, required visit where a technician collects your fingerprints, takes your photograph, and captures your electronic signature so USCIS can run an FBI background check and produce your immigration document. If you filed a green card, naturalization, or other qualifying application, you’ll get a notice in the mail or in your USCIS online account telling you exactly where and when to appear. You cannot skip it.

What to Bring and How You’re Notified

Your appointment details come on Form I-797C, Notice of Action.¹ The notice shows the date, time, and address of the ASC, and it carries a barcode staff scan at check-in. Bring the original paper notice. Screenshots and digital copies are generally not accepted.

You also need valid, unexpired photo ID. A passport, permanent resident card, or government-issued driver’s license works.² The name on your ID has to match the name on your appointment notice, or you can be turned away.

If your notice includes a biometrics worksheet asking for height, weight, hair color, and eye color, fill it out before you arrive. It saves time at the counter.

What Happens at the Appointment

Expect a security screening at the entrance, similar to a federal courthouse. You’ll walk through a metal detector, and staff will check bags. Cameras and recording devices are usually not allowed inside. After security, you hand your I-797C and ID to the front desk and get a queue number.

When your number is called, a technician takes you to a scanning station. Each finger goes on a glass surface that captures a digital print. If the system flags an image as unclear, the technician will redo that finger. Next comes a passport-style photo of your head and shoulders, then a signature on a digital pad. That signature and photo are what end up on your green card, employment authorization document, or other USCIS-issued document.

The technician stamps your original I-797C as proof you completed the appointment. Keep it. Most visits take about fifteen to thirty minutes.³

USCIS routinely collects biometrics from applicants ages 14 through 79.⁴ Children under 14 are generally not fingerprinted but may still need to appear for a photograph, and a parent or legal guardian can sign for them.³

If the Scheduled Date Doesn’t Work

You have three options, and they are not equal.

Show Up Early

Federal regulations let you appear at the ASC before your scheduled date and time.⁵ The USCIS policy manual confirms this.⁶ Walk-ins aren’t guaranteed same-day service, and scheduled appointments come first, so going a day or two early tends to work better than showing up weeks ahead.

Reschedule Online

Rescheduling has to happen through your USCIS online account before the appointment time passes. USCIS does not accept rescheduling requests by mail or in person at a USCIS office.⁶ You need to show good cause; medical issues, hospitalization, and family emergencies qualify.³ The online tool won’t let you reschedule if the appointment has already been rescheduled twice, is within 12 hours, or has already passed.⁷ If you hit one of those limits, call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283.

Do Not Simply Miss It

USCIS treats a missed biometrics appointment as abandonment of your underlying application, which leads to a denial.³ Your filing fee is gone, and you’d have to start over. If you can’t get to the ASC on the scheduled day and you can’t reschedule online in time, going in early is allowed under the regulations and is far better than not appearing at all.⁵

Is There a Fee

For most applications, no. Under the 2024 fee rule, the biometric services cost is folded into the filing fee you already paid when you submitted your application, so nothing is owed at the ASC. A separate $30 biometric fee still applies to a small set of forms, including Form I-821 for Temporary Protected Status and immigration court forms EOIR-40, EOIR-42A, and EOIR-42B, and it is paid at filing.⁸ USCIS does not accept cash for any fee.⁹

What Happens After

Your prints go to the FBI for a background check. That typically takes one to three months but can run longer if your name triggers additional review, often because it’s common or resembles a name flagged in law enforcement databases. USCIS will not send a separate notice when the check clears. Your case simply moves to the next stage, which might be a request for evidence, an interview, or a decision.

You can watch progress through your USCIS online account or by entering your receipt number on the USCIS case status page. If many months have passed since biometrics and nothing has moved, call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 to ask whether the background check is still pending.

When USCIS Reuses Your Old Biometrics

If you’ve filed with USCIS before, the agency may reuse a photograph less than 36 months old instead of scheduling a new ASC visit. Reuse is not available for some of the most common filings. If you’re filing Form N-400 for naturalization, Form I-485 for adjustment of status, Form I-90 to replace a green card, or Form N-600 for a certificate of citizenship, you’ll be scheduled for a new appointment regardless of when you last provided biometrics.⁶

If You Cannot Be Fingerprinted

Some people cannot provide fingerprints because of skin conditions, disabilities, or birth defects. USCIS can waive the fingerprint requirement, but only after you appear at the ASC and a technician tries to collect prints and determines that not a single legible fingerprint can be captured. A waiver won’t be granted just because prints came back “unclassifiable,” because you have fewer than ten fingers, or because a temporary cut or burn is affecting your skin. For temporary conditions, USCIS reschedules rather than waives. When a waiver is granted, USCIS requires a sworn statement covering the relevant time periods in place of the fingerprint check.⁶

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797C, Notice of Action
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Application Support Centers
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Preparing for Your Biometric Services Appointment
4
Regulations.gov. DHS Docket USCIS-2019-0007-0001 – Collection and Use of Biometrics
5
eCFR. 8 CFR 103.2 – Submission and Adjudication of Benefit Requests
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Volume 1 – Part C – Chapter 2 – Biometrics Collection
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Launches Online Rescheduling of Biometrics Appointments
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 2024 Final Fee Rule
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055, Fee Schedule