First, a quick update. I figured out why my glasses case was stolen. They needed somewhere to keep the clip-ons that were made for my prescription eye glasses (the ones left loose in the suitcase). Didn't realize they were missing until I went to put my glasses in a new case and noticed it looked awfully empty.
Moving on.......
So now, we begin a new kind of waiting. The kind of waiting that has two precious faces attached to it. Some have said that at least we have an end in sight now. And that's true. But it feels a lot more urgent than before.
Once we were back, we started the paperwork by going for fingerprints -- since those change so frequently and require us to have them checked often. This was my 9th time to be fingerprinted. These were the ink prints, and if you have been following this blog for a REALLY long time, you might recall that in 2010, I had a terrible time with these. There is only one place here that even does ink prints -- most have moved on to electronic. Anyway, last time I sent them in, I waited roughly 12 weeks to find out they couldn't read them. I redid them, resubmitted them, waited again, and found they still couldn't be read. Just so you know, the second time is free, but the third time, they conveniently charge you again. So, after 3 attempts and 33 weeks, they finally were able to read my prints.
This time, I thought I had a foolproof plan. The officer that took that last set of prints did a really thorough job and told us to ask for him if we had to do it again. I called for him and he was gone. You DID see that coming, didn't you? Through some miscommunication and bad timing, we made two unsuccessful trips to get fingerprinted before we left for Bulgaria. Afterwards, we finally made it there and got fingerprinted. For some reason, the people on duty this time were not personable or friendly. They could not have cared less about our adoption and the inconvenience we were causing them. I wanted to ask the officer to please do a very careful job with my prints (like the last officer had done), so I told him that I have very difficult to read prints. While quickly and half-heartedly doing my prints, he informed me that he doesn't read them. In other words, "that's not my problem." We knew as we left that there was no way the FBI would be able to read this set of prints. So, we now have a back-up plan for more prints this Thursday (not at the same place). But time is ticking! I'm braced for a 12-week wait just to find out if they are read. We don't really have time after that for another try. If we have to redo them, then the kids will be waiting for me. I don't want that. I want to get everything done quickly, and then I will wait for them.
Next, I completed my I-800 (immigration paperwork). I rushed through it and got it mailed off as quickly as I could. Today, I got an email that my agency received it, but I didn't include the I-864W. Silly me. Some people dream in color, but it's a wonder I don't dream everything in fingerprints and numbers!! Okay, so I started on that one this evening only to get stumped and have to send off an email of questions. Probably won't hear back until tomorrow because it was so late.
I did manage to get the budget updated this weekend, so perhaps I can get the next grant finished. I'm also working on a new fundraiser idea, but I'll save that for another post.
No comments:
Post a Comment