Had
your finger prints taken lately? In 2013 while Jill and I
were crossing the border from Canada into the US we were stopped by
custom officers. I reported in a previous blog our experience. It was
the first time I ever had my finger prints taken! The officer doing
the prints paid me a compliment after doing a “palm print”
saying; “that was very good, most people have a problem doing it
correctly the first time.” I'm not certain if I thanked her for
the compliment or not! Maybe it was because I was so good at it that
I had no problems being finger printed again just a couple of weeks
ago! Once again Jill was with me and had her prints taken as well!
So
what was the occasion? No, we were not accused of any crime. This
time we requested the prints and had to pay a $100 each for them! We
are in the midst of our Green Card application which will allow us a
permanent residency in the US. The papers and forms that we have to
submit are endless; birth certificates (the long forms not the short
ones), marriage licenses (a problem for Jill and I as we were married
in Quebec which requires banns and does not issue a license). We need
to supply the birth place of each of our parents, our daughters names
and their place of birth etc. etc. We also have to have a medical
exam which includes a chest x-ray. Now we come to the request for a
police certificate for any place where we lived for three years or
more! The police check from Canada must be made through the RCMP.
When I contacted the RCMP they told me that because I was out of
country and could not drop into their office for a form that we must
have our finger prints taken here in Bermuda and forward them to
Canada. Following receipt of our prints a check would be made based
on our prints and not our names. I was informed that this was the
more thorough check of the two! The prints were taken the fees were
paid and very shortly we will be forwarding them to Canada to a
“private company” who will digitize the prints and forward them
to the RCMP. The RCMP and the company digitizing the prints each have
their fee. Canada is taken care of and now we must apply for a police
check from Bermuda. No problem with that as we were able to go into
their office and pick up a form after paying a further $100 each! But
we are not through yet because there is still the Bahamas! I have a
very good friend there who went to the local police station and asked
on my behalf what I had to do to get a police certificate. All that
was required was to write them a letter, tell them why I needed a
certificate, send them a certified copy of our passports and “oh
yes” send them a certified copy of our finger prints! No mention of
a fee as yet but I know that it will come. SO, if you are ever
required to give your finger prints come to me and I will show you
exactly how to do it for a fee of course!
Your
Friendly Pastor,
John
