My Wife skipped the Immigration Hall at Port of Entry

[Brian_Toma 0]

My Wife entered at JFK on Aug 31 on her CR1 visa with the sealed brown envelope. She showed the envelope to the passport control officer there who opened the envelope and stamped her passport and wrote the A-number there as well as on the white paper that was on top of the brown envelope. He then returned the contents of the envelope. The officer asked her about the cat which she had brought with her and said that she needed to go into the room to the right.. She thought that she needed to go there for the cat to be checked. When in the room, she was asked why she was there, and she said that she had a cat. They told her she didn't need to be there and she left for customs. At customs, they told her she needed to go back to that room and have her customs form signed there, which they did. Then she was allowed to leave through customs. We are worried now that she was supposed to give her papers to someone in that room which we now think must have been the Immigration Hall and that they should have processed these papers in order for her to get her Green Card to be sent. The question is, now what? How can we fix this? What can we do to get her Green Card? Is the stamp and the A-number that the officer put there the "endorsement" that is supposed to be done for the I-551 temporary green card on her visa in her passport?

[fPf_iMc 1]

Try to get an infopass at your local USCIS office and explain the situation as soon as possible. The earlier they will know, the less questions they might ask...

My Wife entered at JFK on Aug 31 on her CR1 visa with the sealed brown envelope. She showed the envelope to the passport control officer there who opened the envelope and stamped her passport and wrote the A-number there as well as on the white paper that was on top of the brown envelope. He then returned the contents of the envelope. The officer asked her about the cat which she had brought with her and said that she needed to go into the room to the right.. She thought that she needed to go there for the cat to be checked. When in the room, she was asked why she was there, and she said that she had a cat. They told her she didn't need to be there and she left for customs. At customs, they told her she needed to go back to that room and have her customs form signed there, which they did. Then she was allowed to leave through customs. We are worried now that she was supposed to give her papers to someone in that room which we now think must have been the Immigration Hall and that they should have processed these papers in order for her to get her Green Card to be sent. The question is, now what? How can we fix this? What can we do to get her Green Card? Is the stamp and the A-number that the officer put there the "endorsement" that is supposed to be done for the I-551 temporary green card on her visa in her passport?

[Inky 1,110]

If you can, go back to the POE an tell them what happend, maybe they can process the papers. I have seen alot of people say infopass did nothing to help them because infopass cant take the paperwork.

[kruz_patz 22]

You should contact first to port of entry officials........Don't talk to just anyone.......talk to higher officials.....

and on the other side....do take infopass.....nothing harm in taking an appointment

Edited September 16, 2010 by kruz_patz

[Darnell 8,478]

ya - need to 'do stuff' with the Border Patrol folks -

suggest (in order of priority)

--same POE

--CBP 'deferred inspection' office

No appointment needed, when ya get somewhere, ask for the big boss.

[Brian_Toma 0]

Thanks for the suggestions all. We were able to schedule a really quick INFOPASS appointment for this morning and the office is quite close to our house. They said basically the same thing.. they cannot take the paperwork there, but we can go to the nearest Customs and Border Patrol station, which is at Boston Logan airport, rather than at JFK where we entered. I'm still a bit worried about it.. They did take her fingerprints and photos at the Passport control station, but the woman we met at the USCIS office said she could not see the biometrics in the system. Maybe they will need to do it again and my wife just cut her thumb badly the other day.. I guess will just have to see when we go.

[Stanley Hermosill 1]

Yes, you should go back to them as soon as possible, and if you can, see if you can determine which specific officer handled the situation so he/she can confirm the scenario.