For the background checks, we checked the FBI website and read that we could get this done at the regional FBI office in Brooklyn Center, MN. The visit to the site, however, proved the website false. The only way to get the background checks was to submit an application by mail to the CJIS division (Criminal Justice Information Service) of the FBI in West Virginia. Can we do it in person? Is there an expedited process? No and no. We filled out the forms, included our fingerprint records and sent the form to West Virginia. We're told that the process shouldn't take longer than six weeks - gulp! Now we wait...
A reminder about our deadline: apostilled documents are valid for 90 days from the date of issue. Since our marriage certificate was apostilled on April 11th, we have a deadline of July 9th. That means that we have to have all of our documents completed, go to Ecuador and have them translated and notarized. Only then can we apply for our residency visa. We're a little concerned at this point.
The last document was Emily's birth certificate. Since she was born in Wisconsin, we drove to Madison, WI to get the cert and get it apostilled. Getting the certificate was no problem: five minutes in the registrar's office. We then went to the Secretary of State's office at 12:10p to get it apostilled where we experienced our own Blues Brother's moment. If you've seen the end of the movie, you'll understand:
(crickets)
It was only a temporary setback, however. After lunch, we came back to the office and had what we needed in about an hour and a half.
Before leaving Madison, we thought we'd try our luck at the local FBI office. Although they couldn't help us with the CJIS background check, we did get official fingerprint registration and were able to include them in the application that I mentioned earlier. A five hour drive back towards Minnesota finished our day.
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