Seldom does it happen.

But when it does, it creates feelings of dread and anxiety among clients.

Yes, losing an immigrant visa packet does happen on occasion, usually at a US port of entry. Unfortunately, it leads to delays and complications in the issuance of the actual “green card.”

Let’s visualize a scenario involving an immigrant from the Philippines.

After years of waiting, a Filipina nurse is finally issued an immigrant visa. The visa arrives attached to a passport, delivered via courier from the US Embassy, along with a set of documents in a sealed packet/envelope.

The package comes with explicit instructions: Don’t open the packet/envelope. Hand it over to US immigration at the port of entry. (Note: While some US consulates no longer issue immigrant visa packets but instead transmit the records directly to the USCIS via digital or electronic methods, most immigrants from the Philippines are still required to hand-carry a packet.)

Before the Filipina immigrant buys an airline ticket, she has to take care of a few things. Among other things, she must attend a pre-departure seminar and pay the immigrant fee online (required for the production of the actual green card in the US).

On the day of her departure, she wakes up feeling very excited. At the airport, she bids adieu to friends and relatives. Upon landing in America, she navigates her way through the airport maze until she sees the rigid faces of the US CBP inspectors in their dark, menacing uniforms, lined up like hungry predators inside their glass-encased booths.

Her excitement fades, replaced with anxiety. When her turn comes, she presents her nervous self (along with her passport and visa) to the CBP inspector on duty.

After a brief, perfunctory questioning at the booth, she is led to a secondary inspection office to fill out certain forms. She also hands the immigrant visa packet over to a CBP officer who tells her that the packet will be forwarded to the USCIS.

She is told that her green card will arrive within 120 days.

After her passport is inscribed with a temporary one-year admission stamp, she is ushered out of the room. Feeling anxious but jubilant, she exits the arrival area and scans the faces of the people around until she finds her pick-up person, who drives her to her temporary accommodation.

After resting for a few days, she reports to her employer/sponsor. She starts work soon thereafter.

Her social security card arrives in the mail a few weeks later.

But no green card.

After 60 days of no green card, she begins to worry. She asks around and is told to wait another two months.

Another three months pass with no green card. Getting desperate, she consults an immigration attorney, who advises her to make a telephone or online follow up with the USCIS.

She does that, and that’s when she finds out the hard truth: Her immigrant visa packet is missing, and is not in the possession of the USCIS Texas facility that manufactures the green cards.

She also learns that the missing packet needs to be reconstructed in order to begin the production of her green card.

What does she do now?

That’s the topic for next time.