USCIS office closures disrupting biometrics
USCIS continues to post intermittent office closures and appointment‑hour changes that are causing cascading delays for biometric appointments and other time‑sensitive steps. Practitioners are being urged to confirm the USCIS Office Closings page on appointment days as last‑minute closures remain frequent. (uscis.gov)
USCIS’ Office Closings page was last updated on March 20, 2026, and the page explicitly includes a “Rescheduling Appointments” section for field offices and ASCs. (uscis.gov) A severe winter storm on January 23, 2026 forced closures across at least 13 states and temporarily shut multiple ASCs and field offices, producing same‑day changes that affected scheduled biometric collections. (visaverge.com) USCIS designates ASCs as the sites that collect fingerprints, photographs, and electronic signatures, and several ASC pages state that biometric appointments canceled due to an ASC closure will be automatically rescheduled and a new appointment notice mailed. (uscis.gov) Field‑office interviews do not follow the same automatic rescheduling practice; guidance and practitioner notes show interviewees must often manually request new appointments or follow the specific office’s rescheduling chart. (visaverge.com) If applicants do not receive a mailed rescheduled ASC notice within 90 days after an ASC reopens, USCIS guidance and practitioner resources advise calling the USCIS Contact Center at 800‑375‑5283. (uscisguide.com) USCIS launched an online self‑service tool on June 28, 2023 that allows benefit requestors, attorneys, and accredited representatives to reschedule most biometric appointments in advance through myUSCIS. (uscis.gov) Analysts and firm briefings link recent closures, severe weather events, and periodic DHS funding disruptions to longer processing times and growing backlogs in 2026, amplifying the downstream impact when biometrics or interviews are delayed. (visapro.com)
