Fingerprints

Slowly but surely we are making our way to China.

Yesterday we got out fingerprint appointments in the mail! Yippy! Our local USCIS office allows you to come in before your appointment (if you have the appointment letter) to get printed. So this morning I kissed my oldest son goodbye as he headed off to kindergarten and I headed downtown.

I arrived at the USCIS office and got a prime parking place. Me and the two younger boys headed to the 4th floor and life was good. But, getting through security was kind of a hassle; me, two boys, a stroller, a car seat/infant carrier, my purse, a diaper bag and of course my belt and iPhone that needed to be put in a separate container to x-ray.

When I handed my letter and Driver's license to the security guard he looked at me and said, "This appointment isn't until April 12. Is there a reason you can't make that time?" I wanted to flick him on the side of the head and say something snarky. . . but I didn't. I said, looking at all my gear and kids I had just hauled to the 4th floor . . . "I was just hoping to get it done earlier, if it isn't too busy." Then I looked through the glass wall to the fingerprint area. . . crickets were chirping. Not a soul in sight, only two workers sitting behind desks.

"Okay, let me check."

So a few minutes later I was checking in at the main desk and in less the 3 minutes I was being fingerprinted.  Nice.

So, where does this put our timeline you ask?

DH plans to get his fingerprints taken tomorrow and that will hopefully complete the USCIS portion.

Our agency said if we are getting fingerprints now we should get approval "mid-April".  If we get approval April 15, I will state certify all documents on April 16, then Fed-Ex them to the Chinese Consulate.  I think the consulate is taking about 2 weeks to authenticate. It is possible the first week in May we could have a completed dossier to go to China. Then we wait 1-4 weeks for an LID.

This almost puts us in "Wildly Optimistic" territory.