OK, so what should one do if they get an I-72 because their fingerprints will expire "within 30 days"? My prints don't expire until 4/27 and I have already made plans to have new prints done but cannot get PA because of the "30 days" rule. I find that unacceptable. Why set an expiration date if an I-72 can be issued BEFORE that date?

Thanks for your sensitivity.

I thought that the fingerprint expiration depended on the state you live in... on our I171H, it says ours are good for 15 months. Does that vary for others too?

Sometimes Kelly and I are behind the times on things because our adoptions were years ago and things change. Fingerprints used to be good for one year, now it is apparently 15 months. I have changed the main post to reflect that. It does not vary by state, this is done at the federal level.

T.Adamczyk - I'm guessing that is a rhetorical question you are asking. Lord knows if I had control over the rules and policies of the US government, MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY things would be done differently and having nothing to do with adoption, the world would be a better place!

Paz,

Kevin
Guatadopt.com

T.Adamczyk - As we have repeatedly stated to you...You are going to waste so much time in getting the USE to respond to the Congressperson congressional inquiry. The response can take weeks. Did you get an I72 sent to you about your fingerprints needing to be renewed prior to expiration or is that just what your attorney told you as the reason why your case is not submitted to the USE? The USE does not chat with the attorney about what is wrong, the USE sends the PAP an I-72 via email. IF you received an I-72 for expired prints...Just RENEW them! It will save you time and aggravation. Marie and the Guat Team.

My problem is that I can't get the embassy to confirm they received the extension cable from the NVC. I've been trying for a month to get a response to no avail.

The DOS website tells PAPs it is THEIR responsibility to follow up to make sure this is received but then they won't answer your emails. I've heard they don't answer phone calls either. Thanks for your support DOS.

Pre-Approval is also based on knowing that your paper-work is in order prior to PGN approval and finalization of the adoption.

The case still can be submitted to PGN without approval, but under a "Gentleman's agreement" PGN requires that the case has been pre-approved before they allow the adoption to be finalized.

I know its hard for dedicated parents to understand, but catching it at Pre-Approval is probably a better system check. There is little chance that at PA, you will get through the rest of the process within "30 days"....therefore, they raise the flag there....

Right now, there are a number of parents dealing with I-72's which I would LOVE to see diminished by catching it early at PA. I think with the uncertainty of what it means if it expires post Hague...I would rather have them catch it with a 30 day window!

CHECK THE I-171H FORM FOR THE EXPIRATION DATES. THIS IS WHAT THEY WILL USE...

I'm in the same boat as anon. I had my prints redone a month before the clearance expired. Within a week my local (state) USCIS office had the clearance and gave me a copy of it. But the local offices can no longer send the information to the embassy in Guatemala like they used to be able to do. Now they forward the information to the National Visa Center who can't seem to get the information (visa 37 cable) to the embassy. They are also unresponsive when you try to get ahold of them.
At this point is when congressional help might be needed; I'm certainly considering it.
Lynn

Do the fingerprint expire 15 months from the date they were taken or 15 months from the date the approved I-171H was received?
thanks

What is the earliest date that you can apply for the extension. We have an expiration date in June. Is it too early to apply?

Thats correct its 15 months for 171h. Less for fingerprints because fingerprints are not specific to adoptions and used for many other things so they have their own expiration rule. I know this from one of the one too many times we went to immigration while listening to the guy in front of us iron out some immigration issue with his mom while I debated whether to look cheerful or sad when it was our turn to beg for refingerprinting and whether to stand or kneel while doing so. It took 3 visits before we either met the requirement, they felt sorry for us, or were sick of us.. not sure which. I've thought about opening a service where I could plaster cast the APs arms and carry them in for refingerprinting. Imagine a bunch of plaster arms sticking out of a backpack [I know they wouldn't allow it but I like the thought]. We expired after PA while in PGN and had to get renewed. We didn't get in on the free extension deal we repaid. We got i-72'd on refiling for a 171h that had already been approved twice before, resolved that [I'll skip the story on the 1-800 line trying to find out if the website indicating they were still processing docs from 6 months earlier was true], confirmed the wire, then got i-72'd later because nobody told us DHS wanted a copy of the approval which was wired probably to the person sitting right next to them. They snail mailed the I-72's. Those are a blast to recieve on friday so you can panic the weekend and write their address to get the automated response they might reply X days later. I feel for the parents in this situation but this is one you have to stay on top of. Don't hope some kind hearted soul will warn you beforehand or gamble you make it out before then. I thought about not sharing the above, because I don't want to scare anyone, but I think it might encourage some families to reapply as soon as possible before it becomes an issue so they can avoid this. We got through it but if we could go back in time and avoid it we'd do so.

correction sorry..
I171H - expires after 18 months
Fingerprints expire in 15 months
Fingerprints have a different expiration because they are used for other processes outside adoptions so regardless of process if needed they expire in 15.

Does anyone have experience getting re-fingerprinted at the Embassy in Guatemala City? Our fingerprints are set to expire in June and who knows where we will be in the process at that point in time. (We are currently in PGN for the second time.) My wife is in Antigua fostering the child we are in the process of adopting and I'm headed down there for a visit in April. My thought was that we would be able to get re-printed down there, as it will be difficult for my wife to leave the country to get re-fingerprinted here.

Anything we should be aware of in terms of the logistics for getting re-fingerprinted in Guatemala? I'm assuming that you can get it done down there. I've emailed the embassy but haven't heard back from them yet.

Any insight you can provide would be appreciated.

We had our I171 and fingerprints extended, but someone mentioned that we should make sure these updated docs made it to the Guat embassy or it can cause delays. Any idea how I can do this? Is there a number I can/should call?

My son's adoption was so prolonged that I had to get re-fingerprinted and get an updated I171. What I didn't count on was that my agency would wait 6 more weeks to submit my updated home study to Immigration and of course they used that date to start my 8-10 week wait. While I held my breath and prayed to bring him home in 07, Immigration couldn't seem to get that cable (which is an EMAIL) to the NVC or the Embassy (they said they did both). They even told me they wouldn't resend it- until I made it clear that I woudl not leave until it was done. This issue cost me another 6 weeks. Please know that you can make an online appt to talk to someone at Immigration and if you are using the Memphis TN branch, you will have to. And be firm. My son was 2 days shy of 19 months when we finally came home. Keeping fighting, asking questions and never give up. Do not assume that when you've done your part, everyone else will too.

Jackie,

It is time to apply for you. I have seen 60 days written on some official USCIS documents and I have read others say it is even 90 days. Ours expire mid July and I plan on submitting my request in a week or so.

Good luck. Lilian

We are still waiting for our I600a to be approved 16 months after we originally send it to USCIS. We were fingerprinted on Jan. 31, 2007. Have they expired or are they still "in process" with the rest of our application?

Holli, search on cable or i-72 in the forums there are multiple threads on this and actually two email addresses you would contact.. one for state to confirm the cable and one for dhs to confirm they got a copy after your atty does final submit.

Jarjay63, immigration has information on their site indicating you can get refingerprinted at Guatemala embassy but they advise it takes longer because the fingerprints are sent back to the US for processing. I have no idea what they mean by longer since they don't specify how much additional time. I think it wouldn't hurt to write the embassy and ask.

Best wishes to everyone.
Lisa

Cynthia,

Are you saying that after over a year you still haven't received your I171H?

If so, then something is horribly wrong as it does not take that long.

Kevin
Guatadopt.com

My fingerprints expire on May 3. After struggling with the USCIS representatives, they finally gave me the renewal appointment for April 19. They insisted I had to wait that the fingerprints expire before they could give me a new appointment for renewal.
I am still afraid that 2 weeks would not be enough for the US embassy to have the fingerprints update before expiration of the original ones. What do you think?

Hey Everyone,

I agree, stay on top of this!

I also agree to check with your home study agency in your own state, as it seems that the requirements vary from state to state from what I can gather from talking to friends all over the US (and we all had to do something different!).

You can apply within 90 days of expiration, and not before. Since this can take a long time, and since it sometimes takes a long time to go from local office to NVC and then on to USE, I would plan to give them as much of the 90 days as you can. Get everything completed so you can mail it in order to arrive at the beginning of the 90 days.

I also agree with DO NOT GAMBLE on having enough time to complete the adoption before it expires--if there is any doubt, or if you are nearing this 90 day window, be safe and just redo it.

I just redid mine, and they were actually processed and approved in three days! But . . . when I looked closely at the dates on the top of the new I 171H paper, there was an error, they had put 2007 for the dates instead of 2008, making my new one expire about the same time as my old one would've expired, instead of 18 mo later!

Check, check, check your documents. I have to get this fixed now, and hope that it also gets fixed at the NVC and at USE!

From what I have been reading lately, HOPE is the key word here. I have heard of many who redo this in plenty of time, but then they just can't seem to get the document from their local office, through NVC, and to USE!

With 2008 technology, why can't they get an email to go, after an approval, to two different locations in less than 90 days? I could understand it being an issue of processing taking a long time, but why the "sending" part after the processing and the approval is given?

I know of one family that began early, planned ahead, and brought their child home two mo later than was necessary because they could not get the approval to the USE!

I know of many families that are waiting two, three, and four mo for a birth certificate, so I really say, DON'T GAMBLE!

Take it for what its worth.

Yes, 16 months in USCIS. Our local homestudy preparer failed to mention an arrest my husband had 24 years ago in our homestudy. A Huge delay that was only partly resolved by getting our state senator involved. We just completed another homestudy update and medical review of our 3 special needs adopted sons. Now all documents are back on USCIS's desk. I am hoping for a quick response. My next concern is about the fingerprints and if they have expired. Our local agency doesn't seem to know who I should ask. At times it seems like I will never bring hime my baby girl.

Greetings,

Our fingerprints were to expire in March, and we live overseas and originally had our fingerprints done through Athens.
We figured that while in the US in January/Feb we should get it redone early enough not to have a problem.
The fingerprinting in Florida went fine and we got a receipt and proof of fingerprinting, but had the same problem of the embassy in Guatemala saying they needed written confirmation when Florida told us they simply needed to pull it up in their system.
We contacted the embassy in Athens that originally issued our i171h and they contacted USCIS Guat and worked out the problem.

So I would suggest if you are having a problem with the Embassy receiving your new prints to contact the office that issued the i171h and ask for help.

Shalom, Don

Is this information about starting over with an I-171H correct? The USCIS website mentions that a one-time free request to extend the I-171H can be granted.

My adoption agency asked me in late February 2008 to request this one-time extension to my I-171H, by sending an updated I-600A and updated supporting documents.

I did so in early March. My updated HomeStudy was just completed and should now be in the local office.

It seems to me that there is no uniform standard across all the different local USCIS offices, which makes in difficult to determine the correct steps to extend the I-171H under the I-600A and not under I-800.

Our I171 expires in July and we have just received a serious KO from PGN (the birthgrandmother didn't sign the birthmother's birth certificate and she's dead so we have to go to court to have it amended). Do I just have to have the request to renew the I171 and the documentation in by July or does it have to be reviewed and the new I171 issued prior to expiration to be safe? My daughter is almost a year and a half old and I really don't want to lose her now . . . Thanks!
Cari

Hello - Our I 171H expires in June of 2008. I have read all the material and cannot understand what we specifically need to do to have the extension granted if one of us is in Guatemala and the other in US. We have an updated home study, so that is good, but do we just file a new I600A along with a letter to our local USCIS office? We have tried calling USCIS customer service and the local office and have visited the US Embassy in Guatemala. Not one person has been able to answer our question. Thanks to anyone that can help.

Does anyone know what happens if your homestudy needs to be updated? Does this only affect getting your "pink"?.We are on the last reviewers desk of PGN and our agency said we wouldnt get a KO because of this but didnt explain what would happen if we dont have it updated.

I just got back from getting my fingerprints updated. It turned out to be very easy. I went to infopass http://infopass.uscis.gov to set up an in person appointment at the Baltimore service center. Since this was the first fingerprint renewal for my I600A, the fees were waived. They gave me a receipt on the spot. I took it to the fingerprinting place in the next building and they took them today. They also gave me a number to call in two weeks to make sure they cleared. Infopass will give you a place to check what in person applications are handled at your local service center. I was able to get an appointment in the same week. You may have to try a few times throughout the day to get the appointment, Infopass gave me a few unavailable messages when I first tried.

Ok, I am trying to locate information for my friend who just discovered that her I171H is expired. I am confused by the information above stating that an I72 will be issued instead of a pink delaying the process and then later it states the adoption may "be over"?

Can someone please clarify this for me. I am trying desperately to help her find the answers she needs to figure out what needs to be done. Her I171H is expired only by a few weeks and her fingerprints are current.

Thanks!

Your friend needs to get in touch with the new Hague office of DOS and get senator intervention ASAP. Many families have been caught in this trap- and they need to make an exception. I know someone who that happened to, and the US GOV allowed the Embassy to issue pink by exception, but it required telling the DOS of the situation and recruiting help from the Senator's office, and three weeks later- Pink instead of I72.