CIS Fingerprints and Ethiopian Dinner

Yesterday we were scheduled to go to OKC for our appointment with USCIS. We received the the letter about 4 weeks in advance. At first we were pretty bummed out in that it was going to be on a random Tuesday. A week or so later, we received an e-mail from Gladney letting us know that they were planning a special Ethiopian dinner in Ft. Worth. Well, that's when we knew that we were given that Tuesday date for a reason. Under normal circumstances we probably would not of taken off of work and drove down to Ft. Worth, but since we were already going to be half way there by going to OKC; we went on down.



The USCIS appointment was pretty low key. I guess they send out appointments in blocks throughout the day. We were the 11:00 AM group. I was warned by a co-worker who has gone over there for fingerprints not to worry about getting in early, as they do not let you in early. Well, she was not kidding. We arrived at 10:41 AM (they had a cheap digital clock right in front of the metal detector). He advised us, after looking at our appointment letter, that we would have to wait outside until 10:45. Finally, the 4 minutes passed and he gave us the hand motion to come on in. We went through security, then went to the fingerprint appointment room. We were the first in, so right after 11:00 they called us back for processing. Please keep in mind that we have already had our fingerprints taken in Tulsa and they were sent off to the FBI for a criminal background check. Apparently FBI and USCIS/Homeland Security do not talk. So, we had to drive over to our "local" USCIS office for the biometric fingerprint scanning. The technicians were very friendly to both Sarah and I, even asking us about the adoption process and what country we were adopting from. After the couple of minutes of swiping our fingers across a flatbed scanner, we were done. Next stop was BJ's in Norman for an awesome pizza for lunch!

That afternoon we drove on to Ft. Worth to attend the Ethiopian dinner at Gladney's campus. This was our first time to be at the office, and were very impressed (not only with the building, but most of all the staff). Not only did we get the chance to meet Gladney staff that have already helped us out in the process (Tonia Anderson), but also were able to meet with our caseworker (Mary Thottukadavil). Belay Tafesse, In-Country Coordinator for the Ethiopia Program, and Travis and Joanna Norwood, In-Country representatives were in the United States for the past couple of weeks. In addition, we were pleased to have Ato Jima, Head of the Associations’ Registrations Office with the Ministry of Justice, and Ato Desalegn Berhe, President of the Federal First Instance Court of Ethiopia. Both of these gentlemen hold leadership positions in the Ethiopian government. In fact, Ato Desalegn Berhe has almost 80 judges who report to him. These judges are the ones that review the adoption cases. It was an honor to get to meet with them at the dinner. While Belay was in Ft. Worth, he was asked to appear on a "Good Morning Texas" interview. I have attached the link here: http://www.wfaa.com/video/nspparent-index.html?nvid=288305&shu=1

All in all, we were in thr carheading out that morning around 8:30 AM, and did not return home until around 2:45AM!

We hope to get our I-171H letter in the next few weeks, as at that time we will be on the "official" waiting list.

JW