Reconstructing a lost U.S. immigrant visa packet

As discussed in a previous article, a lost immigrant visa packet — the sealed post-interview package issued by the US Embassy to successful US immigrant visa applicants — can cause delays in the production and issuance of the actual green card.

But one may ask, why is an immigrant visa packet important? How does it affect the production of a green card?

To answer these questions, one must know the difference between an immigrant visa and a green card.

An immigrant visa, a glossy, paper-like document laminated onto a passport page, is issued by the US Embassy to successful visa applicants to be used for initial entry to the US. It can be used only once.

Upon arrival, a new immigrant is processed at a US port of entry, during which the immigrant’s passport is inscribed with a one-year (I-551) admission stamp as temporary proof of the immigrant’s permanent resident status, serving as a bridge until the new immigrant receives his/her official alien registration card (green card).

A green card, on the other hand, is a stand-alone, plastic-type document containing the photo and other personal identification of the immigrant. It is usually valid for ten years and can be renewed and used multiple times for travel.

The green card is the official proof of a person’s legal permanent resident status in the US.

Before an immigrant visa can be issued, the US Embassy must review and examine all requisite documents that form the basis of a visa applicant’s immigration case, including the underlying family-based or employment-based petition, qualifying relationship documents, professional credentials, and other supporting documentation.

In other words, the sum of all parts of a person’s immigrant visa case.

After the interview, everything is compiled into a sealed envelope, which becomes the official immigrant visa packet. The packet must be transmitted to the USCIS before a green card can be produced.

But what causes the loss of a packet?

The most common culprit is the non-transmittal of the packet — either due to sheer negligence or malicious indifference — by the USCBP’s airport personnel to the designated USCIS Texas facility that manufactures the green cards.

Continuing on with the previous article’s story, a Filipina nurse immigrant lets five anxious months pass after arrival before making a telephone or online follow-up with the USCIS about her missing green card.

To make a long story short, after talking to a USCIS customer service representative over the phone, she receives an e-mailed message instructing her to go to the local USCIS office at a certain date and time for the reconstruction of her missing immigrant visa packet.

Among other things, she is asked to bring a copy of the appointment correspondence, a photo ID, and copies of everything previously submitted in support of her immigrant visa case, including the approved immigrant petition, its supporting documentation, and the NVC paperwork.

In short, copies of her entire immigration file from start to finish.

At the appointed time and place, she hands over all the required documentation — previously assembled by her employer’s attorney — to the USCIS officer on duty.

The entire appointment takes less than half an hour. A few weeks later, her green card arrives in the mail.

A simple yet unnecessary inconvenience, but totally worth her while.