THEY LOST OUR FILE.....

[teachmehistory 0]

Been a bit, but had to check in and get some advice. So Matthew and I had our green card interview finally last friday. We show up at the place well early, have copies of everything you can possibly think of to document our marriage and then some in hand. We get called into the office to meet with Officer S, and he asks us a few questions about how we met, how the marriage was going, who was at our wedding, what we both do for a living, etc etc. He asked for any updated financial information to add to the file. I had my employer write a new letter of employment verification - just to be thorough - dated last week as well as my 2008 teacher contract so I hand that over to him.

Then he says, alright guys, do you want the good news or the bad news???ummmmm......seriously?? okay, I guess lets get the bad news out of the way. so he says, well, this NEVER happens, but it appears that they lost Matthew's immigration/entry packet at the airport customs office when he entered the country last January on his K-1 visa. you know...that 'mysterious' brown envelope that is delivered from the embassy that has all your immigration info, your medical exam, your sponsor's info, etc etc....yeah, they lost that one! although Officer S can tell he had it when he entered the country because someone took the official sticker off of it and put it in his file to document that he entered the country with all of the proper paperwork, they just aren't sure what happened to it from there. he said this NEVER happens and proceeded to explain how the file gets split up to the different offices for AOS and then put back together for the final interview phase and that 99.9% of the time all of that works out just fine. In fact, poor Officer S is just baffled by what could have happened to it since the USCIS office here in Seattle gets daily deliveries from the airport customs down the road and from that official sticker in Matthew's file, he knows it was here, they just don't know where it is now.

at this stage in the interview my heart is pounding waiting to hear what all this means to us. Apparently your entire life is in that mysterious brown envelope. Luckily I was so over prepared at the interview, I had copies of everything he needed to replace from it EXCEPT Matthew's medical exam. soooooo, the Officer says to us, we have a choice here. Since we are the ones who lost it, you can have us continue to look for that paperwork (although he has apparently been trying to track it down for the last 3 weeks since our file landed on his desk - not to mention it has not been found in the 7 months since we filed AOS) OR we can go have another medical exam done. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

So I say, well, can't we just call the embassy doctor in London who did the original medical and have them fax you a copy? and he says no, you have to have a new medical done here in the US because the embassy doctor in London is not an approved Civil Surgeon here in the US. I say, well, you know he passed his medical because he was granted an interview, and allowed to enter the country - isn't that good enough?? not to mention we have the I-693A form we submitted with AOS verifying all of his vaccinations sitting right there in front of us, and he again says no, we have to have the actual medical paperwork in his file. At this point I say, well I won't allow you to vaccinate him again, he got all those shots only 9 months ago, and he says that's okay, we know he has those because we have the I693A form, he just needs all the rest of it done again.

So here is the kicker....WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THE MEDICAL EXAM AGAIN!!!! #######?? Even though it is their mistake, our health insurance will not pay for an immigration exam, and Officer S thinks they are still running around $400.00 to have it done (we paid just over 250 pounds in London in January to have the first one done). I am SOOOOOO ANGRY! they admit its their mistake, they know he passed his medical the first time, they have proof of the vaccinations, yet we have to do this all over again at our expense. not to mention the other stuff that was 'lost' in that paperwork included absolutely every detail of our lives - financials, names, addresses, employers, SSN, parents info, etc etc...you guys know all of the info you had to submit to sponsor your fiance for the K-1 visa - well of that was in the file that they 'lost'. I feel violated and so angry I am barely able to contain it right now. at the very least I think they should provide us with some sort of voucher to cover the cost of a second medical exam.

Of course the longer we put this off the longer it will take to actually get the green card in our hands, so I don't think we really have a choice here. Of course 'the good news' was that we are approved for a green card - pending a new medical. In fact Officer S is so sorry about what happened he is keeping our file on his desk and having us send the new I-693 medical form directly to him at our local office so he can approve the green card the same day he receives it. at least there is that - I guess.

Sorry this is so long - and sorry for any mistakes, I just don't have the energy to read over to edit!

Does anyone have any advice here?? do I have any recourse?? He did say we have done everything right in this process and was glad I was so organized and had extra copies of everything we have ever submitted to replace what was lost. I am SO PISSED. I think I will contact my congressman, but it is that wise until this is resolved?? should we jump through the hoops first and get the green card and then raise holy hell??

Oh and the kicker....we have to have the new medical done, at our expense, in 4 weeks, or face possible deportation.....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH mad.gif

Sara

[vicmo 1]

Been a bit, but had to check in and get some advice. So Matthew and I had our green card interview finally last friday. We show up at the place well early, have copies of everything you can possibly think of to document our marriage and then some in hand. We get called into the office to meet with Officer S, and he asks us a few questions about how we met, how the marriage was going, who was at our wedding, what we both do for a living, etc etc. He asked for any updated financial information to add to the file. I had my employer write a new letter of employment verification - just to be thorough - dated last week as well as my 2008 teacher contract so I hand that over to him.

Then he says, alright guys, do you want the good news or the bad news???ummmmm......seriously?? okay, I guess lets get the bad news out of the way. so he says, well, this NEVER happens, but it appears that they lost Matthew's immigration/entry packet at the airport customs office when he entered the country last January on his K-1 visa. you know...that 'mysterious' brown envelope that is delivered from the embassy that has all your immigration info, your medical exam, your sponsor's info, etc etc....yeah, they lost that one! although Officer S can tell he had it when he entered the country because someone took the official sticker off of it and put it in his file to document that he entered the country with all of the proper paperwork, they just aren't sure what happened to it from there. he said this NEVER happens and proceeded to explain how the file gets split up to the different offices for AOS and then put back together for the final interview phase and that 99.9% of the time all of that works out just fine. In fact, poor Officer S is just baffled by what could have happened to it since the USCIS office here in Seattle gets daily deliveries from the airport customs down the road and from that official sticker in Matthew's file, he knows it was here, they just don't know where it is now.

at this stage in the interview my heart is pounding waiting to hear what all this means to us. Apparently your entire life is in that mysterious brown envelope. Luckily I was so over prepared at the interview, I had copies of everything he needed to replace from it EXCEPT Matthew's medical exam. soooooo, the Officer says to us, we have a choice here. Since we are the ones who lost it, you can have us continue to look for that paperwork (although he has apparently been trying to track it down for the last 3 weeks since our file landed on his desk - not to mention it has not been found in the 7 months since we filed AOS) OR we can go have another medical exam done. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

So I say, well, can't we just call the embassy doctor in London who did the original medical and have them fax you a copy? and he says no, you have to have a new medical done here in the US because the embassy doctor in London is not an approved Civil Surgeon here in the US. I say, well, you know he passed his medical because he was granted an interview, and allowed to enter the country - isn't that good enough?? not to mention we have the I-693A form we submitted with AOS verifying all of his vaccinations sitting right there in front of us, and he again says no, we have to have the actual medical paperwork in his file. At this point I say, well I won't allow you to vaccinate him again, he got all those shots only 9 months ago, and he says that's okay, we know he has those because we have the I693A form, he just needs all the rest of it done again.

So here is the kicker....WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THE MEDICAL EXAM AGAIN!!!! #######?? Even though it is their mistake, our health insurance will not pay for an immigration exam, and Officer S thinks they are still running around $400.00 to have it done (we paid just over 250 pounds in London in January to have the first one done). I am SOOOOOO ANGRY! they admit its their mistake, they know he passed his medical the first time, they have proof of the vaccinations, yet we have to do this all over again at our expense. not to mention the other stuff that was 'lost' in that paperwork included absolutely every detail of our lives - financials, names, addresses, employers, SSN, parents info, etc etc...you guys know all of the info you had to submit to sponsor your fiance for the K-1 visa - well of that was in the file that they 'lost'. I feel violated and so angry I am barely able to contain it right now. at the very least I think they should provide us with some sort of voucher to cover the cost of a second medical exam.

Of course the longer we put this off the longer it will take to actually get the green card in our hands, so I don't think we really have a choice here. Of course 'the good news' was that we are approved for a green card - pending a new medical. In fact Officer S is so sorry about what happened he is keeping our file on his desk and having us send the new I-693 medical form directly to him at our local office so he can approve the green card the same day he receives it. at least there is that - I guess.

Sorry this is so long - and sorry for any mistakes, I just don't have the energy to read over to edit!

Does anyone have any advice here?? do I have any recourse?? He did say we have done everything right in this process and was glad I was so organized and had extra copies of everything we have ever submitted to replace what was lost. I am SO PISSED. I think I will contact my congressman, but it is that wise until this is resolved?? should we jump through the hoops first and get the green card and then raise holy hell??

Oh and the kicker....we have to have the new medical done, at our expense, in 4 weeks, or face possible deportation.....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH mad.gif

Sara

Sorry about your loss....

Shop around for places that do the immigration exams. At least here in Chicago it was not over $100 I believe, and my insurance covered it (Cigna Open Access)

This is where I did my medical:

http://www.michiganavenueimmediatecare.org...n_medicals.html

Edited October 27, 2008 by vicmo

[LaL 418]

There have been a few reports of the brown envelope lost and USCIS issued an RFE on it. There was no way around it if they wanted to proceed with processing for AOS - it had to be done - otherwise face denial. Unfortunate, but is just one of those things you may just have to chalk up to doing.

I can say - if this is the worst instance in your visa journey - you have been/are pretty lucky

[cdn_in_wa 1]

There have been a few reports of the brown envelope lost and USCIS issued an RFE on it. There was no way around it if they wanted to proceed with processing for AOS - it had to be done - otherwise face denial. Unfortunate, but is just one of those things you may just have to chalk up to doing.

I can say - if this is the worst instance in your visa journey - you have been/are pretty lucky

Definitely shop around.

I think I paid $200 for my medical. You'll probably have to shop around for date availability too if they've only given you 4 weeks.

Seems to me I couldn't get an appointment for nearly 4 weeks from any of the several offices I tried before I found the one in Burlington, WA.

I was living way north of Bellingham, but it was the closest one I could find at a reasonable price and with a convenient date.

Take your record of vaccinations with you, so they don't try and make you do them all again.

Sorry this happened to you.

[turbo 0]

I'm sorry to hear that.

I would recommend to shop around too.

My medical was $100 +$75 for a shot +$75 for x ray.

The doctor told me that they don't take insurance, but i could get the bill and send the bill to my insurance company directly.

I was too lazy to do that, so i don't know if that works though.

I don't think you wanna know my doctor cause i live in California, but hope you find a good one.

wish you the best

[meez 0]

This is crazy! I hope everything works out well for you!

[^KK^ 3]

Sorry to hear this.

[Carpe-Diem 0]

We are in the same situation as you guys, having to retake the medical exam.

My wife just got a RFE to send the I-693 form again, even though we had sent it in with our original submission. In fact she had used the services of Dr L.E. Arnold for the medical. Since K1 visa holders are exempt from the medical exam while filing for AOS, Dr Arnold simply transferred the vaccination record from the DS-3025 to the I-693 and sent us the sealed envelope, along with a copy for my records.

What is really strange is that the RFE is asking for a full medical exam, with all parts of Form I-693 completed. Also our RFE comes after getting transferred to CSC, which must be quite uncommon.

Since there is no point in putting ourselves at risk by fighting this RFE, we have decided to simply redo the medical and send it in.

This is what our RFE letter says:

A review of the record indicates that you entered the United States pursuant to a valid K1 nonimmigrant visa. All USCIS records relating to you have been reviewed. The U.S. Department of State medical forms DS-2053, DS-3024, DS-3025 and DS-3026 are not in any of those records.

I-693 MEDICAL EXAMINATION: You have submitted Medical Form I-693. However, Part 2 is blank and missing pages 2 and 4. Please submit a properly completed and signed Form I-693. The medical examination must be conducted by a physician who is on the list of Civil Surgeons approved by the USCIS.

[Eric-Pris 1,606]

This is what our RFE letter says:

A review of the record indicates that you entered the United States pursuant to a valid K1 nonimmigrant visa. All USCIS records relating to you have been reviewed. The U.S. Department of State medical forms DS-2053, DS-3024, DS-3025 and DS-3026 are not in any of those records.

I-693 MEDICAL EXAMINATION: You have submitted Medical Form I-693. However, Part 2 is blank and missing pages 2 and 4. Please submit a properly completed and signed Form I-693. The medical examination must be conducted by a physician who is on the list of Civil Surgeons approved by the USCIS.

It looks like they lost your medical exam results as well. Normally, if they have your medical exam results, you just need to submit part 1, 2, and 5. Pages 2 and 4 don't have to be submitted.

Per I-485 instructions:

Fiancé(e)s.

If you are a K-1 fiancé(e) or K-2 dependent who had a medical examination within the past year as required for the nonimmigrant fiancé(e) visa, you only need to submit a vaccination supplement, not the entire medical report. You may include the vaccination supplement with your adjustment-of-status application.

It sucks that they are so disorganized and lose things so often. This is partially due to the fact that there is no accountability in government offices and they do not care at all about their work. Our tax dollars at work. Best of luck.

Edited October 27, 2008 by kid brooklyn

[Old Dominion 26]

Been a bit, but had to check in and get some advice. So Matthew and I had our green card interview finally last friday. We show up at the place well early, have copies of everything you can possibly think of to document our marriage and then some in hand. We get called into the office to meet with Officer S, and he asks us a few questions about how we met, how the marriage was going, who was at our wedding, what we both do for a living, etc etc. He asked for any updated financial information to add to the file. I had my employer write a new letter of employment verification - just to be thorough - dated last week as well as my 2008 teacher contract so I hand that over to him.

Then he says, alright guys, do you want the good news or the bad news???ummmmm......seriously?? okay, I guess lets get the bad news out of the way. so he says, well, this NEVER happens, but it appears that they lost Matthew's immigration/entry packet at the airport customs office when he entered the country last January on his K-1 visa. you know...that 'mysterious' brown envelope that is delivered from the embassy that has all your immigration info, your medical exam, your sponsor's info, etc etc....yeah, they lost that one! although Officer S can tell he had it when he entered the country because someone took the official sticker off of it and put it in his file to document that he entered the country with all of the proper paperwork, they just aren't sure what happened to it from there. he said this NEVER happens and proceeded to explain how the file gets split up to the different offices for AOS and then put back together for the final interview phase and that 99.9% of the time all of that works out just fine. In fact, poor Officer S is just baffled by what could have happened to it since the USCIS office here in Seattle gets daily deliveries from the airport customs down the road and from that official sticker in Matthew's file, he knows it was here, they just don't know where it is now.

at this stage in the interview my heart is pounding waiting to hear what all this means to us. Apparently your entire life is in that mysterious brown envelope. Luckily I was so over prepared at the interview, I had copies of everything he needed to replace from it EXCEPT Matthew's medical exam. soooooo, the Officer says to us, we have a choice here. Since we are the ones who lost it, you can have us continue to look for that paperwork (although he has apparently been trying to track it down for the last 3 weeks since our file landed on his desk - not to mention it has not been found in the 7 months since we filed AOS) OR we can go have another medical exam done. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

So I say, well, can't we just call the embassy doctor in London who did the original medical and have them fax you a copy? and he says no, you have to have a new medical done here in the US because the embassy doctor in London is not an approved Civil Surgeon here in the US. I say, well, you know he passed his medical because he was granted an interview, and allowed to enter the country - isn't that good enough?? not to mention we have the I-693A form we submitted with AOS verifying all of his vaccinations sitting right there in front of us, and he again says no, we have to have the actual medical paperwork in his file. At this point I say, well I won't allow you to vaccinate him again, he got all those shots only 9 months ago, and he says that's okay, we know he has those because we have the I693A form, he just needs all the rest of it done again.

So here is the kicker....WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THE MEDICAL EXAM AGAIN!!!! #######?? Even though it is their mistake, our health insurance will not pay for an immigration exam, and Officer S thinks they are still running around $400.00 to have it done (we paid just over 250 pounds in London in January to have the first one done). I am SOOOOOO ANGRY! they admit its their mistake, they know he passed his medical the first time, they have proof of the vaccinations, yet we have to do this all over again at our expense. not to mention the other stuff that was 'lost' in that paperwork included absolutely every detail of our lives - financials, names, addresses, employers, SSN, parents info, etc etc...you guys know all of the info you had to submit to sponsor your fiance for the K-1 visa - well of that was in the file that they 'lost'. I feel violated and so angry I am barely able to contain it right now. at the very least I think they should provide us with some sort of voucher to cover the cost of a second medical exam.

Of course the longer we put this off the longer it will take to actually get the green card in our hands, so I don't think we really have a choice here. Of course 'the good news' was that we are approved for a green card - pending a new medical. In fact Officer S is so sorry about what happened he is keeping our file on his desk and having us send the new I-693 medical form directly to him at our local office so he can approve the green card the same day he receives it. at least there is that - I guess.

Sorry this is so long - and sorry for any mistakes, I just don't have the energy to read over to edit!

Does anyone have any advice here?? do I have any recourse?? He did say we have done everything right in this process and was glad I was so organized and had extra copies of everything we have ever submitted to replace what was lost. I am SO PISSED. I think I will contact my congressman, but it is that wise until this is resolved?? should we jump through the hoops first and get the green card and then raise holy hell??

Oh and the kicker....we have to have the new medical done, at our expense, in 4 weeks, or face possible deportation.....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH mad.gif

Sara

I'd say pay what is necessary to get the exam to the Officer ASAP. Then, after the GC is issued, complain to whomever you want. Perhaps medical insurance will reimburse for the cost, but the doctor won't submit the claim for you. Welcome to a government badly in need of change!!!

[Lili 3]

Sorry to hear about that! About a year ago, it was really common for USCIS to lose I-693. A lot of people had to get it redone...

There is a great CS in Lynnwood, on 196th. I loved him! He was as cool as a cucumber.

[rejane 1]

i had to get my medical redone because my doc in the UK forgot to put that I had chicken pox when i was a kid.... my husband and i were not bery happy about it and the cost of it.

Well maybe you should call the us immigration because that is there fault they should do something about it.

good luck.

Rejane

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

It costs 100 dlls

not 400,

Shop around, there is a list of civil surgeons @ USCIS website

Edited October 28, 2008 by GueraYTavo

[Eric-Pris 1,606]

It costs 100 dlls

not 400,

Shop around, there is a list of civil surgeons @ USCIS website

Just because your doctor charges that, doesn't mean they all do.

Edited October 28, 2008 by kid brooklyn

[teachmehistory 0]

Thanks for all the replies - we are obviously going to suck it up and redo the exam. We have come this far and not going to let this get in the way. I am just so pissed. I spent an hour calling around to diff CS offices and the prices differed from around $200.00 all the way to $400 +. Which I think is another bad USCIS joke - there should be a standard fee. anyway, found one for just over $200.00 and scheduled the appointment.

I do want to add that because they lost his whole MBE - that I was super glad we had copies of everything and had brought them to the interview even though they werent on the check list letter for the appointment. I had copies of everything he needed to replace the lost file except the medical. so I would encourage anyone with an upcoming interview to over prepare and take a copy of everything they have ever submitted to USCIS from the beginning - just in case!