Delivery Method for Green Card after arriving in US

[MexicoExpat 18]

My wife and I are doing DCF in Mexico and are about to submit the DS-260. The only thing I'm not quite sure about is where to mail her Green Card. 

 

We have our intended address, at a relative's house where we will make our first landing and stay for a few months, as we feel this will be much easier than trying to arrange our longer term plans from abroad. This will be our intended address on the DS-260. I am on the lease agreement at this address, though my wife is not yet. 

 

My relative's address is in a condominium complex, and says it can be sometimes difficult for mail to get delivered, if the person it is addressed to is not on file as living there, and it can be a lengthy process in her complex to add someone. 

 

The situation we are trying to avoid is having her Green Card sent back to USCIS if delivery fails, as we will need to take a short trip outside the US shortly after receiving the Green Card and plan to use that to exit/re-enter the US.

 

I've asked a couple other relatives if we can use their address to mail the green card to, where delivery may not be as much of an issue. They all had a couple of questions though to ensure a smooth delivery.

 

Namely:

 

1. What method is generally sent by? Regular mail or something like Fedex/DHL?

2. Does it need to be signed for upon delivery? If so, can it be signed for by whoever is home, or does it need to be my wife specifically?

3. Is it possible to have it addressed to "Wife's name c/o relative's name" to ensure there would be no delivery issues if she is not living there?

 

I know I may be overthinking this, but feel a little extra research on the front end is prudent to not having the green card be returned to USCIS for something we could have avoided. 

 

Thanks 

[designguy 1,179]

The GC is mailed using USPS. AFAIK you can't do a c/o for the mailing label, but I don't think its necessary. The address that was on mine was for the companies lawyer that was sponsoring me. It was first delivered to the lawyer and then forwarded to me (I actually received mine yesterday) 

 

4 minutes ago, MexicoExpat said:

as we will need to take a short trip outside the US shortly after receiving the Green Card and plan to use that to exit/re-enter the US.

Do you mean you will take a short trip once you arrive back in the US? She can use her passport with the visa endorsed for up to a year as the physical GC arriving is very hard to predict. Could be 2 weeks could be 4 months

 

[ineedadisplayname 496]

10 minutes ago, MexicoExpat said:

it can be sometimes difficult for mail to get delivered, if the person it is addressed to is not on file as living there, and it can be a lengthy process in her complex to add someone

Put her name on a name tag and stick it inside of the mailbox, right on the bottom where the door is. I assume the complex has those boxes where the mailman have a master key and can open the front panel of the boxes and puts the mail in that way. 

[MexicoExpat 18]

I've just found this article - https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-begin-using-more-secure-mail-delivery-service

 

It seems to confirm that Green Cards are now sent by USPS and require a signature from the applicant themselves. 

 

There is a high chance my wife and I will be traveling around the US once we first arrive as a sort of celebratory tour, and would not like to just sit around waiting for the green card to arrive. 

 

But if I'm reading the article above correctly, it appears we can designate my family member at that address as an agent to receive mail on her behalf, which should hopefully make this all a lot easier for us. 

[HRQX 4,145]

1 hour ago, MexicoExpat said:

we will need to take a short trip outside the US shortly after receiving the Green Card and plan to use that to exit/re-enter the US.

The endorsed Immigrant Visa is an I-551 document: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/temporary-i-551-stamps-and-mrivs

[Just Paul 4,595]

3 hours ago, MexicoExpat said:

I've just found this article - https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-begin-using-more-secure-mail-delivery-service

 

It seems to confirm that Green Cards are now sent by USPS and require a signature from the applicant themselves. 

 

There is a high chance my wife and I will be traveling around the US once we first arrive as a sort of celebratory tour, and would not like to just sit around waiting for the green card to arrive. 

 

But if I'm reading the article above correctly, it appears we can designate my family member at that address as an agent to receive mail on her behalf, which should hopefully make this all a lot easier for us. 

Mary's was sitting in our mailbox last October.

 

As pointed out you do not need the green card to enter / exit the country as a CR1/IR1.  We went back to Mexico five days after entering the US.

[MexicoExpat 18]

Thanks everyone for clarifying that we can travel on her immigrant visa for up to 1 year. 

 

Regardless though, I would not like any complications with receiving the green card. 

 

Can anyone who has received it in the mail within the past year confirm how it arrived?

 

USPS with signature required? 

[designguy 1,179]

9 minutes ago, MexicoExpat said:

Thanks everyone for clarifying that we can travel on her immigrant visa for up to 1 year. 

To clarify, she won't be traveling on her immigrant visa, its that once endorsed, it is representative of I-551 status

 

Regardless though, I would not like any complications with receiving the green card. 

 

Can anyone who has received it in the mail within the past year confirm how it arrived?

Was sent to my lawyer who then forwarded to me

 

USPS with signature required? 

Yes

 

[Mollie09 1,543]

13 hours ago, MexicoExpat said:

Thanks everyone for clarifying that we can travel on her immigrant visa for up to 1 year. 

 

Regardless though, I would not like any complications with receiving the green card. 

 

Can anyone who has received it in the mail within the past year confirm how it arrived?

 

USPS with signature required? 

It's regular mail, no signature required, and they are technically not allowed to forward it if mail forwarding is in place (but it happens quite often anyways)

[Dashinka 24,488]

Our cousins came over with DVs last January, and planned to stay with us until they could get established. We also live in a condo complex and they were not put on the mortgage.  They received their GCs through regular mail without needing to sign for them.  Additionally, the postal employees that serve our community added their names to the label they put inside our box at the community mailbox.

 

Good Luck!

[AffableAndy 107]

My green card was left in the mailbox last Friday, no signature required.

[tomatoboy 33]

My wife’s 10-year card came a few weeks ago via USPS in our regular mailbox in a USCIS marked eletter size envelope, as regular mail. No signature. Her original card after entry also arrived via USPS in our regular mailbox, same format. No signature required. 

Edited December 19, 2019 by tomatoboy

[Nitas_man 3,100]

On 12/18/2019 at 3:30 PM, MexicoExpat said:

My wife and I are doing DCF in Mexico and are about to submit the DS-260. The only thing I'm not quite sure about is where to mail her Green Card. 

 

We have our intended address, at a relative's house where we will make our first landing and stay for a few months, as we feel this will be much easier than trying to arrange our longer term plans from abroad. This will be our intended address on the DS-260. I am on the lease agreement at this address, though my wife is not yet. 

 

My relative's address is in a condominium complex, and says it can be sometimes difficult for mail to get delivered, if the person it is addressed to is not on file as living there, and it can be a lengthy process in her complex to add someone. 

 

The situation we are trying to avoid is having her Green Card sent back to USCIS if delivery fails, as we will need to take a short trip outside the US shortly after receiving the Green Card and plan to use that to exit/re-enter the US.

 

I've asked a couple other relatives if we can use their address to mail the green card to, where delivery may not be as much of an issue. They all had a couple of questions though to ensure a smooth delivery.

 

Namely:

 

1. What method is generally sent by? Regular mail or something like Fedex/DHL?

2. Does it need to be signed for upon delivery? If so, can it be signed for by whoever is home, or does it need to be my wife specifically?

3. Is it possible to have it addressed to "Wife's name c/o relative's name" to ensure there would be no delivery issues if she is not living there?

 

I know I may be overthinking this, but feel a little extra research on the front end is prudent to not having the green card be returned to USCIS for something we could have avoided. 

 

Thanks 

At POE the immigrant provides an address.  That is where everything is mailed to.

[MayzieMcgrew 5]

On 12/19/2019 at 3:34 PM, tomatoboy said:

My wife’s 10-year card came a few weeks ago via USPS in our regular mailbox in a USCIS marked eletter size envelope, as regular mail. No signature. Her original card after entry also arrived via USPS in our regular mailbox, same format. No signature required. 

How long did it take to get the GC in the mail from US entry?my husband's entry was 12/27/2019, and we haven't gotten the GC in the mail yet!!

[tomatoboy 33]

7 minutes ago, MayzieMcgrew said:

How long did it take to get the GC in the mail from US entry?my husband's entry was 12/27/2019, and we haven't gotten the GC in the mail yet!!

Her original 2-year card showed up within a few weeks. It wasn’t long at all.