Green card never arrived yet USCIS demands that we pay again

[TomLena 0]

My wife and I have been happily married for a little over a year now. She arrived here in the USA via a K1 visa in February of 2007 and was approved for permanent residency last September.

Since we currently live in an apartment where the mail room is typically cluttered with envelopes tacked up on the wall from tenants who inadvertently received someone else's mail, we decided early on that we would file any paperwork with the USCIS where a 'mailing' address was asked for using a mailing address provided by the local UPS Store. Of course we've also filled in the forms with our residential address wherever it was asked for. You'll see the irony in our even taking this precaution as you read on.

Within a few weeks of Lena's interview at the local USCIS office and approval for permanent residency, we checked the mailbox and found the welcome notice letter from the USCIS - dated October 5th. It stated that we should call them if we don't receive the green card within 3 weeks.

After several calls to the customer service center, starting from 3 weeks from the date of the notice, we still had not received the green card in the mail. The folks at the UPS Store had been on the lookout for this particular item for us as they knew that the only reason we opened the mailbox with them was in order to ensure that we receive this mail. People at the customer service center insisted first that I call back after it had been 30 days from the notice. I called back and waited on hold for what seemed forever just to then be told that they cannot do anything unless it's been 60 days. I call back after the 60th day and am told that they can submit a ticket for this to be investigated. A few weeks later we receive a letter which states that the green card was never returned to them as undeliverable and that I should check with the local post office or file an I-90 to have the card replaced.

I checked with the local post office and also checked again with the local UPS store. The local post office said that unless the item were sent via certified or other trackable means, they couldn't do anything to locate the missing item or to explain why or where it may have gotten lost. I walked 4 doors down to where the UPS store is and they assured me that they never received anything other than the notices that we had already accounted for. Absolutely nothing was received between the time of the welcome letter and the time of the customer service response.

I contacted the customer service center again and they told me that they couldn't do anything further until another 60 days has passed as they are not even allowed to process more than one service request per person within less than 60 days of each other. They did suggest that we could make an appointment with the local USCIS office (same place where the interview took place).

We made an appointment to speak with someone there. We pretty much got in right away, however, were not even given the courtesy to sit in an office or at a desk to take a look at what's happened with Lena's card. A USCIS 'officer' took a look on a terminal that was right up near the entrance of the facility and said that it says they mailed it and that all I can do is file an I-90 form. He says that we can try to submit it saying that we never received it (which would be accurate) but that since they did not receive it back as undeliverable, they might deny the request and request we do it again and pay the full fees again - which are somewhere in the neighborhood of $370-$380.

Not very satisfied with this answer, I contacted my local U.S. congressman's office. They submitted an inquiry on my behalf only to be given the same run-around answer about having to file an I-90.

We submitted the I-90 form and checked the box that we never received the item in the mail. After longer than a month, we finally received a response today which very much assimilated the response we received from the original customer service response. We are being told that we now have to file ANOTHER I-90 and check the box that the green card was lost, stolen, or destroyed and pay any applicable fees (the $370-$380).

A representative from the UPS Store will gladly sign an affidavit stating that they never received the green card at their facility, however, I doubt that I will find anyone in the USCIS that this would make a difference to.

How come we're responsible for paying a ridiculously high replacement fee (or any fee at all) to create a new plastic card and mail it when nobody but agencies of the U.S. government could have possibly laid hands on or otherwise handled the original card immediately prior to it getting lost (if it were ever issued at all!)

Coincidentally, the claim from the USCIS is that they mailed the green card on October 5th... same date that the welcome letter was actually dated that said the card would arrive within 3 weeks.

Is there anything that I can do that I have not already done? Has anyone ever resolved this issue? I know we're not the first this has happened to. Please share your experiences and advice.

[malego77 2]

My wife and I have been happily married for a little over a year now. She arrived here in the USA via a K1 visa in February of 2007 and was approved for permanent residency last September.

Since we currently live in an apartment where the mail room is typically cluttered with envelopes tacked up on the wall from tenants who inadvertently received someone else's mail, we decided early on that we would file any paperwork with the USCIS where a 'mailing' address was asked for using a mailing address provided by the local UPS Store. Of course we've also filled in the forms with our residential address wherever it was asked for. You'll see the irony in our even taking this precaution as you read on.

Within a few weeks of Lena's interview at the local USCIS office and approval for permanent residency, we checked the mailbox and found the welcome notice letter from the USCIS - dated October 5th. It stated that we should call them if we don't receive the green card within 3 weeks.

After several calls to the customer service center, starting from 3 weeks from the date of the notice, we still had not received the green card in the mail. The folks at the UPS Store had been on the lookout for this particular item for us as they knew that the only reason we opened the mailbox with them was in order to ensure that we receive this mail. People at the customer service center insisted first that I call back after it had been 30 days from the notice. I called back and waited on hold for what seemed forever just to then be told that they cannot do anything unless it's been 60 days. I call back after the 60th day and am told that they can submit a ticket for this to be investigated. A few weeks later we receive a letter which states that the green card was never returned to them as undeliverable and that I should check with the local post office or file an I-90 to have the card replaced.

I checked with the local post office and also checked again with the local UPS store. The local post office said that unless the item were sent via certified or other trackable means, they couldn't do anything to locate the missing item or to explain why or where it may have gotten lost. I walked 4 doors down to where the UPS store is and they assured me that they never received anything other than the notices that we had already accounted for. Absolutely nothing was received between the time of the welcome letter and the time of the customer service response.

I contacted the customer service center again and they told me that they couldn't do anything further until another 60 days has passed as they are not even allowed to process more than one service request per person within less than 60 days of each other. They did suggest that we could make an appointment with the local USCIS office (same place where the interview took place).

We made an appointment to speak with someone there. We pretty much got in right away, however, were not even given the courtesy to sit in an office or at a desk to take a look at what's happened with Lena's card. A USCIS 'officer' took a look on a terminal that was right up near the entrance of the facility and said that it says they mailed it and that all I can do is file an I-90 form. He says that we can try to submit it saying that we never received it (which would be accurate) but that since they did not receive it back as undeliverable, they might deny the request and request we do it again and pay the full fees again - which are somewhere in the neighborhood of $370-$380.

Not very satisfied with this answer, I contacted my local U.S. congressman's office. They submitted an inquiry on my behalf only to be given the same run-around answer about having to file an I-90.

We submitted the I-90 form and checked the box that we never received the item in the mail. After longer than a month, we finally received a response today which very much assimilated the response we received from the original customer service response. We are being told that we now have to file ANOTHER I-90 and check the box that the green card was lost, stolen, or destroyed and pay any applicable fees (the $370-$380).

A representative from the UPS Store will gladly sign an affidavit stating that they never received the green card at their facility, however, I doubt that I will find anyone in the USCIS that this would make a difference to.

How come we're responsible for paying a ridiculously high replacement fee (or any fee at all) to create a new plastic card and mail it when nobody but agencies of the U.S. government could have possibly laid hands on or otherwise handled the original card immediately prior to it getting lost (if it were ever issued at all!)

Coincidentally, the claim from the USCIS is that they mailed the green card on October 5th... same date that the welcome letter was actually dated that said the card would arrive within 3 weeks.

Is there anything that I can do that I have not already done? Has anyone ever resolved this issue? I know we're not the first this has happened to. Please share your experiences and advice.

I don't know if an INFOPASS date will work at this point but you can try it. I'm really sorry by this bad experience.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

This happened to me also and we ended up having to pay for a new greencard.... It does not matter how much evidence you have showing that you never recieved the Greencard you will have to pay for another one... we tried everything, congressman, senators, ombudsman but we still had to pay.... USCIS will claim that once it is mailed it is no longer their responsibility and that you are fee to sue the USPS if you feel they have failed to deliver your mail.... so unless you have enough funds to take USPS to court you will need to file the I-90 again and pay...

Kez

[TomLena 0]

When anyone sends something through normal USPS mail, by virtue of their paying the postage they are agreeing to the terms and conditions of the service.

By the USCIS having chosen which method of service to send this green card, they are responsible for whatever terms that they have agreed to by virtue of this.

I'm not a lawyer, but if the terms and conditions of normal USPS mail service where there is no tracking, certification, or otherwise being purchased with the service states that they are not responsible for lost packages, then the burden of this defaults to whomever procured the service, does it not?

Of course I am all for postal reform and increasing the reliability of our postal service... as you can see from our choice to use the UPS store to handle the final distribution of our mail that we don't have a whole lot of trust in our local carriers to deliver the package to the correct mailbox. I do not believe in this case that it is ultimately the responsibility of the postal service to compensate me for this fee. Had this been sent via an insured service, then it would be a different story.

I would consider the letter that we received back in response to our original I-90 to replace the card to be a 'denial'. From what I understand, these denials may be appealed. Has anyone ever gone this route? Since when should the reproduction of a plastic card cost hundreds of dollars anyway? That in itself is rediculous. Even a first driver's license doesn't cost nearly as much.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

When anyone sends something through normal USPS mail, by virtue of their paying the postage they are agreeing to the terms and conditions of the service.

By the USCIS having chosen which method of service to send this green card, they are responsible for whatever terms that they have agreed to by virtue of this.

I'm not a lawyer, but if the terms and conditions of normal USPS mail service where there is no tracking, certification, or otherwise being purchased with the service states that they are not responsible for lost packages, then the burden of this defaults to whomever procured the service, does it not?

Of course I am all for postal reform and increasing the reliability of our postal service... as you can see from our choice to use the UPS store to handle the final distribution of our mail that we don't have a whole lot of trust in our local carriers to deliver the package to the correct mailbox. I do not believe in this case that it is ultimately the responsibility of the postal service to compensate me for this fee. Had this been sent via an insured service, then it would be a different story.

I would consider the letter that we received back in response to our original I-90 to replace the card to be a 'denial'. From what I understand, these denials may be appealed. Has anyone ever gone this route? Since when should the reproduction of a plastic card cost hundreds of dollars anyway? That in itself is rediculous. Even a first driver's license doesn't cost nearly as much.

Well good luck with your quest to get it replaced at no cost.... just remember that you need the Greencard to remove conditions and also to prove you are able to travel and work... without it you can not prove your status within the US...

Kez

[milimelo 4,477]

Do NOT pay another $370 for something you did not receive. If you have not changed the address and the card has not arrived, you should get a new one for free.

We involved our congressman and we got it just yesterday, after being a resident since 5/31/2007. Read up on different cases in the CR1/IR1 subforum. There's more info in my signature of our problem.

Best of luck to you!

[Kez/JWolf 6]

Do NOT pay another $370 for something you did not receive. If you have not changed the address and the card has not arrived, you should get a new one for free.

We involved our congressman and we got it just yesterday, after being a resident since 5/31/2007. Read up on different cases in the CR1/IR1 subforum. There's more info in my signature of our problem.

Best of luck to you!

The big diffrence is that if USCIS issued the card and it has not been delivered to you and has not been returned to USCIS then you have to pay.... I took it to congressman and to a federal judge out come was unless I wanted to sue the USPS for non delivery of mail then I would have to file for a new greencard as lost or destroyed and pay the fee....

They (USCIS) will only issued without a fee if the card was never issued in the first place or it has been returned to them as undeliverable....

Kez

[Abio105 0]

I got approved on Jan. 14, 2008 and got my welcome letter in the mail on Jan. 25th. However, I have yet to get my green card. I called customer service and they told me that they would resend it and I would get it within 30 days. However, I get a letter today saying the post office did not return it as undeliverable, therefore, I have to file an I-90. Knowing this is stressing me OUT! How long will that take??

[Kez/JWolf 6]

I got approved on Jan. 14, 2008 and got my welcome letter in the mail on Jan. 25th. However, I have yet to get my green card. I called customer service and they told me that they would resend it and I would get it within 30 days. However, I get a letter today saying the post office did not return it as undeliverable, therefore, I have to file an I-90. Knowing this is stressing me OUT! How long will that take??

Could take 6 months.... see my signature for my dates

Kez

[Abio105 0]

I got approved on Jan. 14, 2008 and got my welcome letter in the mail on Jan. 25th. However, I have yet to get my green card. I called customer service and they told me that they would resend it and I would get it within 30 days. However, I get a letter today saying the post office did not return it as undeliverable, therefore, I have to file an I-90. Knowing this is stressing me OUT! How long will that take??

Could take 6 months.... see my signature for my dates

Kez

OH NO!! 6 months?? My EAD expires in October. Does that mean I wont have proof or work? Esp. since my EAD was taken from me at the interview. :-(

[featherB 1]

I got approved on Jan. 14, 2008 and got my welcome letter in the mail on Jan. 25th. However, I have yet to get my green card. I called customer service and they told me that they would resend it and I would get it within 30 days. However, I get a letter today saying the post office did not return it as undeliverable, therefore, I have to file an I-90. Knowing this is stressing me OUT! How long will that take??

Could take 6 months.... see my signature for my dates

Kez

OH NO!! 6 months?? My EAD expires in October. Does that mean I wont have proof or work? Esp. since my EAD was taken from me at the interview. :-(

No... you should make an Infopass appointment at your local office and explain what has happened to them - they should give you an I-551 stamp (ie the stamp equivalent of a green card - it proves you are a permanent resident and allowed to live and work in the US) in your passport - you may have to argue for it, but you ARE a permanent resident and you should be given the means to prove it! Tell them you NEED it to work/travel - and if you don't have any success, you may want to try another office and ask there.

Good luck.

Edited April 23, 2008 by featherB

[KEN's ROSE 0]

Its ashame, It seem as though something as important as the green card should be sent certified mail, at least thats the way when you order coins from the UStreasury.

[TomLena 0]

Do NOT pay another $370 for something you did not receive. If you have not changed the address and the card has not arrived, you should get a new one for free.

We involved our congressman and we got it just yesterday, after being a resident since 5/31/2007. Read up on different cases in the CR1/IR1 subforum. There's more info in my signature of our problem.

Best of luck to you!

This is exactly what we are doing. We involved our congressman at the first sign of this issue. He was told something similar to what we were told - to fill out an I-90, but to check the box that says we never received it. We did exactly that and after several weeks got a response back that said that they never received the original card back in the mail, etc. etc. (which they told us before!) and that we must fill out ANOTHER I-90 and check the box that the card was lost/stolen/etc. and pay any fees required. I immediately contacted our congressman of the result.

Here's some additional food for thought on this topic.

Customers of the USPS waive the postal service's liability in the event that a package is lost if they do not insure it, except for services which automatically come with a $100 default insurance level, in which case the customer is waiving the postal service's liability for anything beyond the $100.

In this and other cases talked about here, the USCIS does give us a choice in carrier or services. They are the ones who were responsible for procuring the services from the USPS and they are the ones who were responsible for waiving the USPS's liability in the case of the envelope not being delivered. It is ridiculous if it is true that they are telling people to sue the USPS. Any FAIR judge who has ruled in favor of the USCIS in cases like this must have felt that the person claiming they didn't receive the card probably actually did receive it and lost it. In most cases, unfortunately, that person cannot prove that they did not receive it.

We can prove that we did not receive it, both via circumstantial means (which do count in a civil case) and via a signed affadavit from our mail handler at the UPS Store... the place that we've procured to receive our mail and which is located only 5 doors down from the USPS that delivers the mail to them. No chance that the envelope even made it into their doors. This is something that our congressman is aware of as well. I'm sure he'll bring it up once he reaches out to them again.

To ultimately solve this problem, we need to push our congressmen to include these cases the next time they review the USCIS. If we just deal strictly with the USCIS and eventually roll over and pay their fees twice over, it will just keep happening again and again. I'm doing my part. How about everyone else?

By the way - whatever the outcome - we will not pay that $370 fee again. We did everything that we were supposed to do and paid all of the fees that we were supposed to... we will not volunteer ourselves to dish out our hard-earned money to pay twice for something that thousands of others only had to pay once for. We didn't lose the card. The card wasn't stolen. It was never delivered. I don't see the local office denying Elena a new stamp in her passport when the current one expires in September... not if they don't want an angry congressman breathing down their neck for something he just witnessed them do.

Edited April 23, 2008 by TomLena

[Leafgal 3]

Do NOT pay another $370 for something you did not receive. If you have not changed the address and the card has not arrived, you should get a new one for free.

We involved our congressman and we got it just yesterday, after being a resident since 5/31/2007. Read up on different cases in the CR1/IR1 subforum. There's more info in my signature of our problem.

Best of luck to you!

This is exactly what we are doing. We involved our congressman at the first sign of this issue. He was told something similar to what we were told - to fill out an I-90, but to check the box that says we never received it. We did exactly that and after several weeks got a response back that said that they never received the original card back in the mail, etc. etc. (which they told us before!) and that we must fill out ANOTHER I-90 and check the box that the card was lost/stolen/etc. and pay any fees required. I immediately contacted our congressman of the result.

Here's some additional food for thought on this topic.

Customers of the USPS waive the postal service's liability in the event that a package is lost if they do not insure it, except for services which automatically come with a $100 default insurance level, in which case the customer is waiving the postal service's liability for anything beyond the $100.

In this and other cases talked about here, the USCIS does give us a choice in carrier or services. They are the ones who were responsible for procuring the services from the USPS and they are the ones who were responsible for waiving the USPS's liability in the case of the envelope not being delivered. It is ridiculous if it is true that they are telling people to sue the USPS. Any FAIR judge who has ruled in favor of the USCIS in cases like this must have felt that the person claiming they didn't receive the card probably actually did receive it and lost it. In most cases, unfortunately, that person cannot prove that they did not receive it.

We can prove that we did not receive it, both via circumstantial means (which do count in a civil case) and via a signed affadavit from our mail handler at the UPS Store... the place that we've procured to receive our mail and which is located only 5 doors down from the USPS that delivers the mail to them. No chance that the envelope even made it into their doors. This is something that our congressman is aware of as well. I'm sure he'll bring it up once he reaches out to them again.

To ultimately solve this problem, we need to push our congressmen to include these cases the next time they review the USCIS. If we just deal strictly with the USCIS and eventually roll over and pay their fees twice over, it will just keep happening again and again. I'm doing my part. How about everyone else?

By the way - whatever the outcome - we will not pay that $370 fee again. We did everything that we were supposed to do and paid all of the fees that we were supposed to... we will not volunteer ourselves to dish out our hard-earned money to pay twice for something that thousands of others only had to pay once for. We didn't lose the card. The card wasn't stolen. It was never delivered. I don't see the local office denying Elena a new stamp in her passport when the current one expires in September... not if they don't want an angry congressman breathing down their neck for something he just witnessed them do.

I wish you the best of luck with this and do let us know how it turns out. I agree with your position in that if no one stands up then the system doesn't change. I don't understand why they mail the Visa's out by registered mail and Passports in Canada are also sent that way, why would they not choose to send the Green card out via a way that can be tracked so they know if it was rec'd and who signed for it.

[Abio105 0]

I got approved on Jan. 14, 2008 and got my welcome letter in the mail on Jan. 25th. However, I have yet to get my green card. I called customer service and they told me that they would resend it and I would get it within 30 days. However, I get a letter today saying the post office did not return it as undeliverable, therefore, I have to file an I-90. Knowing this is stressing me OUT! How long will that take??

My lawyer is of no help. He just instructed me to do that I-90 and it really upsets me. He said it will take 4.5 months to receive it. All plans I had to travel out the country this summer are clearly out the window :-(. PLUS I gotta pay the fee.