FBI fingerprints and FOIA

[Alice]

Hi everyone,

I am really excited about all the approvals! Congratulations to all of you who are reunited!

I have some questions about FBI fingerprints and FOIA

1. How do you go about getting those done?
2. How long does it take to get the results?
3. Why are those needed/beneficial?
4. What inforrmation do you put for SSN, Address, reason for requesting, time by which it should be requested, etc.
5. Are their risks involved with sending those out while a person is here undocumented?

Thank you so much!!

[emt103c]

It really depends on what you are looking for. If you are trying to determine if the person has a criminal record and possibly an immigration one (it is inconsistent as to whether or not it shows up), then you get an FBI fingerprint card, you can get the prints done at a police station and then submit it to the address here (the procedure is here as well)

http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/fprequest.htm

If you want to know about immigration ONLY then you would submit an FOIA request to the border patrol. If you know for sure where someone was detained and on what dates you can actually submit it to the POA itself, if you do not, or there are multiple detainments then you would do one to the border patrol and give all known dates or a range of dates along with any identifying information. Some info for that is here:

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/admin/fl/foia/making_a_request/reference_guide.xml

[Alice]

Thank you emt103- that's good to know. We want to make sure that there my husband's criminal record is clear. He does not know of any criminal record, but I heard mistakes happen. Does he HAVE to go to the police station? He used a different name in the past. Also because of his immigration situation I am afraid for him to go to the police. Can we just order it ourselves by filling out the cover sheet and the fingerprints form? Has anyone done this? Thank you so much

[Luckysprite]

Alice - many people on here have done the fingerprints themselves. I have seen recommendations of magic markers on the fingers to make the impressions or a black ink pad if you can find one.

[Alice]

Do we just print out the cover letter and the application form and send it? Is it safe to put our address and contact information. What do we put for SSN? How long does it take to get results?

[y14gemini]

When I did the FBI fingerprints for hubby, it took about 2.5 weeks to get the results back. It's $18. I put my home address. I also printed the form right off of their web page. For SSN if your hubby has one put it if not then don't. They are going to send the fingerprint paper back (at least they did to me). I mean if you are wondering if they are going to come and get your husband, I don't think that is going to happen. Good Luck!