My path to Australian citizenship was very quick and smooth compared to many others’ – I fully recognize my privilege in that I could afford a good immigration attorney to help smooth it. But there was a significant hurdle early on that derailed the process for nearly a year while I was still in the US.
To request the visa that would allow me to enter Australia, I needed certificates from California and the US federal government stating that I had no criminal record. Because I was applying for a partner/spouse visa, Brendan had to do the same. These reports are usually acquired by submitting fingerprints to the state’s department of justice and the FBI, which are checked against their databases of fingerprints.
As we quickly discovered, my fingerprints are nearly non-existent. Brendan’s were fine and his certificates arrived quickly. My requests were repeatedly rejected due to “fingerprint quality too low to be used”. We tried multiple times at various fingerprinting services. I followed all the tips from the FBI on improving fingerprint quality, even buying a substance called Ridge Lifter that they recommended. On one attempt, myself and the technician spent an hour trying to get a marginally-acceptable reading, using all the techniques recommended on the FBI website. Nothing worked. To add to the stress, the second round of attempts took place while California was under strict lockdown (fingerprinting businesses were allowed to be open, as essential services), when nobody wanted to be around anybody else, even masked.
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