I had my biometrics appointment on Jan 29 in Lisbon. It was scheduled for 11:30am but it was at least a two hour wait. My husband (dependent) was with me and we brought his documents just in case they could process him too, but that didn’t happen. I brought the original FBI apostille document (as requested), my US passport, and my credit card. I also gave my flight boarding passes US-CDG (entry into Europe with a passport stamp), CDG-LIS (different date and airline) which we made a point to print out at the airports. I’m not sure what was needed, but our IAS rep put everything into our file. According to IAS, the AIMA office was understaffed because of sick employees. They also stagger lunches, which slows everything down, so it seems that earlier appointments might be processed faster.
I was worried about a fraud alert when paying the fee, but the agent just tapped my card and the machine spit out a receipt. I kept spend off of that card to keep our available credit high, on the off chance that we could process both my husband and I. I did use the card a few times in Europe so Capital One wasn’t shocked by one giant transaction. Who knows if that made a difference?
IAS was super nice, as usual. We met beforehand at the office so we could discuss the investment (and the return), and we actually stayed at the hotel we invested in through Mercan (Moxy Alfragide) and that was especially fun. It was kind of shocking that Mercan could build a hotel months faster than AIMA could book a fingerprint appointment, but I digress.
While waiting for AIMA, IAS let us sit in a much warmer cafe down the street and they called us just before my number was called. That office was COLD and the seats are steel so dress warmly. The actual biometrics took only a few minutes. They have a customs style bollard that takes your photo and fingerprints. And then you tap your card and leave. It was all very anticlimactic after 3.5 years of waiting.
Given the pace of processing Primary Applicants, IAS opined that Dependents would be called for appointments in the second half of the year. I hope this is the case as it is stressful to be on a separate timeline than my husband.
I hope my personal biometrics account is helpful, but am happy to answer any questions I can!