Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

Disaster. I went through everything, and did my interview in London, etc, got my Visa printed in my passport and everything. This was in February.

However sometime after this, I had my brown envelope and everything at home. I live with my mum. There was a huge arguement about me moving over with my fiance, and the brown envelope was torn open, and my visa was ripped out my passport. I gathered the documents from inside the brown envelope, and kept them somewhere safe. However, my mum managed to get a hold of some parts of it, and I think she did something with them

I contacted the embassy and they said I can repay the $350 and have the documents put back in the brown envelope, so everything could still go ahead

I forgot about the brown envelope, and started planning on other things. It's now really close to when I want to move over there (August 1st), and then suddenly horror struck when I remembered I have to have the Visa reprinted in my *new* (as the old one was torn by the arguement) passport, and I have to send off the documents from the brown envelope

But, I am certain that at least one document from the envelope is missing. Which would be the one with the passport photo of my fiance on it and all his information. Also all the photos of me and my fiance have been torn up/kept somewhere by my mum, who said "I thought they could be replaced". She definitely took the document with the passport photo of my fiance, however whenever questioned about it she says she gave it back to me, and she definitely did not.

The question is, really, what can I do? Will my visa be reinstated and will I make it through the POE? Has this ever happened before? Or will I have to wait another 12 months and go through the whole process again?

Am I going insane, IS there a document in the brown envelope with my fiance's photo on it? Does anyone have a list of the documents which I could go through and tick off? To make sure it's all there?

I am absolutely panicing and so upset. I've mailed the embassy but they haven't got back in touch with me yet...

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

You've taken the step you need to take, which is emailing or notifying the embassy that you need a NEW brown envelope, and a NEW visa in your passport. They will probably give you an appointment to come back with everything you have in your possession. But keep in mind it might take some time for them to go through your documents to see if everything is there. They will let you know if anything is missing from what should be in the brown envelope. It could also take some time to get the new visa affixed to your passport. You might have to pay another fee.

I don't think it's impossible, and I don't think you need to start over from scratch, but it could just take some time for things to get straightened out again.

Rene

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

They are the only ones who can fix anything, so you are going to have to take your lead from them. I've heard of envelopes being damaged (by parents!) before, but never the visa sticker torn out of the pp scenario.

You won't have to reapply from the petition stage, but there is no telling how long it will take to sort it out. There is also no public checklist I'm aware of that you can compare your case contents with. Again, for the Embassy.

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

I suggest your mum has separation issues, which means that once this gets sorted, you need to keep both your passport and the brown envelope somewhere outside the house and away from her. She doesn't want you to go (likley for no other reason than it affects her sense of stability) and will likely try again to sabotage your travel at the first opportunity.

Ian

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

Thanks, I feel incredibly relieved by your replies

Even a minor setback would be better than an outright having to restart from scratch. I just hope that they can somehow fix it

But the problem is if one of the documents is outright gone. I'm not sure what they'll do under the circumstance. I guess it's just a waiting game now until I get a reply

@ian-mstm
Yes you are right. I am trying very hard to keep everything out of her reach, and this time she will definitely not destroy any documents. But I will have to make extra efforts...

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

My guess is that if something important is missing from the brown envelope, they will ask you for that document again.

Rene

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

If it was my (American) fiance's information with his passport photo, how will I get that back? I have my version of it in there and it has a stamp and a signature on it, dated over a year ago when my application was first processed. I don't know how I can ever get that back unless I get my fiance to redo that one page, but I don't even know if it was any particular page or if it was the same as the one I did..

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

If it was a photocopy of your USC fiance's passport page, you can just have him send you another one. It doesn't need any kind of stamp or signature.

Rene

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

No, it had a full colour passport styled photo on it, stapled on. It was hand written and looked like, maybe, something from the I-192?

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

I'm not familiar with form I-192. Whatever it is, if it's missing and the embassy needs a new one, you will have to get it from him. He can fill another one out, staple another passport photo to it, and send it to you.

Rene

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

I know you are not going to like to heard from another mom but he and you should have made copies of everything that was submitted. If you did do this then have your USC fiancee pfd you a copy of his bio sheet or the I-129F which is what he would have submitted for the first step. Anything after originates from you other than the I-134 affidavit of support. Don't worry about the photos of you both together not being available. If you have others on hand, can be different, then send those.

As per the USCIS website, this is form I-192

I-192, Application for Advance Permission to Enter as Nonimmigrant

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

Just a "war story" from the mid-1990's and you can extrapolate what you want. This was back in the day before the 1996 Act, Section 245(i) adjustment, and unlawful presence bars and short backlogs in the relative of LPR category. [And we thought it was bad back then, <s>].

Also, we were able to use those marvels of modern technology of the fax machine and overseas telephone!

To make a very long story short, the wife goes in for her immigrant visa interview in Korea. The consular officer determined that the marriage was not valid as a matter of law.

Upon finding out what had happened, we prepared a memorandum of law on how the marriage was, in fact, valid -- and would be recognized as such in both Korea and California. I followed up with a phone call to discuss the matter. The IV Chief and I had a 20 minute discussion and stated he would get the lady back in and grant the visa. However, he informed me that they had already returned the visa petition to INS and it would take two days to reconstruct the visa petition from the copies the consulate had made.

IOW, despite the fact that return of the petition to INS was the functional equivalent of shooting it into outer space or dumping in the East Sea in a weighted bag -- it turned out to be no problem.

POINT -- Department of State owns photocopiers and scanners.

Good luck to OP.

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

Do you even need a copy of the petitioner's passport page(s)? I've gathered up my forms/affidavit, etc for the embassy interview and we haven't done anything like that. Unless the OP means from the original petition forms.

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

It is needed if that is to be used as their proof of US Citizenship.

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

Huh. I can't even remember what my fiancée used when she started the petition. Back when we did the initial petition documents we didn't scan and make copies of everything like we've subsequently done (in fact I've gone the other way and make about three of everything, hah).

Like I said, my mistake - I thought the OP was talking about what they took to the interview, not from the petition stage.

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

The OP has damaged her MBE; it has ALL the case paperwork in it, including the petition phase documents. Everything.

Please help her keep this thread on that topic.

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

Can the OP go and dig about in Mums house and see if she has stashed the bits that are missing? Does she have a place in her room where she keeps important papers etc, she may well have put them away somewhere and not thrown them out in the bin. At least then the embassy can re assemble the items needed.

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

Thanks again for everyone's replies

I've been trying to phone them up to get a clear answer, as I'm wondering if there's any additional charges to get this envelope resealed

When I managed to talk to someone very quickly, they told me I would need another appointment to get my Visa reinstated, however in an email I was told I could just pay them again and it would be put back in. I don't know what to imagine now, of what course of action to take

And if the missing document is the I-129 related one, I could probably get my fiance to send me another one.. And I have other photos I could easily resend or reprint out so that should be good enough

The other huge issue I'm having is that the visa time is running out, will they be able to give me an extension considering?

Also do I want to have my brown envelope sealed at the same time I ask for my visa to be put back in my passport or do I want to send in the brown envelope first, to make sure the visa will be put back in time?

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

To make sure everything goes smoothly and it all gets done correctly, I would go IN PERSON to turn in the opened brown envelope, and to ask your questions face-to-face at the embassy. If you need an appointment to get this done, make one ASAP.

They WILL need to go through your opened brown envelope to make sure all the contents are there, and to see if anything looks like it's been altered. They WILL need to affix a new visa to your passport.

When you go to the appointment in person, make sure to mention that the visa expiration is nearing, and how they plan to handle it...will the new visa have the old expiration date, or a new one. I doubt if anyone here knows that answer...you'll have to ask them in person at your appointment.

Rene

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

Actually going back there is going to be a huge problem, I live in the North of England and really don't have the money, or time off work, to go down there and get it sorted like that. I really need it to be done by mail.. Which is why I was happy when they said I could get it done like that, but now they're saying I need an appointment and this is really throwing everything out of whack for me

In general if you miss the visa deadline (the one printed in your passport), what do you normally do?

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

After being on this forum for about 8 years now, I have seen a few cases like yours, where the Brown Envelope has been ripped or opened by mistake. They ALL had to appear in person again at the embassy to get it re-sealed. One such instance was in Russia, I believe, where the embassy was like a 2-day train ride away. They had to go back to the embassy in person to get the envelope sorted and resealed, even though it was far away and inconvenient.

Plus, you have the problem of needing an actual new visa in your new passport! They cannot do THAT by mail. They need to see that you are who you claim to be.

Start over.

Rene

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

I doubt very much that they'd reissue an immigrant class visa by mail.

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

I will show you the first email I got as a response, when I didn't know I had missing documents, and I was asking about just having the visa reinstated and the envelope sealed:

"Dear *name*,



Have any pages been torn out of your passport? If yes, you will need a new passport. If no, and the K1 visa has been torn out as you described, then you will need a new visa. You will be required to pay a new fee of $350, please complete the credit card payment form, http://photos.state.gov/libraries/un...d_pre-auth.pdf submit with your passport, opened envelope and contents to this office together with a letter explaining what happened. Please contact DX Secure and arrange a collection on 0871 5626666. Upon receipt, we will re-seal the envelope and re-issue the visa.



Regards,



IV Unit

London"

So all they need me to do is send it to them by mail? As that's what they said in this email

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

And what does the 2nd response say? The one that says you need an appointment?

Rene

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

I don't have a second response, they haven't replied yet

I have no response from them which says I need an appointment

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

But you just said "but now they're saying I need an appointment". Is "they" not the Immigrant Visa unit?

It sounds like the by-mail instructions are only for if you can answer "no" to "have any pages been torn out of your passport". Though how you could have the visa torn out without losing any pages is unclear to me.

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

You might not have it in writing, but you quoted above that someone told you on the phone that you need an appointment....

The choice is yours, really. My advice is to go in person, that's what I would do if it were me. If it's too inconvenient for you to do that, then try it by DX Secure and hope for the best.

Rene

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

They told my fiance, because he was the one who phoned this morning, that I would need an appointment. However, after talking to him, I think he gave them the impression that we were asking in general how do you get a Visa, as he didn't explain very well I already had it. But he's planning on phoning them again tomorrow

And, I did have my page not ripped out but I had the visa ripped out. Because it was a sticker, and one of the edges came over the side and that gave way to being able to tear it. That's how

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

Oh, I see - so the sticker was ripped off of the page, but all the pages are still there. Well, it sounds like you should be able to follow the instructions that they emailed to you about what to do in that situation. I'd recommend doing that instead of calling the number again. You've got detailed instructions in writing which is better than the verbal vague guess you'll get on the phone.

Re: Brown Envelope opened - Documents missing. What now?
 

None of us knew this before. You said the visa was torn out and since we all know what visas look like, I'm sure others as well as me couldn't see how the visa could come out w/out a pp page also coming out.

Well, you have your choices in front of you; there is no one clear-cut answer we can supply to you, so this is one of those calls that you are going to have to make.

It sounds like an all around bad situation to me. I'd want to be getting out ASAP.