[VinSue99]

I hope someone can shed some light on the following question/problem for me.....

Our I171H will be expiring at the end of September.....
do we have to be back in the United States before the expiration date, or do we just have to go to court before it expires?

Any information is greatly appreciated.

[2Bulgarianbeauties]

You have to appear to the US Embassy before it expires. All you have to do is get refingerprinted. In Michigan, they get those appointments pretty fast. I was told to send a check for $70 with a note to the same address you sent the I600a form. You might want to include a copy of your approved I171 to help them find you in the database.

Kay

[Russiamomto3]

I would check with INS...as I have been told by the Newark NJ office it goes like this.
15 months on fingerprints, 18 months on I171H. If your fingerprints expire before you travel, you can get them redone as long as your I171H is still good. If your I171H expires....you have to get it re-done. Which means..refingerprint, resubmit I600a, resubmit supporting documents (homestudy has to be recent), you will then receive a NEW I171H approval where your case number will be new also.
Sorry to be a bummer...I've been through the process 3x's and this is how Newark has explained it to me. Also, if you are not OUT of Russia before your I171H expires you will have problems in Moscow.
Liane

[waiting4babies]

If I were you, I would be running to the INS office to get your fingerprints redone.

My fingerprints were due to expire on September 22nd and I just had them redone on August 1st.

The way it works is that when the fingerprints expire, so does your I-171H. You do not want to let that happen. The I-171H fingerprints must be valid on the date of Embassy visit.

If you do not know when you will be traveling, you should have them redone immediately. It takes a while to get an updated I-171H, which is what they will do. The updated I-171H will show only the new fingerprint date.

[waiting4babies]

I forgot to mention that if the I-171H is what is expiring, then you must reapply and include all pertinent information such as what you did the first time you submitted the I-600A.

I have until January 2006, before my I-171H expires completely. I sure hope and pray I get a court date before then or I will really have to spend alot of money.

[VinSue99]

Thanks for your responses.....we did have our fingerprints retaken back in May......so it looks like we'll just have to redo the I600a in order to receive the new I171. Very stressful!

[bam125]

We had to refile our 171H and it was very fast and easy. We sent in another 1-600A and the turn around time was just two weeks (we live in NYC). Just to be safe, I would do it soon.

Also, we changed countries and had to file the 1-824 and that turn around time was just one week.