ms514

Having the letter "on standby" does not hurt, but the place where you request it may need a reason for it - maybe. My wife's case was such that she received a letter that stated her fingerprints were rejected and she just showed that to the clerk. If you do not fancy a delay, it may be worth it to call them if possible to see if they can issue it. Say that you need the letter and see what they say. They may need an explanation and may need something in writing - I get the feeling each place varies. Be careful what you call it as well - it may be referred to as a letter of good conduct, local criminal record or otherwise. Check online, because if you use the words police clearance, they may just shut down and say they don't do that.

Example:

How do I obtain a police clearance letter for immigration or visa purposes?

•The Fresno Police Department does not provide fingerprinting for immigration or visa purposes.

•You will need to contact another local law enforcement agency or a private company that provide such services.

whereas:

3) How do I obtain a copy of my local criminal record?

•Come to the Records Bureau Public Window, located at 2323 Mariposa Mall.

•Please have a current, valid identification.

•The cost for this service is $30.00, payable by money order or credit card.

•No one can obtain or review your local criminal record but you!

This criminal record (or lack thereof stated in the letter) was adequate for USCIS.

http://www.fresno.gov/Government/DepartmentDirectory/Police/AboutFresnoPD/PoliceServicesandSpecialUnits/RecordsBureau.htm

All USCIS is looking for is a letter that states that you have no criminal record by some governmental agent, signed, dated, and sealed (maybe).

And if the fingerprints do get rejected and the agent says you need to get this letter, I doubt they would reject you have one prepared just in case.

Alrighty then...after all the multiple fingerprint nonsense and the frustration/anxiety, my wife is a citizen.

YAY!!!

Anyways, the true reason of posting this was to complete the story.

In the previous post, I had vented about my wife receiving a letter that stated she had to get police clearance letters foe the past 5 years of resident cities. Well, we got one from Fresno and were awaiting the others and the interview date came up. She went with the usual paperwork (originals of stuff, etc.) that the letter for the interview said to bring and also took the Fresno letter with her.

As an aside, Fresno requires that the application be filed in person...which means that you have to go to their Records building, sit there for 2 hours among the plentiful just released criminals of Fresno (they meet and greet with "When did you get out"), only to go to the window and fill out a form that takes 5 minutes. No, you cannot take the form and simply mail it in, it has to be in person (supposedly so that the ID and the person can be matched in person by the clerk...ok then). Then, you get a call after a few days that says it is ready and you can go back to the same Records building and do some more waiting to get the letter. I think the cost was like 20 dollars.

Anyways, so she proceeded to the interview. The door was closed (???) and she knocked and a security guard let her in (standard TSA-like security). She dropped her paperwork into the dropbox and was called quite quickly. The USCIS agent she was assigned was quite nice and the interview was more of a friendly chat. She verified all of the paperwork, made some copies. When it came to the police cleearance letter, my wife told her she only had the Fresno one as the letter from USCIS said to bring 5 years worth. The USCIS agent said "I don't know why they say that on the letter...it is supposed to be for 3 years for marriage based applications". My wife went on to say she also filed with the other places of residence and the agent apologized for the confusion. The questions were all the way at the end and my wife got them all right (forgot what they were...her interview was the beginning of March).

The, while I am at work, my wife calls me during the interview (unique) to consult as to whether she should file a name change (random...earlier she had decided no, but then changed her mind during the interview). The agent let my wife use her phone and she decided to change it (it was her choice and we had discussed earlier). I bring this up because when she got home, she told me that she would be sworn in with everyone else and not at a separate ceremony at a Federal Court.

Sure enough, at the swearing in ceremony, the certificate had her changed name and another paper which combined together provided proof of her changed name. So for Fresno, it seems that name changes are not a separate procedure, but done altogether at the same ceremony. The ceremony had nearly 1000 people and took 2 hours. The Fresno Convention center is a great place to have it, but my wife was disappointed because it was a bit haphazard - the microphone was not working, there were really no introductions, the judge was never introduced. It was more or less, everyone come in, so and so, please come to the front, rinse and repeat, raise your right hand, get certificate and go home.

But she got the paper(s), which is the important thing!!!

Also, Fresno is still issuing the comical glued on picture certificates, not the embedded picture certificates.

She was also told to wait 3 weeks (!!) to update social security due to the name change and then follow suit with others to inform about name change, which we will be looking into soon.

So, hopefully, this will help anyone applying/interviewing in Fresno with bad fingerprints and/or a name change.

Lemme know of any questions and I can get them clarified by my wife.

And it goes without saying:

THANKS TO VISAJOURNEY.COM FOR EVERYTHING - YOU ARE THE ONLY REASON I AM NOT ON MEDICATIONS FOR "TEH CRAZEEE"!!!

Thanks for the continuing information.

There is no mention on the letter specifying that foreign countries are to be included, but it states that a report/letter from the Fresno PD and any other local law enforcement from a city that my wife resided in for the past 5 years are to be included, which would include London. I don't see the logic either, given that it is a 3 year based application with the obvious conclusion that sometime in the past 5 years, the applicant would be in their former home country!?!?! But then again, that logic is restricted to normal people...

My wife can order the London letter, and the Fresno one is a visit to the counter to get the letter (and some money of course), but the NJ letter is worrying. She called and has to call back in 2 hours for the person in charge of that stuff.

I have the letter from London from back when she filed to immigrate to this country and I have a letter from NJ which was issued one day before we left NJ. But knowing how USCIS works, they want them hot off the printer. Utterly irritating.

I will wait and see how her interview goes. If the person is a real annoyance, I may very well take up calling the Congressperson. But we'll see.

I just want this fingerprint nightmare over with...it has been a pain every step of the way.

Thanks again for the info. Additional information is certainly welcome.

Thanks for the info.

One thing I see different in the letter I got and what you were told is that they want police clearance records for places of residence for 5 years. I find that odd, given that citizenship through marriage usually requires all records to be from the past 3 years. I am hoping that is a mistake, as we have been in the current city of residence for 3 years and obtained permanent resident status in the current resident city as well. 5 years would require records all the back from the country that my wife immigrated from and was already submitted upon immigration, which is ridiculous.

Alright, so my wife has a citizenship interview for 3/1/2011. The geniuses at USCIS NOW tell us that her fingerprints did NOT go through and want police reports for the past 5 years of where she lived.

Problem: We have moved, so we need a police report from UK, New Jersey AND Fresno...most agencies take at lest 3-4 weeks to send this.

So now what...thanks to USCIS for the "prompt" notification...stupid morons.

I am getting seriously pissed.

Strange indeed...ah well, awaiting the fingerprinting answer first...

Susan73, thanks for the information. She got the whole dishwashing/housework/chores speech from the fingerprinting lady on the first try. I was like -

Supposedly, you can "milk your fingers" to get a better print too - massage then from the base to the tip to make the print pop more. The wifey employed all possible techniques...

So for the majority of people, getting fingerprints done is a no brainer. Go there, get printed and move on.

But for the very few born criminals in this world whose fingerprints are for some reason worn down, this is a hassle and a half.

My wife went to the Fresno ASC to get her prints taken two weeks ago - did not take. She was given the usual "Use Corn Huskers lotion, wear gloves" etc. speech. Fair enough, given that at every step of the immigration process which required fingerprints, her fingerprints were not accepted by that infernal machine. First, the AOS process, then the 10 year GC, and now the citizenship part.

So she got another letter to get f'printed again today and went. This was after two weeks of corn huskers lotion (after this, we are so going into the corn farming business... ), gloves and the extreme step of ordering and using CSI fingerprint ridge builder solution (that's right, FORENSIC corn farming) applied right before fingerprinting.

Guess what...

Some of the fingers still refused to come out - first the left hand entire print with all the fingers did not come out, then one finger did not come out, then three did not come out, etc., etc.. Meanwhile, the lady doing the fingerprinting tried to say to my wife that well, it is up to FBI etc. etc. and that if it doesn't work out, she would "only" have to submit a form and get a good conduct letter (yeah, for the past 5 years, which include2 countries and two different states of residence...sure).

My wife saw that (luckily) the place was pretty empty and convinced the lady to do the fingerprints over and over and over until they all came out (supposedly the machine indicates when the prints are good enough with a green check mark and/or the word Pass or something to that effect). They did time near ten times. The fingerprinting lady was helpful and did indeed (at least from what I can tell) go beyond her call of duty to re-do the fingerprints over and over, so thanks to her if she is lurking around here somewhere (who knows which USCIS employee is here)...

Here's to hoping that all this was worth it and the fingerprints get transmitted to the FBI and everything is good to go. At least the fingerprint machine gave us the green light.

So if anyone has this issue, see if you can get the fingerprinting operator to re-do the fingerprints. This would be best if there is only one or two fingerprints that do not come out. If every finger is bad and this is the initial trial, perhaps one should consider corn farming, get the lotion apply and retry with the second fingerprinting attempt.

I don't ever want my wife to need fingerprints done for anything ever again...

Did that letter also have a large line at the top that says "This is Not an Interview Letter" or something to that effect? My wife got that yellow letter, informing her to bring her state ID/drivers license. Just did the fingerprints today...more on that in another topic perhaps.

Hello All:

My wife's UK Passport is set to expire April 2011. I downloaded the renewal application, which states, "if you possess the nationality or citizenship of another country you may lose this when you obtain a British passport. Please check with the authorities of the other country before making your application."

http://centralcontent.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/central-content-pdfs/form-c1

Any thoughts, experiences would be greatly appreciated. We could renew the UK passport now (as she is still a permanent resident) and have it prior to obtaining her citizenship, but would then be faced with the same scenario when that passport would be up for renewal in a decade or so.

Kool. Trip is planned for August 20th to Sepetmber 12th of this year, so it sounds like it is good to go. I was considering (possibly) having my wife renew it in Britain, but want to hold off as the citizenship process will likely be started when we get back and there is probably a name change involved.

Thanks!!! Anyone's experiences would be great to add to this post for reference, especially if there was any experiences that are at odds with the two helpful posts above.

Hello All:

My wife is holding off sending off her N-400 until her trip to the UK is concluded - that will avoid the whole missing appointments while traveling. I checked her passport and noticed that will be expiring 4/13/2011. Would she be refused travel/entry based on this "soon to expire" British passport? I have read that at least 6 months validity on the passport is required. I wanted to find out about others' experiences to make sure. I think I still have enough time to renew it here in the U.S. (provided there is some sort of expedited processing available). She just received her 10 year green card last year, so that is nowhere near expiring.

Your input is greatly appreciated.

Hello:

8/24/09 card production ordered.

Yes...it appears someone nudged the pile at CSC - got the old card production e-mail here. Thanks to everyone here who helped and advised. One more step on the ladder before saying good bye to USCIS forever (I hope).

<-- standard happy dance of joy.

Gah...I just noticed I was in the VSC section. Sorry, have moved to crispy California since then. Also, NOA date was 6/11/2009.

Sucks with that whole illegible fingerprints. My wife was also told her fingerprints were lousy, but have not received any RFE yet (but you never know, one forumite got an RFE 14 weeks - gasp - after fingerprints).

Question: If they ask for the police certificate/background check, is it for all of the cities that the applicant has resided in? We had moved cross country and I am wondering if we would now have to seek that certificate from our old town of residence.

Thanks in advance!

Hello:

Sorry, just clarifying something. The window for application STARTS90 days before your 2 year green card expires, it does not have to be applied for exactly 90 days before (in fact, leaving a few days gap is a precaution to them sending the package back). You filed within the window (before your green card expired), so you should be ok.

Hello All:

We went to the Biometrics appointment today and disappointingly enough, my wife's fingerprints were poorly recognized by the machine (as happened in the I-485 process).

For those select "lucky" few that have encountered this problem, the technician recommended that if the fingerprints are not recognized, that upon receiving the notification to re-do the biometrics, to go out and buy corn huskers lotion, which is supposed to be a heavy duty lotion that moisturizes dry skin and can enhance the ridge detail of fingerprints (which was the problem here). Supposedly, as soon as that notice is received, start the lotioning up 5 times a day with that stuff and the night before, lotion up your hand and sleep with a glove on to ensure that the fingerprint takes.

Seriously worth the effort. At this point in time, if the second fingerprint fails, I have read here that it involves getting the police clearances all over again from all the places of residence (I am assuming this means overseas too) - a real fun endeavor last time...

Hope it helps whoever has this problem.

Hello:

I am part of this cult.

Mailed 6/10/2009

Received 06/11/2009

The rest, no update.

Hello:

Well, I guess I get to be a part of the I-751 club.

Sent in Yesterday, 6/10/2009.

Delivered today 6/11/2009.

Awaiting NOA1 etc.

Praying that everything was in the envelope...

Hello:

The I-751 seems to be a straightforward form to complete. As someone already stated, please do read over the guides, as they will guide you through the whole process. I personally used the guides to process my wife's immigration from a K-3 to now getting ready to file the I-751. The I-751 seems to be the easiest process so far, as it basically is requesting the form, payment, a copy of the green card (see exceptions in the I-751 instructions) and evidence of your relationship. Granted, it takes time to gather it, but the forum and the guide direct you to examples of evidence, what worked, what didn't and different perspectives on the various outcomes of the process.

But I am going to venture a guess that the decision would be primarily a choice of comfort - some are more comfortable going with attorneys, so the final decision is up to you. But again, two things to keep in mind: 1) as stated earlier, this is a Do It Yourself website on Immigration, and 2) many people have filed I-751s themselves and done perfectly fine.

Safest bet: read the guides, see if you are comfortable with the idea of filing it yourself and make the decision, as it will give a good framework of what is required to file.

Best of luck in whatever decision you make.

Hmmm...the question may have gotten buried in my storytime:

"So does anyone have any tips on not "failing" this (you know...forcibly press harder on the machine...perhaps create a latex fingerprint mold and enhance the print... ), or should I simply prepare to YET AGAIN obtain police clearance certificates from all of the places that we have resided at. Also, if these are necessary, will this require obtaining one from the UK as well (the old one that was filed with them is probably invalid by now) as the U.S. cities?"

Hello All:

I may have posted my wife's experience with Biometrics in the AOS phase. Basically, she had the Biometrics done twice and due to her magical fingers, the fingerprints were unreadable (getting an appointment was just as good, as the letter came after the biometrics appointment!!!). Then, we had real fun getting a police clearance certificate (you know, considering we were moving in a couple of days across the country, had no domestic government ID that the township would accept and were packing up the house all at the same time as this nonsense) -

Anyways, it was all done and over with until now. So, fast forward to the present. Of course, the whole Removing of Conditions will again incorporate the whole Biometrics process - my favorite. So does anyone have any tips on not "failing" this (you know...forcibly press harder on the machine...perhaps create a latex fingerprint mold and enhance the print... ), or should I simply prepare to YET AGAIN obtain police clearance certificates from all of the places that we have resided at. Also, if these are necessary, will this require obtaining one from the UK as well (the old one that was filed with them is probably invalid by now) as the U.S. cities?

I mean come on, imagine going to your AOS meeting and the first thing the Immigration officer requests is to see your wife's hands to see if you have fingerprints...

<- me doing immigration paperwork.

Hello:

In the same boat...earlier post:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...p;#entry2939991

I filled out the AR-11 online, so I was given a copy with a confirmation number printed at the bottom. Along with the letter from USCIS that confirms the sponsor address change, I will submit the AR-11 confirmation copy with my I-751. At least then, they will have a copy "just in case" the changes have not been made to the case file. I doubt a USCIS agent is going to say, "Well, how dare they submit these forms?!?!".

Ah well, the filing will commence after 2-3 weeks...we'll see how it goes. At least the old address is my parents, so I'll get the correspondence anyways if they send it there.

Thanks for the information milimelo. During the call, I was a bit like "Ok...how is including a copy of the AR-11 form going to completely ruin my case exactly?" I tend to take USCIS customer representative advice with a 1 ton grain of salt. Worst case is that it will be ignored, best case is that it will resolve any mis-conceptions regarding the address.

That point about the pending case - I remember filing electronically and there is an option after the address change information is recorded of whether there are pending applications for which the address change applies to. My wife's case was technically not pending and AOS was done when the change of address was filed, so I selected no.

I think I'll include that AR-11 just in case, perhaps with an explanation...thanks again.