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Friday, August 15, 2008

Fingerprints!

Today,we are able to cross one more "to do" item off of our adoption checklist...fingerprints! We're no strangers to fingerprinting, as I've actually lost count as to how many times we've had this done over the past few years. Each time is an experience and today was no exception. Depending on which level of government is wanting our prints, we either head to the county jail (good times!) or to the USCIS Office. Today, our fingerprints were being requested by the FBI so we headed off to the local USCIS office for our 11:00 appointment. Although this sounds like an important place, this tiny office leaves much to be desired. It happens to be located in a very rundown strip mall with a broken sign above the entrance that says "Application Center"....don't ask why it says that because I don't have a clue! Walking into that place is like walking into another country, and today, it felt a lot like walking into Somalia. Nobody spoke English, and I could tell the desk workers were relieved to deal with us since we were able to follow their directions without them resorting to giving instructions at a turtles speed with intense volume.

After sitting in the waiting room for nearly 45 minutes, Jeff was called back leaving me alone in the waiting room. Ten minutes later it was my turn and I was escorted back to the computerized machine. No ink pad and paper for the FBI-go taxes! The woman repeated several of my fingers then told me that many of my fingerprints have been worn down and that I shouldn't "freak out" if I get a letter from the FBI telling me that my fingerprints have been rejected. This lady obviously doesn't know me, because such a letter would definitely send me over the edge. We're talking about our daughter here, and rejected fingerprints mean a denied government approval (at least until this little fiasco is figured out). She then went on to say that she's seen "much worse prints be accepted" but that she couldn't guarantee anything. I questioned her about all the "what if's" I could think of and it sounds like if my fingerprints are rejected that I need to go back and have them redone so they can match my worn fingerprints from today with the new prints to verify my identity. Obviously a fingerprint hassle won't stop our adoption, but I'm not really looking to hassle with the FBI. Why can't anything adoption related by easy? Grrrrrrrr...........I think this calls for ice cream tonight!

PLEASE cross your fingers that the FBI accepts my fingerprints so that we can keep the ball rolling without a delay in our process.

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