FBI police certificate - forwarded?

[Eireann013]

For any of you that have had to get a police certificate from the FBI, do you recall if the envelope you received it in said anything along the lines of "Do Not Forward"?

I included pre-paid, self-addressed envelopes in the applications for OH and I. Since we currently live in Japan (but use my parents' address in the US for things there), I put their address on the return envelope. They were just putting their house on the market at the time, and none of us thought it would sell and that they would be moving before we got our police certificates! As luck would have it, they did sell their house and are moving in mid-December. While we're still hopeful that at least my certificate will arrive before then (I'm at the 8-week point in the wait), my OH is only at 5 weeks and we are sure his will need to be forwarded to the new address. We are doing change of address with the postal service; the only problem will be if the FBI indicates that the envelope not be forwarded! Since we are in Japan I thought I would ask here before trying to call the FBI (and getting stuck on hold forever).

Thanks!

[impossiblejane]

I can't remember if the enevelope had a do not forward stamp on it but I know that it took almost 4 months for my FBI check to arrive. I called the FBI in OZ, in the US, wrote them emails, etc. to find out where my checks were. They just get really backlogged. When I applied for my police check for my work visa last year I had them very quickly. This year for the PR it took ages. They say normal wait time is 12 weeks so you have a bit of time left. But I also know that I could send in all my paperwork to Immigration with an explanation (and I also sent in reciepts from the post shop, emails to the FBI, and tracking numbers) and they accepted the paperwork. I just sent in the check seperately when it arrived.

Best of luck.
Sarah

[bmshanley]

I can't recall what was on the envelope, but I actually had really good luck getting someone on the phone by calling the US customer service number. I wasn't on hold for more than about five minutes. It may be worth just calling and asking.

[offtonz]

We got ours a few weeks back.
I had _not_ included a pre-paid envelope.
The letters came in an 8x10 envelope and did _not_ have any "do not forward" instructions on it.

hope this helps.

Cheers

[Tui2too]

OH's came in a big brown envelope, there wasn't a 'do not forward' or any other instructions on it....the return address made my 10 yr old think it was pretty cool tho!

[Eireann013]

Thanks everyone! That is very reassuring that at least the certificates will be forwarded whenever they do come. Not so nice that they could take longer than the 12 weeks indicated on the website though!