Help with FBI Background Check

[citygirl]

Actually, there is no 90 day limit. ASsuming you haven't been back to the US (in this case) since you had the check done, they should accept it, no matter how long ago you had it done.*

To the OP - it will take between 9-12 weeks for the form to come back. Keep in mind once you get it back, it must be sent to the state dept to be apostilled. This takes another week or two. Plan accordingly. That's a narrow window if you are planning on going in Dec. Either you need it back and submitted BEFORE going to the US or you need it to be stamped/received AFTER you go to the US. Otherwise, if you get it back say in Nov and don't have an appt with Migraciones until after your trip to the US, then your background check becomes invalid and you have to do it all over again.

*This is Argentina however so it all depends on the whims/moods of the immigration agent the day you go.

 

[Staszekfc]

After the FBI rejected the fingerprints that had been taken at a US police station 1.5 year ago, I had to get them done in Buenos Aires. After having consulted the US Embassy (who were not very helpful), I downloaded the form from the FBI website and printed it on normal white paper (two just in case). Went to the comisaria at the corner of Gurruchaga/Santa Fe in Palermo where an officer took the fingerprints, two sets (just in case, he said) and then I had to have a talk with the the chief officer about why I did not have the official blue paper, where I was from and the fact that he always ironed his own ties (not kidding!) and then finally he signed it. Total of 45 minutes for the whole procedure. Oh, and the fingerprints got accepted by the FBI

 

[cbonanni]

Not sure as to when Citygirl is basing her information , however , when I applied for my DNI 6 weeks ago , the information my Argentine wife got from Migraciones was that it is only valid 90 days. Things change fast in Argentina. SO , best to get all current (today) information , and go from there.

Citygirl , I am not saying you are wrong , just have been through it very recently.

have a nice day !!

 

[ray_minnick]

I will be moving down there shortly, and was thinking about doing my background check before I moved down to get it out of the way. Based on what I'm reading in this thread, would that be a waste of time?

 

[jantango]

This is what I did for the FBI records request required by the court for citizenship.

My lawyer Dr. Rubilar informed me that the BsAs city police are no longer taking fingerprints and that I would have to go to a police station in the provincia. I went to the one in Avellaneda on June 22 with two completed FBI fingerprint forms on plain paper along with my passport. They took two sets of fingerprints that the officer signed and stamped. I sent the forms with the credit card payment form, noting that I needed the records request notarized so it could be authenticated with an apostille by the Dept of State authentications office. A friend returning to the USA mailed the envelope for me to save mailing time. My lawyer checked with the Avellaneda police who said they will no longer take fingerprints. This is a problem because the US Consulate doesn't provide the service for citizens.

The debit charge of $18 to the FBI cleared my US bank account on July 25, one month after it was received. The records request was sent to a friend in the USA to save time, and he mailed it August 9 with my letter and check to the Dept of State Authentications office for the apostille. My check for $8 for the apostille cleared my US bank account on Sept 7. I am waiting for it. It has to be translated by a certified translator and certified by the college of translators on Corrientes and Callao.

Once a document has an apostille, it doesn't expire. I submitted my birth certificate with apostille dated 2006, and it was accepted as valid. A previous post mentioned an expiration of 90 days -- that applies to the local antecedents with the Argentine police, not the FBI as long as you haven't returned to the USA.

I was told that other Consulates provide fingerprinting for their citizens, but the US Consulate does not. I hope that changes for the sake of those seeking residency and/or citizenship in Argentina.

 

[New York]

I am a bit late in this thread but for future people reading this. The fingerprint form that is being described above is not blue. It is the ink on the white page that is blue and it comes from the US Embassy. And yes a print out from the FBI website on heavy white paper should be fine.

I went to the local police station (toting my 90 year old mother) and they couldn't have been friendlier. And I was expecting the worst. My Spanish is passable which helps a lot. And the ranking policeman does sign and stamp the fingerprint form in a upper left hand box.

I sent off the completed application via FedEx with a FedEx slips to get it, once approved, sent to the Dept of State for an Apostile and then home here.

Here's the good news-- the FBI took less than 30 days to send my record to the Dept of State where it is at this moment having its apostile affixed. I know because the FedEx website tracks each shipment and an email arrives telling me where the package is. Now the FBI might have been speedier for me because I enrolled last year in the US Global Entry program which requires that you have your fingerprints digitally scanned for easy kiosk entry into the USA.

The process was not that painful. At least for me. And although I did not have a lawyer send the stuff to the US (as I am lawyer and will use a lawyer here for submissions) I do not see why you need a lawyer to do the part with the USA. It is all quite straight forward.

Good luck!

 

[jantango]

The information provided on the website regarding the FBI criminal background check states the person requesting the records has to submit the report to the Authentications Office at the Department of State. That requires someone to receive the FBI report and then send it with the Request for Authentications Service with $8.00 fee to the Dept of State.

New York: are you telling us that the FBI sent your background check directly to the Authentications Office at Dept of State for the apostille?

I had someone in the US receive my background check from the FBI and mail it to the Dept of State. He didn't enclose the Request form or a self-addressed stamped envelope because I didn't know they were required until this week. My FBI letter with apostille was done on Sept 2, but I didn't receive it until Oct 3; it was sent to the US Embassy, and sent to me in one day (with an error in the address). I thought it was lost and began the process of fingerprinting, etc.

I've had lots of fingerprints taken in the past few months. I understood from my lawyer that the city police will not take them, but I learned otherwise yesterday when I went to my local police station and had no problem having them taken in a few minutes. The officer signed and stamped the form I had on plain white paper.

A year ago I thought that I'd have to travel to the USA to get the FBI background check done. It's not as complicated as I thought.

 

[New York]

That is exactly what I am saying. I included the FedEx slip and a transmittal letter and all for the FBI to send to the Dept of State and that's what they did. No hassles.

 

[jantango]

It saves time in not having to receive and then forward the FBI records letter to the Dept of State, but how did you prepay a FedEx letter and what did it cost? Did you also include a prepaid FedEx package from Washington, DC to Buenos Aires? Have you received the records letter with apostille?