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Green Card Lost in St. Petersburg

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Russia
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Some interesting events that I thought to share in case it helps others in the future:

My wife and I visited her family in St. Petersburg this past month (I could only do the last week because of work but she was there for the whole month with our son). As we were gathering things to go home we realized we couldn't find her Greencard. We looked everywhere and still aren't really sure where it is or what happened to it. We found out Monday night and were flying out Wednesday. Tuesday morning we went to the police (not the милиция, it's now the полиция) and filed a report about a lost document and got a copy of the police report.

We went to the US consulate and went straight to the door (didn't wait in line with all of the visa seekers). We explained to the guard our situation (there are four guards there, two in Russian uniforms and two in US uniforms but they are all Russians. The ones in US uniforms have basic English abilities). They brought out a cell phone and called inside and had us explain our situation to the consulate worker. We were helped by US citizen services and they brought us inside to see the Consul. He had one of his workers take copies of our documents which included:

--A copy of the greencard

--The letter from USCIS confirming they had received our document package for I-751 which we had already filed.

--The police report

--My wife's boarding stubs from America to prove that she hadn't been out of the country for more than 6 months.

--Our return tickets.

--My passport

--My wife's passport

--2 passport pictures of my wife

They also charged $165. They said that if we were in Moscow at the Embassy they would have done this for free. Anyways, they sent an email to Moscow and waited for confirmation that my wife is a Permanent Resident. We got confirmation about 10 minutes before the consulate was scheduled to close and they gave us two letters stating that my wife could travel to the US. One was to the airline and the other was to CBP. At Immigration into the US they flagged her for further checks and we had to wait while they verified the letter but that only took about 20 minutes and no further questions were asked.

In any case we were lucky to get a 1 day turnaround as they said that the process could take a couple days to get confirmation from Moscow.

Since we have already filed I-751 Removal of Conditions, do we need to file to replace the lost Greencard? It will expire the 13th of October anyways. But with the letter from USCIS it would have remained valid. Any thoughts? I am thinking that if we are called in for an interview for the Removal of Conditions my wife will need her Green Card. But if we get approved without an interview, no one will ever check it, I assume. Will the left hand know what the right hand is doing and know that she was issued this letter from the Consulate?

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Russia
Timeline

It sounds like you had all your ducks in a row and that's the big lesson I take from all this. You had copies of copies of copies and really didn't have to do too much except the leg work of getting it sorted out. Bravo!

Lesson to everyone - KEEP COPIES!!! (And keep them on you when you go abroad.)

I wouldn't do anything. Her new GC will probably arrive in a few weeks and no interview will be necessary. Just in case... keep your copies!

Русский форум член.

Ensure your beneficiary makes and brings with them to the States a copy of the DS-3025 (vaccination form)

If the government is going to force me to exercise my "right" to health care, then they better start requiring people to exercise their Right to Bear Arms. - "Where's my public option rifle?"

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Filed: K-3 Visa Country: Russia
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One of my kids (14 y.o.) flew from Moscow to Atlanta earlier this year without her GC. She simply forgot it. U.S. Customs kept her a bit longer than usual in Atlanta in order to check her records within their system; then, they let her go without a fuss at all. U.S. Customs didn't even call me. I would take Slim's advice on keeping a copy (pursed).

from Andrew

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Russia
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I read somewhere a while back that you should keep a copy of your travel document in each piece of luggage and one on your person. To me, that's a bit overkill and with all the ID theft stuff going around now you may not want to have that many copies floating around but at least you can keep a copy somewhere accessible.

The best thing to do is scan your documents and email them to yourself. That way, no matter where you are in the world you have a copy.

Русский форум член.

Ensure your beneficiary makes and brings with them to the States a copy of the DS-3025 (vaccination form)

If the government is going to force me to exercise my "right" to health care, then they better start requiring people to exercise their Right to Bear Arms. - "Where's my public option rifle?"

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Russia
Timeline

One of my kids (14 y.o.) flew from Moscow to Atlanta earlier this year without her GC. She simply forgot it. U.S. Customs kept her a bit longer than usual in Atlanta in order to check her records within their system; then, they let her go without a fuss at all. U.S. Customs didn't even call me. I would take Slim's advice on keeping a copy (pursed).

How did the airline let her on the plane? This was a major concern for us as typically the airline is liable for the return trip if it brings a person to the US without checking document. Consequently, they won't let you on the plane without documents. That's why the consulate issued us two copies of the letter, one to the airline and one to CBP. I didn't mention it but there was significant scrutiny not only at Immigration in the US but also when we were boarding the plane. Did they check something before letting her on the plane to Atlanta? Just curious mostly.

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