Sent all of my original documents to USCIS; Am I screwed?

[msohyun 1]

Hello all,

 

I sent pretty much all of my original documents to the USCIS.

 

I sent the I-130 and associate forms like the I-130A. I sent copies of things like flight stubs, but I no longer am in possession of the originals anyways as r the ink faded away over time. 

 

Am I screwed? 

 

P.S. my wife said she is able to request the marriage certificate again in her bone country. But I do not have copies of anything I submitted. I figured that I could fill out another I-130 and stuff if I had to. 

 

The pictures of the plane stubs and stuff that I have are digital and have always been that way. 

[Spazmotic 34]

USCIS says that if you submitted an original it "may become part of the record and we will not return it to you automatically". (https://www.uscis.gov/forms-filing-tips).   

 

USCIS does have a form for this though: G-884 (https://www.uscis.gov/g-884)

 

From what I can understand you would use this anyway after the process to get materials that were taking during the interview returned to you.

[MrHanky 1,377]

Never send originals unless specifically asked for.

 

With that said, you should be able to get originals again for things like marriage and birth certificate.

You should NOT need the i-130 again, they will not ask for that at the interview.

Mostly what you need to worry about is evidence, and even that presented can be copies, I only submitted copies and was approved.

The NVC will ask for documents and those should mostly be copies.

[Dashinka 24,492]

I know this is hindsight for your specific case, but for others that may read this thread I will share some advice I received several years ago when my now wife and I started this journey.  Every time you submit anything to USCIS, make sure you submit copies unless specifically required otherwise.  Also, make sure you make at least two complete copies of any package submitted.  That being said, in your case all you can do is to try and replace the originals that you can.

 

Good Luck!

[TNJ17 1,329]

Never send originals and always make copies of everything you send. That’s common knowledge. 

[msohyun 1]

5 hours ago, MrHanky said:

Never send originals unless specifically asked for.

 

With that said, you should be able to get originals again for things like marriage and birth certificate.

You should NOT need the i-130 again, they will not ask for that at the interview.

Mostly what you need to worry about is evidence, and even that presented can be copies, I only submitted copies and was approved.

The NVC will ask for documents and those should mostly be copies.

Well the only forms of evidence I have left are copies. I hope that is okay. 

[msohyun 1]

1 hour ago, TNJ17 said:

Never send originals and always make copies of everything you send. That’s common knowledge. 

Later will they ask for originals? My tickets basically all faded, only the copies are legible

[NikLR 13,227]

It doesnt matter for that kind of evidence.  What matters is that you sent your original marriage certificate.  What about your birth certificate or what did you use to prove citizenship? Get your wife to get a certified copy of the marriage certificate, she will need that for interview.  What other documents (non-marital evidence) did you send? 

Edited December 16, 2017 by NikLR

[payxibka 10,045]

2 hours ago, NikLR said:

It doesnt matter for that kind of evidence.  What matters is that you sent your original marriage certificate.  What about your birth certificate or what did you use to prove citizenship? Get your wife to get a certified copy of the marriage certificate, she will need that for interview.  What other documents (non-marital evidence) did you send? 

The petitioner did not send originals of any birth or marriage documents, at best he sent certified copies, as the originals are on file at the appropriate recorders office.  Petitioner just needs to request another set.  

[MrHanky 1,377]

5 hours ago, msohyun said:

Later will they ask for originals? My tickets basically all faded, only the copies are legible

No, I sent all photocopies, for most of the flights I didn't even send boarding passes, I sent the email confirmation I received with the credit card charge attached, for my most recent flights I just included copies of boarding passes, that stuff is easy to lose etc, so I just scanned them.

[NikLR 13,227]

6 hours ago, payxibka said:

The petitioner did not send originals of any birth or marriage documents, at best he sent certified copies, as the originals are on file at the appropriate recorders office.  Petitioner just needs to request another set.  

Okay smarty pants... regardless did the OP send documents (not evidence) that may require some effort and money to get certified copies of vs PHOTOCOPIES of said documents.  

[MrHanky 1,377]

8 hours ago, payxibka said:

The petitioner did not send originals of any birth or marriage documents, at best he sent certified copies, as the originals are on file at the appropriate recorders office.  Petitioner just needs to request another set.  

Lol, is this for realz?

 

In their eyes it's original

 

But this feels like trolling

[Scandi 4,166]

We did K-1 not CR-1 but we were asked for originals/certified copies at my interview despite sending originals/certified copies with the petition. You'd think the ones you sent in the package would be enough, but nope...

 

We obviously knew this beforehand so we had more certified copies of everything "just in case", which turned out to be a good thing. Especially his certified divorce decree from another state took 6 weeks to get, one has to be prepared and plan ahead.

 

And like others have said - never ever send originals/certified copies unless specifically asked to do so. We did with a couple of our documents but we also had several certified copies on hand of those documents already.

[Whatever?? 4]

I sent a few originals by mistake and USCIS returned them to me 

[msohyun 1]

On 12/16/2017 at 11:49 PM, Scandi said:

We did K-1 not CR-1 but we were asked for originals/certified copies at my interview despite sending originals/certified copies with the petition. You'd think the ones you sent in the package would be enough, but nope...

 

We obviously knew this beforehand so we had more certified copies of everything "just in case", which turned out to be a good thing. Especially his certified divorce decree from another state took 6 weeks to get, one has to be prepared and plan ahead.

 

And like others have said - never ever send originals/certified copies unless specifically asked to do so. We did with a couple of our documents but we also had several certified copies on hand of those documents already.

Okay

 

My biggest problem is that I sent copies of my boni fide evidence (plane tickets, etc)

 

I did send copies of my birth certificate, passport. 

 

The other biggest problem is that I sent my original marriage certificate, but I can get a copy if that easily. 

 

Any problem?