Just Like DMV

After rushing around in an effort to mail our home study last week to USCIS, we received it back a record two days later with a note indicating that we had included the wrong fee amount. Which was impossible, because we hadn't included a fee at all. USCIS had cashed our check for the fee (in the correct amount!) almost four months ago when our file was originally opened. So, this morning I had to pay a visit to our local USCIS office. No phone. No water. No knitting needles, either. I don't know if it was due to the recent terrorist threats, or if security is always that tight at an immigration office, but I was searched twice for illicit items before even entering the building.

I think they recruit USCIS workers from the DMV. I got up to the window and showed the worker the letter that had accompanied the return of our paperwork. She flipped through the pages once, then twice, then a third time and said - you included the wrong fee. I explained the situation and showed her a copy of the canceled check. She flipped through the papers yet again as if they were tarot cards, and told me to have a seat. Fifteen minutes later she comes back and says that she'll pass my file onto someone with a clue. That person, of course, wasn't in the office, and no - she can't tell me what her hours are. Or if my file is complete. Or give me a fingerprint appointment. Or tell me when I might hear from someone. Or smile.

Sigh.