Cash Rules Everything Around Me...
So, last week I sat in the police headquarters for 2 hours with a bunch of sex offenders and my kids (stressful, no?) to get my fingerprints done for the adoption. Lashi got his done a couple days later, $15 each. Today, I went to send the two finished print cards to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. I had to buy the envelope and pay the postage (only about $4 all together), and sent it off. This is not including the time or the stress of again, lugging the kids with me on the adventure. Dmitri was at the end of his proverbial rope after getting groceries already and lost his computer privileges while we were at the Post Office.
On my way home, I had a distressing thought: I didn't send a fee with the fingerprint cards. I hurried home to look through all of our paperwork and instructions. No mention of a CBI fee. Still, it didn't seem right. EVERY step of this process has money attached to it. Someone is either filing or checking or authenticating or certifying or whatever they do, and we have to pay for it.
So I called CBI. After only one phone transfer and one hold (I was very proud of them) I was told that yes, there was indeed a fee of $39.50 per card and that without it, our prints will be rejected and we will have to start over again.
PANIC!
So, the nice lady at CBI said that she sent an email to all of the staff there at fingerprint-checking (or whatever you call it) and they will be keeping an eye out for our cards. IF they find it in time and remember that they're supposed to be looking for them, then we have a chance of being able to send in the $79 check separately. If not, then we get to start the whole process over again.
Oh, frustration! It's not just the cost either (although, this is more than $100 that we do not have budgeted in the adoption fund and I see that this is only the beginning - we have to order two copies each of our birth and marriage certificates today as well and that WILL cost) - it's also the time factor. The CBI check and police clearance is the longest part of the home study process. Without it, we cannot complete the home study and move on. Everything waits on this. In screwing this part up, I have set us back anywhere from 1-4 weeks or longer. (One week is awfully optimistic even for a best-case scenario.)
I'm off to start ordering birth records. Pray I don't screw this one up too.
ADDENDUM: The very next day CBI called me and said that they had our prints and were waiting for the payment. I have ordered the certified check, written the cover letter, and I'm ready to send it in. Wow. Thank you, Father in Heaven, for that wonderful result.
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