HELP! No I-94! No inspection by immigration officer! Never collected brown packet!

[belize 0]

Hi. I called the MIAMI airport because my husband was NEVER given the bottom portion of his I-94, that we need for the AOS/I-485....

At first, the airport denied that they never gave it to him....then I found out MORE shocking news...they never did a thorough immigration inspection of my husband and DID NOT even take his brown packet (with all his visa, medical, etc. stuff in it, given to him by the US embassy)....so my husband actually made it home to the US With his brown packet still with him and UN-OPENED and NO I-94!!!

So basically, when I realized they hadn't even taken my husband's package, it gave me extra reason to doubt they ever gave him his I-94. He's the type of person that keeps EVERYTHING and is totally organized and told me he was never given ANYthing.

How bizarre is this? but more importantly, what can we do? the airport wants ME to go out of my way and take the brown packet to the local CIS office...and then what? pay a fee to get a new I-94 at the fault of the airport?! BS!!!! this has delayed our entire AOS process, meaning we can't apply until this gets sorted, even though my husband arrived last week!!!!

[Boiler 43,363]

Sis he complete the I-94?

[belize 0]

Sis he complete the I-94?

Yes he did complete the I-94 but the immigration officer never gave him anything back. As far as the brown packet, my husband even said "The US embassy gave me this brown packet...what do i do with it?" and the immigration officer said "you don't need it, just file as quickly as possible for your adjustment of status"

Who can believe that my husband got past all that airport security and immigration stuff without them even taking or opening his brown packet?

Edited September 21, 2006 by belize

[Jahan&Veena 4]

Belize

This may or may not be a big issue, all depends how quickly you take action.

I entered the USA on Aug 26, 2006 via Atlanta, GA. My i-94 story is the same as yours, however the brown packet was taken from me by the immigration officer. I was so excited that I completely forgot to ask for my I-94, even though I saw him stamping it.

Anyway, I realized about the missing I-94 as soon as we got home. The next day, we called the Customs & Border Protection at Atlanta airport. At first, the officer who answered the call said "oh yeah i know that officer you are talking about [thank God I remembered his full name] but he's really good and very experienced, he has NEVER forgotten to give anyone's I-94 back to them!"

She completely refused to admit that what I was telling her was the truth. Then she told us to call back another day when that officer will be back on duty. So we called again the next day, this time another supervisor answered the phone and she also knew that officer but she was nice enough to atleast admit that this could have happened. She gave us a fax number and asked to send them a fax copy of my passport with the biometrics and visa page so that they **may** take the decision whether to send us the i-94 or not

We faxed them copy of passport/visa ASAP and finally got our I-94 in the mail on Sept 9, 2006, i.e. 13 days after my arrival. We started chasing the I-94 the day after my arrival and it still took nearly 2 weeks to get it. We couldnt do anything without the I-94 because it was needed to get the SSN which was needed to get the marriage license. So it was very frustrating.

Now about the brown packet...this could be serious. I would strongly recommend an InfoPass appointment so you can discuss both the i-94 and the brown packet issue directly with an immigration officer. What you also can do is call the USCIS Customer Service on 1.800.375.5283 and speak to an advisor (we did that also) who will (and should) escalate the call for you.

When the brown packet was taken from me at the airport, the officer opened it and went thru the forms...then registered me with the USCIS, he couldnt have done this without opening the brown packet. The registration involves inputting all your information on the computer and i think this is the info which must be available in the Social Security Administration's computers for them to be able to give ur fiance a SSN.

We are in NC and couldnt get the marriage license without the SSN, however, rules are different in every state and if the rules are smiliar in yours, this may delay your AOS part. Try to get this resolved over the phone by pestering CBP at Miami Airport but dont waste too many days on the phone. If you see they arent helpful, go for an InfoPass appointment. You need to take action NOW!

Please also note that there is a form I-102 to get a replacement I-94 but the fee for that is $160.00!!! Immigration officers might suspect that your fiance might have lost his original and maybe making up a story to avoid paying the fee. So keep stressing that it was NEVER given to him in the first place.

Keep us informed and good luck.

Regards,

Jahan & Christine.

[Yodrak 7]

belize,

I don't know what to do about the brown envelope. If it were me I think I'd first contact the CBP at the POE if it was within a few hours drive, or if the POE was too far away the nearest USCIS or CBP office.

As for the I-94, I would try Jahan & Christine's approach with the POE to get one. Failing that, was an entry stamp placed in the passport showing the class of entry, probably on the page facing the visa? If so, use that as evidence of status in lieu of the I-94.

Yodrak

Hi. I called the MIAMI airport because my husband was NEVER given the bottom portion of his I-94, that we need for the AOS/I-485....

At first, the airport denied that they never gave it to him....then I found out MORE shocking news...they never did a thorough immigration inspection of my husband and DID NOT even take his brown packet (with all his visa, medical, etc. stuff in it, given to him by the US embassy)....so my husband actually made it home to the US With his brown packet still with him and UN-OPENED and NO I-94!!!

So basically, when I realized they hadn't even taken my husband's package, it gave me extra reason to doubt they ever gave him his I-94. He's the type of person that keeps EVERYTHING and is totally organized and told me he was never given ANYthing.

How bizarre is this? but more importantly, what can we do? the airport wants ME to go out of my way and take the brown packet to the local CIS office...and then what? pay a fee to get a new I-94 at the fault of the airport?! BS!!!! this has delayed our entire AOS process, meaning we can't apply until this gets sorted, even though my husband arrived last week!!!!

Edited September 21, 2006 by Yodrak

[rebeccajo 14]

Definitely get in touch with CBP at the airport thru which he entered.

We had a situation with my husband's I-94. I can vouch for the fact that there is an officer in charge. I'd strongly suggest getting in touch with he or she and telling them what has happened. You might want to get a description from your husband of the officer who waved him through. I have a feeling his superior will want to know who he is.

If your situation is anything like ours, you might find the ranking officer to be very accomodating.

While this is an unusual story, I can see it happening. When we went back to the airport to resolve our issue, the ranking officer used it as a bit of a training exercise for the two officers on duty, who had heard about the K1 entry procedure, but really never 'done it' before.

Edited September 21, 2006 by rebeccajo

[Jenn! 918]

I've heard of other people driving back to the airport ASAP to turn in the brown envelope if it wasn't taken from them.

[meauxna 15]

CPB office.

Deferred Inspection.

It happens! Breathe.

[Bjumanja 0]

In Newark they also gave me back the brown envelope. We called the USCIS hotline just to get an answer we were not happy with. So we called the Cleveland airport and wanted to get transfered to immigration. There an officer told us to take the brown envelope to the airport. It is only 45 minutes away. And the problem was solved.

As to the I-94, sorry, I don't have a suggestion.

~Anja

[rebeccajo 14]

As to the I-94, sorry, I don't have a suggestion.

~Anja

We were able to go back to the Pittsburgh Airport, (had processed POE in Dublin, come stateside in Chicago, last airport Pittsburgh) and have them issue the I-94. Ranking officer was able to look at his PC and match up details of flights to stamp in hubby's passport. Whether or not he could see the K1 in the system I don't know - we caught the error early and were back at Pittsburgh only 6 days after POE.

CBP needs to fix these kinds of problems, not USCIS. They made the error. If I remember correctly, on the I-102 instructions, there are some remarks as to whom to contact depending on WHY you have no I-94.

*edited to add* I've posted in these type of threads before about how to fix the missing I-94 problem because we had the problem and felt we solved it. I can't help but idly note that we still don't have my husband's greencard because the FBI name check is not complete. The record of his entry and the lack of an I-94 being issued to him is probably irrelevant as to why the FBI can't seem to get his check done, but when one sits in this black hole, one can't help but wonder what little bureaucratic hiccup is still unresolved.

Edited September 22, 2006 by rebeccajo

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

It has happened before. Correcting the mistakes of the USCIS (or CPB) is a Recurring theme here at VJ.

[belize 0]

UPDATE:

It look an entire DAY LONG to get the airport people to ADMIT they made a mistake, even after the officer swore, under oath that he made no mistake.

In the end, he ended up admitting the mistake and the supervisor sent him from his higher position, back to training because to the airport it was a huge deal.

They are sending me a new I-94 (with my old # on it) free of charge. In addition, they are sending me a pre-paid fedex envelope for me to send the brown package to them in). They will then stamp it, process it, and send it to wherever they normally send it....

Keep in mind, i had to HUSTLE to get exactly what I wanted....i had to let them know that there was no way in H#LL i was gonna pay for a new I-94 that they had never given to my husband OR pay to mail my heavy brown package..lol....but the hustlin paid off....i basically threatened them with an "I can make this a looooot worse for the airport if you want, and contact the higher authorities to let them know this airport is not up-to-par at the oh-so-important POE".....in times of all this ultra-security, i think they caught my drift and played the PR card....

ugh....this delays my process but at least it won't overly screw it up...

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

UPDATE:

It look an entire DAY LONG to get the airport people to ADMIT they made a mistake, even after the officer swore, under oath that he made no mistake.

In the end, he ended up admitting the mistake and the supervisor sent him from his higher position, back to training because to the airport it was a huge deal.

They are sending me a new I-94 (with my old # on it) free of charge. In addition, they are sending me a pre-paid fedex envelope for me to send the brown package to them in). They will then stamp it, process it, and send it to wherever they normally send it....

Keep in mind, i had to HUSTLE to get exactly what I wanted....i had to let them know that there was no way in H#LL i was gonna pay for a new I-94 that they had never given to my husband OR pay to mail my heavy brown package..lol....but the hustlin paid off....i basically threatened them with an "I can make this a looooot worse for the airport if you want, and contact the higher authorities to let them know this airport is not up-to-par at the oh-so-important POE".....in times of all this ultra-security, i think they caught my drift and played the PR card....

ugh....this delays my process but at least it won't overly screw it up...

Thanks for getting back to us. Nice work in fixing the problem

[esperando 0]

Do you have everything ready to go as far as the whole AOS packet? It takes some time! Make your local appointment (you can do it via websit). While you wait on the appointment get everything ready to go and then hopefully just add in your 1-84 copy and numbers. It took me a couple of weeks to pull it together. Be patient and hang in there, and get your appoinment ASAP!!

Allison

[meauxna 15]

Do you have everything ready to go as far as the whole AOS packet? It takes some time! Make your local appointment (you can do it via websit). While you wait on the appointment get everything ready to go and then hopefully just add in your 1-84 copy and numbers. It took me a couple of weeks to pull it together. Be patient and hang in there, and get your appoinment ASAP!!

Allison

What appointment?