Thursday we began, and ended, the re-fingerprinting adventure. Luckily we made an appointment online to talk with a representative at USCIS because when we got there, they were turning people away who did not have a print out in hand with their appointment time. Yes, they were strict at the door, but not as thorough as the security guards.
I beeped when I went through the metal detector, got yelled at when I went back through to step aside, had one guard asking about the contents of my bag and another guard yelling "ma'am" at me. Apparently I was supposed to know to ignore everyone else and listen to the one yelling "ma'am"! Apparently he doesn't like being ignored! He made me stand with my feet apart on a yellow line (do not get off the line) while he waved the metal detector wand across my front and back. DH was behind me and said he was waiting for him to slam me against the wall and frisk me!!
Did I mention that the key for the day was to keep smiling!?
Quick check in at the reception window, short wait in the waiting room, and our number was called. Window 2. I gave the lady our appointment print-out and a copy of our I171-H form and said we need to get refingerprinted. Window 2 had no idea what we were talking about. (Insert smile here!) I explained again. Window 2 sent us to Cashier 1 to pay for fingerprints and said to come back if Cashier 1 didn't know what to do. Short walk to the cashier area. Cashier 1 took our money order, validated our receipt and told us to go to the local fingerprinting office, take our receipt, and get our fingerprints redone. Easy. Yeah Cashier 1.
Well we had already taken off work so we decided to try to get everything done today. Hoping for a short line, we stopped at the fingerprinting office near our house. Very short line, yeah. Nice man took our receipt into someone's office, yeah. Please wait, yeah. "This receipt is not enough, you need a letter from the USCIS office stating you can get refingerprinted." Boo Window 2.
We left. I got flustered thinking that we would have to make another appointment online (because you can't get in the USCIS building without that appointment print-out), take another morning off work, and drive for 45 minutes to go back through security, back to Window 2 and ask for a letter from someone who has no clue. I pouted.
After a few minutes of mild cursing, I decided to go back in. I took everything I had with me in our adoption file, plastered on a smile and asked the guy at the front to please see what he could do. YEAH guy at the front door. 10 minutes later we were sitting in the waiting area waiting for our number to be called. 5 minutes after that we were fingerprinted and out the door. YEAH guy at the front door.
So one more thing off the to-do list. Refingerprinting from start to finish in less than 3 hours must be some kind of record. I think I need to send that guy a thank you card or something.
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