***Thank goodness I have so many people out here is Bloggerville that are knowledgeable and caring. I have drafted a letter to my local USCIS office requesting to be fingerprinted. I can not believe that it is that simple but I guess something has to be easy. I am little less worried now. Thank you all***
Today I have been trying so hard to not worry but I truly believe that trying not to worry only makes you worry more. Last week I emailed my coordinator in the hopes to get a couple of questions answered and I know once I have the answers I will feel better. The key is getting your questions answered.
Which brings me to my newest and biggest worry for today. So I am putting it out there in the hopes that someone can help answer this question for me. My I-171 states that my finger prints expire in mid March. Okay I am fine with that because I can just be re-finger printed. My question is how do I go about getting an appointment to be re-finger printed before the expiration date??
I am so trying to be patient. When I started this process I would sit an imagine how it would be to get "the call" and that the agency would walk me through the things that I needed to do but that is not the reality for me. I just pray that I will be able to get her home and safe soon.
School Days - November 2023
4 months ago
13 comments:
I know it's hard not to worry when you hear crickets chirping instead of your phone ringing, but hang in there!
Our family coordinator took care of arranging our fingerprint renewal. We were told (for our region at least) that we could make trip one even if things were in between being updated, it's just the court trip that we would have had all our Immigration stuff completely up to date. Check with your agency, though. Don't be afraid to contact, contact, contact them! They work for you. I know it's a hard balancing act, though when you feel they hold your family's future in their hands.
Yes, exactly. Your I-171 will need to be updated prior to Trip #2, but not for Trip #1--this form enables you to bring a child home as an immigrant. There might be some information with the form you received indicating your approval saying what to do if you needed to renew/update the fingerprint approval. I think I remember seeing that with mine. Or you can go to the State Dept web site.
Also, I thought of something you should bring with you on Trip #1--disposable cameras! The Care Takers are usually happy to take pictures of your baby in between your trips and this provides invaluable documentation of her growth when you still aren't with her. We will always regret that we didn't do this!
Joy---
I have the exact same question. Our fingerprints also expire mid March. If you go to the State Department website, it explains how to make a basic appointment, but not what to do if you just need the fingerprints updated. There's no form to fill out just for this.
If you find anything out, I would appreciate hearing what you learn. In the same way, if we find out anything, I'll let you know too---we have a friend who works for homeland security (Shh!) and we've already put in a call to him.
I would write to your local office (the one you originally were fingerprinted at and received your original approval letter from) and ask for an appointment to renew your prints. I really think it is that easy...can it be true? I would send this letter soon so that you can get the appointment before they expire and have time to arrange around your first trip dates.
I agree that most information and help comes from other adoptive parents. It seems that they have the best knowledge base to help. Not sure on the fingerprint appointment. Is there a number or address you can google on the approval form? Just a thought for where to try. Here are numbers for USCIS
1-800-375-5283 (I-600a application)
1-877-424-8374 (Hague approved countries...I think Russia still falls under the I-600a)
Good luck! Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.
E-mail for USCIS:
nbc.hague@dhs.gov
Hi!
De-lurking.....I have been following your blog through Carey & Norman's for quite some time and can hardly wait for you to go meet your little girl! We adopted two children (a girl, 3, and a boy, 2) in June, 2008 from Vlad. Anyway, we had to update our fingerprints 3 times during our process. You will need to send a letter to your local USCIS office requesting a fingerprint appointment. There is a one time free extension, so be sure to request the one-time free fingerprints. If you would like, I think I still have the letter saved on my computer that we sent to our office. I would be glad to e-mail it to you.
Blessings~
Jody Garber
jjgarber03@yahoo.com (I don't have a blog)
Hi Joy,
Looks like we are all experts by now! Yes-That is what we had to do too like all the fellow bloggers! Send a short note to the CIS office that did your fingerprints along with a copy of your fingerprint approval and request the one-time extension. You will then receive your appointment in the mail. You should hear soon. And, don't worry, everything will work out!
I just sent you an email in response to your comment on my blog!! Take care...Teresa
Joy, you've got mail (with a sample letter.) I'm praying you get travel dates soon!
Do you have your original approval form? It might say how to update them on there. I hope you hear something really soon. Although I must warn you it is REALLY cold in Russia right now. We experienced -27 celcius. Way too cold. Keep us posted on your travels.
I'm glad you sent the letter. It was as easy as that although it made me feel funny when we did the same! Hoping that phone will ring SOON!!
Hi Joy!
We finally broke down and called the 1-800 number on the website. They gave us the email address for the DHS in Kansas City (our office).
Steve sent them an email asking what to do. The nice lady there emailed us back today (the next day) and said that we could either send them a written request to extend the fingerprints along with a copy of our I-171H, and they would send us an appointment notice by mail (what people have said here), OR we can just go on the website and make an appointment through the infopass system, and to bring the copy of the I-171H with us when we came. That option sounds better, since it appears that we can then pick our appointment time.
Hope this helps!
Looks like you have plenty of answers on the how to get another appointment. That's what I did too was just email the USCIS office that sent us the original appointment and I got a response back in less than 2 weeks.
I would advise moving quickly though on getting them done. We travelled on trip 1 while waiting for ours and it came down to the wire and we were afraid we were not going to get to go when they had our court date scheduled. Luckily, they came back the week before we needed to make our travel arrangements.
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