Finally, the NY Background Check arrived in the mail. Well, actually what they sent was a signed and certified letter saying that what I received before was all I would receive. So I attached that letter to the check. Mailing the combined off for an apostille by NY.
Finally, we received signed, certified, and apostilled background checks from Indiana. It only took 3-4 tries, several letters, and a few phone conversations.
New York State should arrive later this week. FBI said that it was in process and should be finalized soon.
Today I called the NY Secretary of State's office. They confirmed that if I can get signatures on the criminal background check by the director of assistant director of DCJS (Joseph Morrissey or Donna Call) they can apostille the document. Today I spoke to DCJS and they will be issuing new background checks with one of those signatures.
Well, the NY State background checks arrived today. Despite noting that they needed to be suitable for apostille, both in the cover letter and on the application, they arrived unsigned. We're sending them off the the NY Secretary of State with a letter asking if they can apostille them and if not to please either call the NY State Police or send us a letter with clear instructions as to what they need in order to apostille a documents. It appears that writing in every possible margin of a form is not enough for people to issue signed background checks. Only TN sent them right (well, except for a spelling mistake).
The background check arrived today from Indiana. All it says is "A thorough search of our files by NAME, DATE OF BIRTH, SEX, RACE, and FINGERPRINTS DOES not reveal a criminal history record …"
I forwarded it on to the Indiana Secretary of State for an apostille, which fortunately is free (unlike most states).
Unfortunately, the background check did not have a signature or a seal on it, so I don't know if it will be accepted for an apostille. So in parallel, I wrote the Indiana State Police again for another copy of the background check, hopefully with a signature and a seal this time.
I contacted the Nashville Police Department and they said that they can take official fingerprints for use by the states and the FBI for background checks.
We need to go to: 200 James Robertson Pkwy at the Criminal Justice Center
They have "standard cards supplied by the FBI for fingerprint submissions that are used for regular background checks."
They said, "Yes, we can do it. The standard fee is $9 for the first set and $1 for each additional set of prints if needed. We are open Mon-Fri from 7AM to 6PM. Please make sure to bring the form with you."