Great week

This past week has been pretty darn good. I called the FBI last Monday, only to find out that my check hadn't been processed yet at that time. But good things started after that. My class ring from Hope came back in the mail after I sent it out to get resized, my State of Michigan background check came back (this time with the results and not just saying they didn't get my mom), then I called the FBI back on Friday to find that my fingerprints were processed this time (third time's the charm!), and finally on Saturday I actually got my results from the FBI even though they said that it might be another week until I received them. Plus my background checks were both clear of any problems. My mom and Rohan were teasing me that they wouldn't be even though I've never been arrested. My mom said that maybe the reason that they could finally read my prints this time was that they had confused them with someone else. But thank God that didn't happen! The next step for our visa is to wait for immigration to grant a case officer that looks over our case and to send the background checks directly to that person. They will then be able to decide if the visa is granted.

I also participated in a St. Patrick's Day nail art challenge. You can see my work at my other blog. (nerdwithnails.blogspot.com)

An Immigrant's Tale

Like most Americans that have been here for generations, there were two things that I thought of when I heard 'immigration' even as recently as a few years ago. I thought of either Ellis Island, the place in New York that so many immigrants came to and saw the Statue of Liberty as the sign of freedom into America or illegal immigrants "jumping the fence" from Mexico. But there is so much more to immigration than that. When I started dating Rohan, I knew that immigrating would probably be in my future, but I had never realised just how much time and work would go into it.

Rohan and I started looking into our options for immigrating about October 2012. That's when we first started contacting our immigration agent. He looked at my education and answers to the other questions relating to what visa I would qualify for. Through talking with Rohan and my migration agent, we determined that what would make the most sense would be to apply for a partner visa. We were hoping that we would be able to apply for the partner visa, but it requires that you live together for at least a year. While you can possibly get a waiver if you haven't lived together for a year, you cannot get a waiver if you do not live together at all. Being Christians, that was a problem for us. We weren't going to live together until we got married, but we knew that marriage was the way that our relationship was heading. That meant that our best option was to do the prospective marriage visa once we were engaged.

At that point, there was literally nothing that we could do until that time. Once we were engaged, I was able to talk to our migration agent to get the necessary paperwork and find out what sort of background checks and medicals that I would need to get.

The paperwork was pretty easy to fill out. He filled out everything that he knew based on my information that I had given him on the previous questionnaire to discuss my immigration options. I had to check that information and fill out any other information that I needed to add, such as family details and stuff from Rohan. Our migration agent helped us every step of the way. We also needed forms from Australian citizens acknowledging the validity of our relationship by explaining how they know us and that they believe our relationship to be genuine. I submitted my passport photo and some photos of Rohan and I to prove that we had met in real life as adults, instead of just online, to add to the validity of our relationship. We also had to send certified copies of our passports, birth certificates, and get Australian police checks. All of those things were easy, even if they did take some time.

It was because of this time that I wasn't able to go back to Australia when I had originally planned. By the time that our migration agent had all of the information that he needed to send in, it was about a week before I was supposed to leave. As part of the application, I was not allowed to be in the country when they started processing it or when it was granted. I had thought that they were going to start processing it in time and then I was going to hop over to New Zealand or something when it was supposed to be granted. I also didn't realise just how long of a process that it would be once they started processing it, clearly I couldn't live there for months with no job.

Rohan and I were both in denial until the day before I was supposed to leave. We finally came to our senses and after many tears, and some help from my parents,we were able change my flights and my plans. We decided that I will stay here until my visa is fully granted, assuming that it is granted before July. I'll be going over there for my wedding no matter what! We have tentatively changed the dates of my return flight to mid-May, but I don't try to think about the date that I'll be going back. I don't want to focus on that and have to suffer the heartache of it not happening again.

About 1.5 weeks after our migration agent sent the information to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), I received an email that they had received our application. It said that if I hadn't already, I needed to get a medical check, a background check for the State that I was living in, an FBI background check, and an Australian police background check. I had already completed the Australian police check. That one was easy and went through right away.

The health check was a little more complicated than the paperwork. I had to go to an Australian panel doctor for this medical check. There aren't many of them in the country, so there weren't any nearby. The closest in the US to where we lived was in Chicago. However there was one in Windsor, Canada. That is only about 40 minutes away from our house, rather than 4 hours. I was able to make an appointment for a couple of weeks later and my parents and I made a little trip out of it. We went to the doctor to get my physical and then I had to go to another place to get a chest x-ray. The results were all digital and got sent directly to immi and linked with my file.

The FBI check is where a big issue has arisen. It makes me angry and irritated just thinking. I first got my fingerprints either late August or early September. I printed out the information that I needed and my dad took me down to the Washtenaw County sheriff's office. It was kind of creepy going there because it's also the jail. As we walked in, we walk past a group of women wearing ankle bracelets. It made me uncomfortable. But I went back and got my fingerprints taken the old fashioned ink and paper way.

After about 5 weeks, I hadn't heard from them, but I noticed that my bank account had been charged for the search. I decided to call them to see when I would be getting the results. That's when they told me that my prints were illegible. I asked them what I was supposed to do and they said that I had to go get more taken and submit them. I read online how to make your fingerprints more legible. I went to get them taken again the next week, bearing in the mind the things that I had just read. Five weeks later, I saw it show up on my bank account that I was charged, so I called to find out when I would get the results. Again, I found out the same thing. They couldn't read them. (The guy on the phone kept really confusing me because he was saying that they were legible and that they were denied because they couldn't read them. Clearly he didn't know the different between legible and illegible.)

I was beyond frustrated. This was getting ridiculous. I knew that there was something called Live Scan, where they take your fingerprints digitally. I had asked the Sheriff's office last time that I was there, but they said that they don't do that there. That meant that I needed to find somewhere else to get my fingerprints. I looked up some places, but I didn't find any in Ann Arbor. I saw some in nearby towns, so I called them to find out more. They all said that they could do it for my State of Michigan check, but not the FBI one, so I waited to find a place that I can get both.

I had seen online that the downtown police station doesn't do fingerprinting for the general public, but only criminals. My dad decided to "act dumb" and call the Ann Arbor police anyway. They told us to call the State police. The State police said that they could do it, but that they actually have someone from the State police come to Ann Arbor twice a month to do live scan fingerprinting. Well that was convenient. He comes on the first and third Tuesday of every month. We were just a day late, so I had to wait two weeks for the next time. My dad was out of town, so I had to go downtown by myself and figure it out.

I wasn't really sure where I was going, but I knew its whereabouts. I went into the City Hall and asked where I could find the State police that day. The guy at the front desk had no idea what I was talking about. He asked some other people there and they had no idea. He made some calls, including to the police station, and they had no idea. He asked me the number that my dad had called where they said that he would be there at that time. They said the third floor of the building next door.

I went over to the Justice building. I needed to put all of my electronic belongings in a locker and go through a metal detector. I went up to the third floor. The woman at the reception desk said that I needed to go to the second floor and that she would call there and said that I just needed to go up and wait in the lobby. I sat down and within a few minutes someone else talked to the person at the desk and was the first in line to talk to the State police. I then went up and got in line second. After waiting for probably a half hour, I'm guessing since I didn't have my phone and there was no clock in the lobby, I noticed that the State policeman was asking everyone for their paperwork before he took them back to get fingerprinted. I then asked him if I needed paperwork just to get an FBI and State check. He said no, but he was confused and said that he was going to go get someone to help me.

He went back with the another person's paperwork and got someone from the police station to come out and talk to me. He told me that they only do criminal's background checks that have been warranted by court. Great. I had just wasted a bunch of time there for absolutely nothing because I still didn't have my fingerprints.

I went home upset, but trying to figure what else I could possibly do. My dad and I ended up calling the State Police again a few days later when he was back from a business trip. They kept transferring our call and eventually we got to talk to the Sergeant and he told us that we could go to Brighton and get the fingerprints taken there. I was so excited!

We went there and he said that I could only get the digital live scan for the Michigan check but that they didn't have the correct information for the machine to do the FBI one. Obviously that was my only choice, so that's what I did. The live scan was awesome because it tells you right away if the scan is legible and tells you to rescan if it is not. He also took my fingerprints the ink way to send to the FBI. He seemed to know what he was doing better than at the county sheriff's office. He said it's why they keep the old guys around. (The women at the other place were relatively young.) I was cautiously optimistic.

I sent it in and waited for a couple weeks. At that point, I got my Michigan fingerprints back. I was excited to get them back and opened it only to find that they said that I had not attached the payment. I knew I did, but somehow they did not receive it. I contacted them to figure it but they were not able to find my check. I wanted to have it cancelled at the bank, but that would have cost more than the check was worth, so I just sent another one.

I got it back a few days ago and it was all clear. I also saw on my bank account that the FBI had charged me for the background check, so I knew that I could call them to check the status. Unfortunately, it was over the weekend and I had to wait until Monday to call. I was freaking out all weekend and then on Monday morning I called just to find that it had not been processed yet. They said to call back in a week because the processing time was longer than before. I called back today when I woke up. After I gave the woman my information, she said that it was being processed and I should get the results sent to me by next Wednesday.

I was so excited! I think she thought that I was crazy with my excitement, but I explained that my prints have been rejected on two different occasions. After hanging up, I proceeded to dance around the house and sing. My dad also came home from a business trip so we went to pick up my mom and go out to lunch to celebrate. After 7 months and 8 sets of fingerprints, they were finally accepted and that's a great reason to celebrate!