POE questions

[menina 50]

I posted about this earlier, but now have more updated information. My fiance is preparing to come here from Brasil on the K1 visa. He will most likely be flying through Mexico City and on to San Francisco. When he received his passport with the visa, he noticed that there was an error as they had listed his sex as Feminine rather than Masculine. The picture on his visa matches the picture in his passport, so clearly he is who he claims to be. We contacted the embassy regarding the error, and they said that we can either mail back his passport and the brown envelope and wait for the new visa to be printed and sent to us or we can just point out the error at the POE. While we are concerned about the POE people questioning him because of the error, we are more concerned about the passport being lost in transit. The consulate is several hours by plane from his home town, so our only option would be to use the mail. If I have him print out the email from the consulate to show at POE will that be enough to explain the error? I have the email in both English and Portuguese. Also, will he have a problem getting through Mexico with the error on his visa? He will not be leaving the airport in Mexico, and as far as I know will be staying in the same terminal with no need to go through Mexican immigration or security since his connecting flight is with the same airline company as the one he is taking from Brasil. We are concerned both about our information being lost in the mail and getting his passport back in time for him to come to the USA as we don't know how long the consulate will take to make the change. I sent them an email requesting that they email us something official saying that they are aware of the error and authorized my fiance to use the visa anyway. Of course I recognize that they have no control over what the POE people will do. Is it better to take the chance with getting the visa reissued? I will appreciate any advice!

[Otto 83]

If it were me - I would be inclined to get the error corrected while still in Brazil.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I posted about this earlier, but now have more updated information. My fiance is preparing to come here from Brasil on the K1 visa. He will most likely be flying through Mexico City and on to San Francisco. When he received his passport with the visa, he noticed that there was an error as they had listed his sex as Feminine rather than Masculine. The picture on his visa matches the picture in his passport, so clearly he is who he claims to be. We contacted the embassy regarding the error, and they said that we can either mail back his passport and the brown envelope and wait for the new visa to be printed and sent to us or we can just point out the error at the POE. While we are concerned about the POE people questioning him because of the error, we are more concerned about the passport being lost in transit. The consulate is several hours by plane from his home town, so our only option would be to use the mail. If I have him print out the email from the consulate to show at POE will that be enough to explain the error? I have the email in both English and Portuguese. Also, will he have a problem getting through Mexico with the error on his visa? He will not be leaving the airport in Mexico, and as far as I know will be staying in the same terminal with no need to go through Mexican immigration or security since his connecting flight is with the same airline company as the one he is taking from Brasil. We are concerned both about our information being lost in the mail and getting his passport back in time for him to come to the USA as we don't know how long the consulate will take to make the change. I sent them an email requesting that they email us something official saying that they are aware of the error and authorized my fiance to use the visa anyway. Of course I recognize that they have no control over what the POE people will do. Is it better to take the chance with getting the visa reissued? I will appreciate any advice!

I take it he would be capable of proving the visa is in error?

I wouldn't worry about it, were it me. It is an obvious typo. The email from the consulate would be great to have though, why not?

[TBoneTX 43,550]

You might also telephone the Customs & Border Protection (CBP) office at the POE (San Francisco airport, you say) and talk to someone there about the situation. Go to http://www.cbp.gov and find the "ports" link. When you call, be sure to get the name & title of the agent or supervisor to whom you speak. The answers that you get will direct your course of action.