The First Timeline Hurdle

On the evening of April 6, we were notified that (in addition to criminal record clearances in WA and ID and the UCSIS fingerprints), we would need to be fingerprinted and cleared by the FBI. It was a little confusing because two agencies are coordinating for this adoption; one is the placement agency, who has Wen's file, and one (local) to complete the homestudy. Both are Hague accredited agencies. The home study agency did not require the FBI fingerprints, but the placement agency did. We were told that the timeline for these clearance can be as long as 13 weeks. We did not have 13 weeks to spare!

We had our fingerprints taken and FedExed with FedEx return mailer (Wow! That cost more than I would have guessed!) on 4/9/11. I went ahead and called the FBI, not thinking it would help, but feeling I had to at least try, to ask if they could expedite the clearances. The extremely nice lady to whom I spoke gave me an e-mail address and asked me to write out for her what my request was and why. . . and it worked! We had our clearances in our hands on 4/20/11! That is a less than two-week turn-around. I think we had some Divine intervention.

An adorable aside: When I was telling my family that I had gone ahead and called the FBI, Gabrian (age 5) said, "FBI?! I didn't know the FBI was in real life!!!"