Why do I still have the brown sealed envelope immigration should have?!?

[talie 0]

Okay so I’m freaking out!!! My husband got approved in March of this year and he crossed into California from Mexico in May. When we drove across they stamped his visa passport but they never asked for the brown envelope with all the information which is sealed and you cannot open. I asked the immigration officer if they needed to see this and she said no that we were fine. But this whole time I have been worrying about still having the envelope and until now I still have it and this should have gone through immigration when we crossed right? What can I do now? Is this a problem? His visa expired this month but we are now married. Can I take this back to the immigration office? I need help please. I need to file AOS soon.

Thank you,

Talie

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Okay so I’m freaking out!!! My husband got approved in March of this year and he crossed into California from Mexico in May. When we drove across they stamped his visa passport but they never asked for the brown envelope with all the information which is sealed and you cannot open. I asked the immigration officer if they needed to see this and she said no that we were fine. But this whole time I have been worrying about still having the envelope and until now I still have it and this should have gone through immigration when we crossed right? What can I do now? Is this a problem? His visa expired this month but we are now married. Can I take this back to the immigration office? I need help please. I need to file AOS soon.

Thank you,

Talie

Yes it ia a problem. They should have taken it at the POE. They made an error. Best would be to go back to the same POE. If that is terribly inconvenient, then make an infopass appointment and take it to your local USCIS office. They will need that for his AOS. MAKE SURE you get some sort of receipt for it from whoever you give it to.

[Darnell 8,478]

did he get an I-94?

It may be that the K-1 visa was never activated, so there may not be any record of his 'k-1 visa entry' into USA.

An infopass appointment should clear all of that up, but USCIS may or may not send you to a CBP 'deferred inspection' point, as well. Maybe.

Good Luck !

[talie 0]

Well I guess I will try the POE first and see what they say if not I’ll have to make an infopass appointment with the USCIS office. I cannot wait until all this is over =(

[talie 0]

No we did not get anything. She just stamped the visa passport and signed it. That was it. It was very odd but me trusting the immigration officer I only asked once and decided to trust her with her answer.

[Charina&Scott 3]

I'm glad I saw this topic.

We also still have our yellow envelope after going through the POE.

I traveled with Charina, so going through the POE, the officer processed my US passport, then processed Charina's.

I held out the visa package and asked if he needed it. He said no, so I held it thinking perhaps it would be asked for by someone else. He took her finger prints and photo. Stamped the I-94 and stapled it in her passport. He told us we had to be married within 90 days, and we had a short discussion about having the day already set, and the trouble the box with her gown created for carry on luggage.

After that we left the airport.

I figured they just wanted to see we had the envelope, and only looked at the contents if they wanted to. We figured everyone else was given their envelope back to them after going through the POE, so didn't think anything was wrong.

Fortunately we still have it unopened and sealed.

[Krikit 1,165]

If the POE you came through is inconvenient, you may want to contact the POE closest to you: US CBP - Locate a Port of Entry

[Krikit 1,165]

Just wanting to add..... since his visa expired and he wasn't properly processed, do be careful not to cross the border if you visit the original POE.

[sera77 35]

Talie,

My Australian fiance (now husband) also did not recieve an I-94 when he entered on the k-1 (at LAX). We made an info pass and that was completely useless, the woman had NO clue what to do with him and ended up calling around to other offices for advice. She then gave us a form to fill out with a fee of 3 or 4 hundred dollars and it would have delayed and complicated our aos immesurably.

Since we live in NY he ended up driving to the canadian-us border and they entered him into the system there and gave him the I-94.

Be aware of something though,

They heard his story, took his paperwork and went back to review it or look him up or something for half an hour. Then they came back out and 2 separate people ran him through his story and personal information twice and questioned him pretty closely about details. Um.. Wedding date, my name, what exactly was said and happened at LAX, why didn't he ask for the i94 from the customs person there, where we were living, information details about him that were in his passport (which they scrutinized pretty closely). They were extremely courteous and pleasant, but did not mess around and were quite to the point. Go along with him if you can, I didn't realize it would have been better if I had, and it was a workday for me. Looking back I would certainly have gone along-they probably would have been much easier on him if I had.

And absolutely do not cross over any border.

Good luck.

[Charina&Scott 3]

Did some calling for information today. Talked to USCIS first. They confirmed that I should not still have the visa packet, and was glad we have the I-94 and very glad we have not opened the envelope. They told me to call the Customs Border Patrol main number from their web site. The CBP was also glad about the I-94 and the packet was not opened, but was very surprised we were allowed out of the airport. They have refered me to the manager of the Entry Division at the closest international airport to me, where hopefully I can hand deliver the packet and get a receipt. So far I have called and left messages today but no reply. Im assuming he is out today, so will try again next week.

Very interesting turn of events, and I didn't realize anything was even wrong. Glad we found out now instead of later on.