Fingerprinting Nightmare

As the previous post indicated, Alan and I are preparing to hear news of our next destination and since a likely option involves moving to another country which will require work permits, Alan and I have started the preparation for applying for one, even though it may not be necessary in the end. We wanted to expedite the process. One of the required documents is a criminal background check through the FBI, you know, just in case we're wanted criminals. This would be the easiest thing in the world if we lived in the country where the FBI is located, but since we live an ocean away where fingerprinting is not even a regular part of law enforcement, it proved a little tricky. But, it just takes some resourcefulness and creativity to make things happen here. The background check process involves submitting an application and a full set of fingerprints to the FBI. But, after learning that the US Embassy here does not do fingerprinting and fearing the thought of even approaching the Ghana Police Department for such a thing, we decided we'd fingerprint ourselves. How hard can it be to stick your finger on an ink pad and press it on a paper? I called the FBI to make sure this was a legit method and they said it was fine but that they didn't recommend it. Now I know why....

Last week, Alan brought an office ink pad home and we printed the online fingerprinting document and we got to fingerprinting. About 2 hours later this is what our counter looked like and I was covered in black ink.



It was extremely difficult to get a perfect set of fingerprints that were not too dark, not smudged, and that were complete rolled fingertip imprints. In fact, it was so difficult and frustrating that a few tears on my part slipped down my face as I imagined us not acquiring the work visa because I could not correctly stamp my fingerprints! So after all of this, I finally got a few replicate pages of fingerprints and submitted about 6 with my application in the hopes that one page would provide a decent set for the FBI. I wrote a little post-it note explaining to the FBI that I live in West Africa where a reliable source for fingerprinting doesn't exist. Hope they understand. Alan had less difficulty but I presume this is because he's had so much fingerprinting experience...you know, being a member of the Colombian drug cartels.