Is incompetence to blame?

[HC09 0]

Does any else agree with me that incompetent immigration employees are at fault in slowing down the process for obtaining the ability to work, drive and leave and return to this country?

Four weeks back I went to have my fingerprints taken at the local USCIS office as part of the AOS application. Initially, I filed for the AOS on Dec 15, so I thought a Jan 10 appointment for biometrics was pretty good! (which I know it is...some wait alot longer).

Today I took an immigration letter out of the mailbox and almost burst at the seams opening it like some kid opening a Willy Wonka chocolate bar to find the golden ticket. I could only have thought it might have been my EAD approval letter / Travel Document or better still, an appointment for the permanent residence application. I mean , all of these things would have been way ahead of time, so it was a surprise, but I thought it was going to be a nice one.

I found instead another appointment letter for another biometrics appointment because the FBI were "unable to process the fingerprint card" done on Jan 10. So 3.5 weeks later, I have yet a second pending biometrics appointment (another two weeks away) and because I can't yet get a permit to drive, my husband will have to take yet another half day off to get me there and back. When I called to ask if this will delay my EAD further, they said "likely yes, as they can't process the EAD without fingerprints."

At the time of the first biometrics, I had mentioned to my husband how poor the service was, but I thought nothing more of it, just glad to be out of there and done with it. The desk staff were good, it was the uninterested, abrupt and plain careless person who was taking the prints that disturbed me. I mean, in the middle of the job (right in the middle, between doing one finger and the next), the colleague opposite her called out for a "yellow candy" from her drawer, and this woman taking my prints leaned over and took out a candy and threw it across to the colleague. Then they continued on in a conversation (don't know what about) while both doing the job and chewing on gum. The prints were rushed through in the quickest time possible. She didn't even stop to check them between looking up to carry on the conversation with her friend.

Ok, so people probably find that job uninspiring. Heck, I wouldn't enjoy doing it all day, but at the same time, given the fee we pay for their 'service' and the significance of all this in delaying waiting process, I can't help but wonder how unimportant this all seems to some. Everyone has a story behind their visa application. For me, it's that right now, given the economic crisis, we really need to have two incomes coming in (please EAD...hurry up!) and I know I can get work as a substitute teacher in a flash . Not being able to drive (without a permanent residence stamp to prove I can be here) is sapping away some of my sanity since I have spent every day since our Oct 25 wedding on my own and apartment-bound. Not to mention waiting for the travel document so I can visit my elderly and sick parents when I need to. Hubby is so understanding and he really tries hard to make it easier for me, but I know this whole thing is affecting our health.

It's quite amazing the difference one person's carelessness and disinterest can make!!

[Otto 83]

It happens - not necessarily a result of the person administering the biometrics.

[alienlovechild 75]

I understand. My wife still hasn't received her Social Security card after five months. We originally applied three weeks after she got here. She has the ss number but we'll have to go back for third time sometime.

For me, it's that right now, given the economic crisis, we really need to have two incomes coming in (please EAD...hurry up!) and I know I can get work as a substitute teacher in a flash . Not being able to drive (without a permanent residence stamp to prove I can be here) is sapping away some of my sanity since I have spent every day since our Oct 25 wedding on my own and apartment-bound.

Same here. If my wife could get her EAD, she could get a nurse's job easily. She can't get driver's license either without some evidence of updated immigration status after her K-1 visa expired.

She got fingerprinted to take the board exam and the sheriff's deputy was by her superior that there are only U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants?! The same individual told us there were only two racial categories for the forms: black or white. Asian didn't count.

[Yoink 7]

fingerprint taking can be fickle.. I had prints rejected casue the person didn't catch enough of my print. I know you are frustrated but hang in there. My wife didnt get her EAD till 110+ days