Job Discussion Forums

amandajoy99 · Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 63 Location: Brazil

i`m applying for the Peace Corps Master`s International Program and thought I was way ahead of the game when I submitted my application about the same time as my grad school app (which is what they suggest). Turns out there is a little twist in the plot and I need help!
I have to send in an official copy of my fingerprints for the Peace Corps to do a background check. They say that you can get it done at the local police station. The problem is the Brazilian police do not do fingerprints unless it is for official Brazilian govt business. And my fingerprints have to be at the Peace Corps office in New York by June 7 or my application is cancelled and I have to petition to have it reopened. They make a big point of the fact that my petition may be refused.
I`ll be back in the US in late July, so if I`d known about this I would have waited to send in the application! But too late for IFs now...
Does anyone have any suggestions? Are there other places that do official fingerprints? Or any ideas about how likely this petitioning business is to work?
The Peace Corps is not very helpful. They officially "recognize that international applications have added challenges"but also officially do nothing about it.
Off topic, I know. But it`s worth a shot...anyone? Help?

been_there · Joined: 28 Oct 2003 Posts: 284 Location: 127.0.0.1

have you gone to the US embassy and asked there? They might have an official fingerprinter in residence.

zaneth · Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 7:57 am Post subject:

Isn't there any other kind of office in Brazil that does fingerprints? Last time I got fingerprinted (in Russia) was just the residence registration office of a small town.

Is Brazil a country where everything is done by the book? No way to oil the gears a little bit? Getting fingerprinted seems harmless enough. Not like anyone has to really stick their neck out.

Time before last I got fingerprinted was on an army base (back in Germany) where I was applying for a job at the school. Embassy here in Russia seems limited on what they're able/willing to do but they must have a fingerprinter for their own security checks. Isn't Peace Corp a State Department program or something?

Do any private institutions do security checks? Large corporations maybe? A US company there in Brazil? Seems like fingerprinting is all the rage these days.

If all else fails maybe you can scan your face and hands together and send it to them as an IOU until you get there in late July.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

I suggest the Embassy, too. They usually have an official to do the job. I found them very fast and efficient in a couple of different countries when I needed prints for various reasons.

tedkarma · Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 1:25 am Post subject:

Try the embassy - they often don't like to do such things (to mingle with the common man is a bit off-putting, wouldn't you say?) but will if politely and persistently approached (begging may work best I mean). The embassy in Riyadh did me one time - but it wasn't easy to get them to do it.

The embassy is probably your only real option as the prints will need to go on a specific FBI card. A Brazilian police department card won't do.

I got printed one time also at a US military base - if you can find one anywhere near you. Also, again, not easy, but can be done - particularly if it is a base that employs a lot of civilian contractors. They will use the same FBI card. (It's the FBI's database that holds all the prints)

The PC can be difficult (or unhelpful) to work with - but I think purposefully so - they need to know you can handle the challenges of international life. Though I am guessing you are a current PCV or RPCV?

Good luck!

Ted (RPCV Botswana 89-91)

amandajoy99 · Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 63 Location: Brazil

thanks for your helpful responses, everyone!
tedkarma, i am currently a PCnothing. just teaching in brazil and staring my master's in the fall with PC master's international.
i've got the official fingerprint card, mailed to me from the peace corps in a fancy envelope. i just need someone who can slather my fingers with ink and roll them onto the card and put an official signature on it, too. wouldn't think that would be too tough to find.
and tedkarma glad to hear what you said about the PC being deliberately unhelpful, too - that reassures me - because our correspondance has gone kind of like this:
me: "the brazilian police won't do my fingerprints for me, where else can i go?" (only, of course, in formal email language)
them: "other international applicants have gotten their prints done at police stations, or other federal institutions. applicants can find these in big cities."
me: .....

embassy sounds like a good plan, but brasilia is quite a haul for me...do you think the consulate in sao paulo would be able to do it, too? i would ask them, except they never answer their phone or email.

tedkarma · Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 2:46 am Post subject:

If you have the card - you might try going to the biggest police station or jail that you can find (take a Portuguese speaker with you to keep yourself out of jail and explain - if your language is not top notch) - and ask them to do it. They probably know how.

The real problem with the prints is that the FBI can be very pissy about any kind of smudge or smear of the prints - and reject them. Even the ones I had done at the US embassy in Riyadh were done - not up to their snuff and had to be redone.

Yes, the PC, quite purposefully and reasonably - I believe - wants to know you can surmount these niggling problems that occur when living overseas. There are, after all, a million reasons why we can't get anything done overseas. They want the people who CAN get things done.

Good luck!

Ted