Today was Grandmother’s 2nd appointment for fingerprints. Since her prints didn’t take the first time, we are required to try again before the USCIS will let us do a sworn statement and be done with all this nonsense. Again, we got to the immigration office early, so we sat in the car and waited while we watched all of the others line up at the door. Like last time, it was all I could do to fight the urge to get out and jump in line. We had no choice but to wait until they opened the doors and the line moved inside. I had bundled Grandmother up in my super warm “puffy” coat with a hood over her head but even so I just couldn’t subject her to sitting out in the cold to get a primo spot in line.
Finally, I saw the doors open so I quickly loaded Grandmother up in her wheelchair so we could make our way up the sidewalk. We were greeted by a nice officer at the door and he held the door for us so I could push Grandmother inside. He had to hold the door longer than expected because I couldn’t get the blasted wheelchair over the doorstep until the fourth try. UGGGHH! Grandmother is a good sport and jokes that the bumpy wheelchair rides help keep her awake. LOL! For a second I thought the officer might let us go to the front of the line, but no such luck. He allowed me to wheel Grandmother into the waiting area to sit while I went back and waited in line. I told her to sit tight and I’d come get her when it was our turn. Bless her heart, she didn’t move an inch. She even kept her coat buttoned up with the hood over her head until I came back for her. I called her my little eskimo.
Eventually, our turn came and we filled out the same paperwork again and then got in another line to wait. They assign numbers much like they do at the grocery store deli, so we still had to wait for them to call our number. I was hoping we could get out of there before the need for a bathroom break but before they called our number, Grandmother let me know nature was calling. Of course, by the time we came back, they had already called our number and were now three numbers past ours so we had to get them to work us back in. AARRGGHH!! They finally worked us in, did Grandmother’s prints, and we were on our way.
This afternoon, I called and found out that the second set of prints didn’t take either. The next step will be the background check and sworn statmement. The person who does the sworn statements is out this week so we can’t take care of it until next week. So it seems we will have to bring Grandmother downtown yet again to finish the last steps of this insane process. In case you’re wondering, I did call our local congressman’s office to complain about this. They were very nice but said I’d have to put something in writing for them before they can try to help. I figured by the time I do that and wait for them to contact somebody, we’ll have taken care of it. I will probably send a letter to him after the fact. Who knows. Maybe the law can be changed so others who have elderly people living with them won’t have to go through this.
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