How we won the green cards, lost them and got them again

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I learned that I won the coveted green card last September. The numbers that we checked in May turned out to be losing, and my husband and I no longer looked at the lottery site. But in the fall we received a letter: they say, guys, check again. It was a big game, and my number was a winning one.

In the US, we moved only after a year: the interviews were successfully held in May, and then for several months we sold our scarce belongings and prepared the ground for the move.

Lightning adaptation

September 19 I, a husband, and a 5-year-old son flew to Los Angeles and received stamps in my passport certifying that we are permanent residents of the United States. This was to be our main proof of immigration status before receiving green cards. According to the letter issued by the officers of the Border Service, the “grinks” could come in between a few weeks and 11 months.

And here we must mention one important snag, which fatally affected the fact that we did not receive a green card. To send documents across America, we still in Russia indicated the address of friends who live in San Jose (Northern California). In the first month we planned to live with them in order to receive all the documents without any problems and decide on the work.

But on the last day before the departure, it turned out that the guys cannot accept us. And we drove from Los Angeles straight to San Diego, a city where we had no one, but where we really wanted to live.

And it all happened in a magical way: a great apartment, school, work, friends were quickly found, and our adaptation was just lightning fast. And then a friend from San Jose wrote that we received green cards. Since he recently sent us the usual package Priority Mail Social Security numbers and everything came without problems, we decided to get green cards in the same way.

A friend sent our documents in regular mail. Priority Mail with insurance in 50 dollars. This was October 6, and the tracking data stated that we should receive the letter October 10.

On the ninth and tenth, we checked the mailbox several times, but it was empty. Then we went back to the USPS site to track the package. It turns out that it was delivered on October 8 (and that was Sunday), and the postman put the envelope (!) Not in the box, but simply left it at the door.

I must say that our apartments are not too luxurious - there are no such excesses (as it seemed to us a couple of weeks ago), like an iron fence and cameras around the perimeter. It turns out that it is almost impossible to track where the package has gone. And we were so confused that we began to act, without looking at common sense.

What did we do and what really had to be done

At first we thought that the postman had put the letter at the wrong door. We have three buildings in our apartments, and there are three apartments in them with number 12 (one of them is ours). We knocked on the other two, and no one, of course, discovered us there. Although the tenants were exactly at home: the TV was working, the dog was barking.

Then we went to the post office, where I showed the tracking data to the manager and said that I did not receive the letter. They told us at the post office that they could not help us, and they gave us the number of the inspector who is looking for the missing mail. It was not possible to reach a live person via this number - all the time they ran into answering machines.

The next day, from 10 to 11, I was guarding the postman on the street. When he arrived, I gave him almost an interrogation with a passion: “Who delivered the package, where it was left, why wasn’t it put in the mailbox?”. It turned out that Ben the postman did not work on Sunday: they had a legal day off on that day, and the delivery was carried out by another office. Ben advised to go to the office again and talk to the supervisor.

I went to the post office again and started pestering the not-very-friendly African-American Crystal with questions. She said that the letter was accurately brought to me, and showed photo evidence: the postman should scan the address of the house where the mail is delivered. Yes, our house was in the photo. The circle is closed. Green cards stolen!

Naturally, Crystal and the USPS were not going to answer in her face: delivered, period.

Unexpected expenses

Our new American friends, with whom we shared our misfortune, puzzled us altogether: they said that we had to report to the immigration service faster, otherwise stolen documents could be sold on the black market or used for criminal purposes, and then we will have problems with the law.

I registered for several hours on the USCIS website and filled out long forms for restoring green cards. Along the way, I learned that unforeseen expenses were coming.

You will have to pay for the restoration, regardless of whether you stole them or you yourself lost them. And not 220 dollars, like the first time, but already 455. Plus, you will have to retake the fingerprints and lay out for it 85 dollars from each adult.

The mood was worse than ever - really for the error of the mail, where no one wants to answer for anything, or for the criminal act of some passer-by who grabbed this letter, do we have to pay 1500 dollars? And the green cards in case of reissue would have to wait several months (on average from 5 to 11), and during that time we could not, for example, take a car on credit, as we wanted.

Suddenly, the husband gave a brilliant idea: what if the scattering of our neighbors? Apparently, it is not customary to open here when they knock on you without an invitation, which means that we will act differently. I wrote something like “Hello guys, please check your mail. Did you get an envelope in such and such a name? Please return, if this is the case, there were important documents. ” Slipped under the next door and waited.

The following weekend, a neighbor from the floor who lives through the apartment from us knocked on us. He was holding a sealed envelope.

“Is this yours?” asked the neighbor.

“Where did you get this?” was all I could manage to say in English.

He hesitated.

“Well, about a week ago I passed by, and he was lying here... And somehow I forgot about him,” the guy stared at the floor, quickly handed me an envelope and went to his room. I was so happy to find the “greens” that I was speechless and did not stop him. But why the neighbor took our envelope and whether he was going to give it back is a mystery. I haven’t met him again yet, and to be honest, I don’t want to.

It turns out that our tragic story about the loss of losses ended in a happy ending. Now keep instructions on what to do if your green card is gone (it was stolen, destroyed, etc.):

1. If you changed your address upon arrival in the States, indicate this in your profile on the USCIS website of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. It is better to create an account at an early stage, when you pay fees for issuing green cards before entering America.
2. If you still have to send documents, be sure to ask the sender to order delivery with confirmation of the recipient's identity. In this case, the letter will be handed personally to the addressee in the hands and under the signature.
3. If the documents delivered by mail have not reached you, then conduct an investigation in the place where you live. Perhaps they were taken by your neighbors (as in our case) or the post office again wondered. Ask the management of the complex where you live, records from video cameras, knock on doors, write notes to your neighbors - do anything (within the law, of course) to get at least some information.
4. If the quest is not successful, wait a little upset. The letter may have returned to the sender (to the address you provided before entering the United States or the immigration office). You can track this process on the USCIS website. Otherwise, complete the I-90 online form. https://www.uscis.gov/file-online/file-form-i-90-online, pay a fine of 455 dollars, fingerprint again and wait for the release of a new green card.
5. Do not carry a green card and SSN with you - just take a photo on your smartphone. So you save yourself from the risk of losing or stealing important documents.
6. If you lost your green card while outside the US, go to the police and record the fact of theft. Get the police to give you a confirmation that your application has been accepted. Contact the American consulate with him. To enter the States again, you will need to get at the consulate transportation letter or visa SB-1 (returning resident visa).

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