Update: Fingerprint Saga

Great News!!  We have a fingerprint appointment!!  Granted, it's not until August 25th, but we may have a way to speed that up.  Let me explain.

At 7:33am my cellphone rang with an unfamiliar number.  I didn't actually hear it ring.  I didn't even listen to the message until a couple hours later.  It was our Immigration Officer.  From USCIS.  She called before most folks are in their offices...and actually she's on Central Time which would have been 6:33am. ???   A government employee calling me at 6:30 in the morning??  Weird. 

Now here's the goofy part.  When I listened to the message, I was initially excited until I realized it sounded just like a voicemail she left me back in May.  I thought, "Oh yay.  Verizon has once again resent me an old voicemail."  So I ignored the message.

Until after lunch when I had this nagging sense that I should listen to it again.  And listen to the voicemail from May to compare.  Turns out, the message from this morning was new.  And the officer was apparently responding to the email I sent USCIS detailing our problem.  A good sign...

I called USCIS, got transferred to the our officer's direct line and...voicemail.  A voicemail message that said something like, "...Due to my heavy workload and the number of calls received each day, I am only returning calls between the hours of 8am and 10:30am..."  Awww man!  I missed it!  I called too late!  I left a message anyway.  Guess I'd hear something tomorrow.

Well lo and behold, less than an hour later my phone rang when Noelle and I were driving to meet my parents for an outing.  I recognized the number this time...USCIS!!!  It was our officer calling, "Ms. Johnson, I have a fingerprint appointment for you.  If you give me a fax number, I'll send a copy of the letter right through!"  She also said that our appointment was not until August 25th but we could show up on an earlier day and see if the immigration officers in Atlanta would let us in and fingerprint us anyway.  And that, my friends, is exactly what we will do.  Monday, in fact. :)

So I stopped by a copy center and with great relief, received my fax.  My day, my week (no, month) had taken a big turn for the better.  I called Eric and we praised God together!!

And to top off the day-- When I got home and checked the mail, guess what was in the box?  Fingerprint appointment letters from USCIS.  Seriously???  And for an August 23rd appointment. 

Yeah.  Go figure.  Don't think I will never understand our government. ;)