Green card re-issuance problems

[JapanResident 86]

I apologize if I'm posting this in the wrong place, but it wasn't clear to me where else to do so.

 

My wife came to the US in August 2020 and her green card, though issued quickly, was sent to the wrong address, so we never got it. We had to fill out various forms to request that the green card be re-issued, but since the error with the original mailing wasn't our fault we requested that the $540 fee be waived and included lots of documentary evidence to support our claim. They ended up rejecting this application because they said we'd checked two boxes on the application's first page when we hadn't done so at all.

 

So in February we sent in a new application exactly like the first, complete with evidence of why the error wasn't our fault and why the $540 re-issuance fee should be waived. Today we got another rejection because we didn't include a check – but that was the whole point of our application, along with all the documentary evidence we supplied. Not a single word about our evidence and claim having been rejected. Simply that there was no $540 check included with our request for the $540 fee waiver.

 

It's beyond frustrating. My wife's temporary visa, affixed to her passport, expired at the end of December. Does anyone know if this is an issue for us? We're thinking of leaving the US in January – and not coming back to live – so I'd prefer just to ride things out. Does anyone have thoughts on this, either from personal experience or based on what you've learned about the immigration process?

 

Thank you!

[igoyougoduke 1,656]

they already rejected your request for waiver saying it was your fault. so you dont submit a new application again asking to waive again. you either contest the previous application or pay up. 

[Coco8 1,042]

I don't think it's worth risking it since her other documentation expired. Just pay. Is all this trouble really worth it?

[JapanResident 86]

Just now, Coco8 said:

I don't think it's worth risking it since her other documentation expired. Just pay. Is all this trouble really worth it?

Thanks for your reply. I just finished submitting the forms online and paying. It sucks to have to pay another $540 (on top of god knows how much we've already paid), but like you said, it's not worth risking the trouble. It amazes me how broken this whole system is.

[Coco8 1,042]

1 hour ago, JapanResident said:

Thanks for your reply. I just finished submitting the forms online and paying. It sucks to have to pay another $540 (on top of god knows how much we've already paid), but like you said, it's not worth risking the trouble. It amazes me how broken this whole system is.

Totally agree that it sucks

[Pinkrlion 2,722]

It is normal for them to reject waiving the fee when your GC has been returned due to address.  If you pay the fee, you get it back quickly.  You can contact your congressman and have them look into it, but that prolongs the issue.  

[JapanResident 86]

1 hour ago, Pinkrlion said:

It is normal for them to reject waiving the fee when your GC has been returned due to address.  If you pay the fee, you get it back quickly.  You can contact your congressman and have them look into it, but that prolongs the issue.  

Thanks for your reply. Yes, now that we've paid the fee (grudgingly!), hopefully we'll get the green card soon. We contacted our congresswoman before but she and her staff, despite their promises to help, never did, and long ago stopped responding to our requests. I'm looking forward to putting all this behind us!

[SalishSea 17,836]

27 minutes ago, JapanResident said:

Thanks for your reply. Yes, now that we've paid the fee (grudgingly!), hopefully we'll get the green card soon. We contacted our congresswoman before but she and her staff, despite their promises to help, never did, and long ago stopped responding to our requests. I'm looking forward to putting all this behind us!

Congress doesn't get involved in the minutiae of address changes or fee waiver requests.  They can make inquiries on your behalf, and that's it.  

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

18 hours ago, JapanResident said:

My wife's temporary visa, affixed to her passport, expired at the end of December.

If she arrived in august 2020 her stamped visa serves as proof of green card status till august 2021. The expiry date of the visa became irrelevant as soon as she entered on it. Please see the line at the bottom of the visa about it being a temporary i551 when endorsed. 

[JapanResident 86]

1 minute ago, SusieQQQ said:

If she arrived in august 2020 her stamped visa serves as proof of green card status till august 2021. The expiry date of the visa became irrelevant as soon as she entered on it. Please see the line at the bottom of the visa about it being a temporary i551 when endorsed. 

Thanks for that info. That's what I thought, but that only gives us three more months to get this resolved. Which is why I decided to pay the $540 fee, even though it's due to their errors that we still don't have it.

[milimelo 4,481]

Long time ago before you had to pay a fee for the green card to be issued, my green card was “lost in mail” per USCIS though they could never provide proof actual card was printed and mailed. I ended up having to go through my congressman’s immigration aide to get that green card. One time it was sent back for lack of payment, the second time I was told what to write on the envelope and then it went through (something involving do not open in the mailroom attn so and so unit). 

[JapanResident 86]

3 minutes ago, milimelo said:

Long time ago before you had to pay a fee for the green card to be issued, my green card was “lost in mail” per USCIS though they could never provide proof actual card was printed and mailed. I ended up having to go through my congressman’s immigration aide to get that green card. One time it was sent back for lack of payment, the second time I was told what to write on the envelope and then it went through (something involving do not open in the mailroom attn so and so unit). 

It sounds a lot like our situation, up until the end. Interesting that the congressional immigration aide was able to help you. Ours did nothing at all. Thanks for your feedback, and I'm glad the envelope advice ended up working out for you. (Also, how do they go from charging $0 for green card issuance to $540? That's a huge jump...)

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Progress Reports to General Immigration-Related Discussion.

[Chancy 6,241]

On 5/3/2021 at 2:26 AM, JapanResident said:

that only gives us three more months to get this resolved.

 

She can get another I-551 stamp through an appointment at the local USCIS field office.  Bring proof of filing the I-90.

 

[JapanResident 86]

8 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

She can get another I-551 stamp through an appointment at the local USCIS field office.  Bring proof of filing the I-90.

 

That's an excellent idea! We hadn't thought about the possibility of extending my wife's I-551. If they reject her green card reissue application again, we'll definitely look into that. Interestingly, our local congresswoman got in touch with us yesterday, so hopefully we'll actually get things settled relatively quickly. Thanks for your input!