I'd say the channeler isn't necessarily any more expensive, depending on where you live. I ended up paying $50 at Fieldprint. The minimum fee to the FBI was $18, and then all of the police departments I called here for actual fingerprinting wanted $10-15 per card. So if you wanted to get multiple cards to avoid them having issues with not being able to read the prints, that could add up fast.
Certificates are *not* required for other family members such as siblings, parents, etc. I wouldn't waste my money on it. They did not even ask for proof that my mom was deceased, and I haven't seen my father since I was 14 so getting anything from him would have been an exercise in futility.
My application was over 300. To be honest, I was way more comfortable with what I was able to send than with what they ask for now. Since my husband and I don't live together, much of our proof ended up being stuff that wouldn't really fall into a lot of the categories they want now, and I felt like our strongest proof was the relationship chronology with accompanying documentation.
