New Process - no sealed packet received?

[JoMau 0]

11 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

Just by the way I think the point was that the CBP guys at Abu Dhabi are familiar with it - Abu Dhabi is one of the airports that does pre-clearance. 

Another poster (I think India but may be misremembering) said the embassy asked her to email them her travel plans once she had them, presumably so they could ensure CBP at her intended POE was familiar with the process. I guess it takes time to roll out new systems. 

 

If anyone arrives at an airport where CBP doesn’t seem to know the situation, just politely repeat what the embassy told you. 

Thanks! On my part embassy officer did not tell me anything about digitalizing or going paperless. I just overheard from the officer while she was interviewing other applicant. 

 

I'll wait for the reply of the embassy and try again to contact them over the phone.

[MeredithNotGrey 8]

Hi everyone,

 

My mom just got her visa approved in Kyiv, Ukraine. She also was told that due to new electronic processing no more envelopes will be given, instead, all the information will be available for CBP officer to view online. She was not told to contact them will departure date, but I will notify them regardless just to make sure. My mom doesn't speak English, so I will probably write an explanation letter for the officer to read upon arrival. 

 

Also, the embassy kept her original documents (mine and hers birth certificates as well as her marriage certificates) and she was told they will send them back together with the passport. Did this happen to someone else here? Is that due to the new processing ? I was thinking that maybe they needed originals to scan into the system to send electronically. The officer told her her visa was approved, she was not even asked any questions during the interview. I looked on ceac right away and it says "administrative processing", but as far as I know it is pretty common after visa approval, means they are printing it.  Any thoughts?

[Triple28 65]

19 minutes ago, MeredithNotGrey said:

Also, the embassy kept her original documents (mine and hers birth certificates as well as her marriage certificates) and she was told they will send them back together with the passport. Did this happen to someone else here? Is that due to the new processing ? I was thinking that maybe they needed originals to scan into the system to send electronically. The officer told her her visa was approved, she was not even asked any questions during the interview. I looked on ceac right away and it says "administrative processing", but as far as I know it is pretty common after visa approval, means they are printing it.  Any thoughts?

"Administrative Processing" means the Consular officer is reviewing the documents.

When it shows ISSUED, it means her visa is issued and be ready for delivery.

 

Typically, the embassy will keep the copy of documents, and return the original documents after the interview.

In case they said that they need to keep the original documents, when your mom gets the visa, she should check to ensure that they return original documents to her.

[MeredithNotGrey 8]

6 minutes ago, Triple28 said:

"Administrative Processing" means the Consular officer is reviewing the documents.

When it shows ISSUED, it means her visa is issued and be ready for delivery.

 

Typically, the embassy will keep the copy of documents, and return the original documents after the interview.

In case they said that they need to keep the original documents, when your mom gets the visa, she should check to ensure that they return original documents to her.

Thanks for the reply. I know there are different kinds of administrative processing - some take a few days to review, others might take months. If they needed to dig deeper into something, would they tell her that she was put in administrative processing or not? She got a white paper from the consul that says "your visa should be delivered within 5 days", no one mentioned anything else. I am just hoping her "administrative processing" is the fast kind where they review it for a few days and issue the visa.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

18 hours ago, MeredithNotGrey said:

Thanks for the reply. I know there are different kinds of administrative processing - some take a few days to review, others might take months. If they needed to dig deeper into something, would they tell her that she was put in administrative processing or not? She got a white paper from the consul that says "your visa should be delivered within 5 days", no one mentioned anything else. I am just hoping her "administrative processing" is the fast kind where they review it for a few days and issue the visa.

There's only one kind of admin processing for visas; whether its the shallow or deep kind is for the embassy/US Agencies to determine. For immigrant visas, some background checks may be completed before the interview, and others prior to the visa being issued. It's a bit of a black hole the applicant isn't privy to.

 

Most IR5 visas however are quickly issued. 

[Pryme57 6]

On 8/18/2018 at 12:10 PM, JoMau said:

Thanks! On my part embassy officer did not tell me anything about digitalizing or going paperless. I just overheard from the officer while she was interviewing other applicant. 

 

I'll wait for the reply of the embassy and try again to contact them over the phone.

Did everything go OK?

[Joschka 8]

On 7/1/2018 at 9:36 PM, NikLR said:

The CBP will have the packet.  She will have to notify them of her travel plans (where she intends to enter) and they will send the info there. 

 

What is a "CBP" and how does one 'notify them?'

[NikLR 13,232]

18 minutes ago, Joschka said:

 

What is a "CBP" and how does one 'notify them?'

Customs and border patrol and if you're going through the no packet process that information is provided to you 

[geowrian 22,338]

4 minutes ago, NikLR said:

Customs and border patrol

Protection*

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

1 hour ago, geowrian said:

Protection*

Indeed, they get very prickly about this 😃

[kid1412 62]

Well, I sponsored my mom too and her visa was issued today. I will update if it's packet or packetless. Ho Chi Minh City Consulate in Vietnam. 

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

Some people have reported being told by their consulate to inform them of their travel plans, but not all. If you haven’t specifically been told to inform the , don’t worry about it.

 

 

Edited October 16, 2018 by SusieQQQ

[Ina17 0]

Hi everyone,

I'm glad I found this thread because I was starting to believe I'm the only one without a sealed visa package.

 

I'm already in the U.S. and today I received a letter from USCIS saying, I never submitted a sealed envelope at the POE and that the Texas Service Center will

require a completed Lost Visa Packet in order to process my Green Card. I have to go to an USCIS District office that's 160 miles away.

I was gonna fly to Germany to visit my family in 2 weeks and there aren't even USCIS appointment dates available for the next couple 

weeks.

 

I entered the U.S. with only my Visa in my passport 7 months ago (09/2018). They almost didn't let me on the flight from

Germany to the U.S. until someone saw that my visa had the annotation: "...Electronic Case IV docs in CCD"

Then I landed in D.C. and the immigration officer didn't want to let me in without a sealed envelope. I explained to him

that it's an electronic case and pointed on the annotation on my visa. He send me into an office, where I had to wait for almost

2 hours for them to review my electronic files and give me a stamp in my passport. I almost missed my connection flight 

because of that.

3 Months later I called USCIS because I haven't received my actual green card and I was gonna go on a cruise. They said

it sometime takes a little bit longer than 120 days. I went on the cruise since my visa serves as a temporary "green card" and 

therefore for reentering the U.S. for one year. After the cruise I almost got deported back to Germany because they didn't 

want to accept my Visa, since - quote: "It can only be used one time, to enter the U.S." They figured it out eventually and let me

back in the U.S. 

I called USCIS again in February to ask where my green card is at. They just said, they'll get back to me. ONE MONTH later I received

an email, saying I should receive my green card within the next 3 months!

I called them again at the beginning of April, just to make sure they don't forget about me and to ask if I can travel abroad with

only my Visa. They said I can! Well, after receiving that letter today, not anymore! 

 

It's so frustrating that no one in my whole immigration process or the POEs knows about the electronic documents. And it's costing

me so much time and money and all the waiting is nerve wracking!

 

Has anyone with an Electronic Case, had a similar experience?

 

 

[little immigrant 801]

3 hours ago, Ina17 said:

"It can only be used one time, to enter the U.S." 

Did you come in a K1 visa? 

[Ina17 0]

On 4/21/2019 at 12:30 AM, little immigrant said:

Did you come in a K1 visa? 

I came with a CR1 Visa