Help! Brown Envelope Not Surrendered at Port of Entry

[tzarrin 0]

Hello! My fiance was recently approved at the Paris Embassy for a K-1 Visa. He was not instructed during his interview that he would need to submit an envelope to CBP at his port of entry. His POE was in San Francisco with a connecting flight to Los Angeles, when he arrived at the CBP desk in San Francisco he showed his visa printed in his passport, they asked him for the envelope and as he didn't know what they were referring to, so he told them he didn't have it. Long story short they granted him entry, his passport is stamped and we have an I-94. They seized some photocopies of our original application, my question now is he has found the envelope in his luggage and I read that this was supposed to be sent to INS from CBP. Can we send the envelope ourselves? Will this affect his AOS? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Call the CBP or the USCIS on Tuesday, and ask for instructions. Hopefully, the envelope is still sealed.

To add, LAX is a POE, so maybe contact the CBP there.

Edited September 1, 2013 by The Patriot

[Darnell 8,480]

He can walk in to any CBP office and give it over, his hand to a CBP worker's hand, in person.

Doesn't have to be a POE office, can also be secondary inspection or deferred inspection.

However, must to talk with said CBP human, make sure he/she understands that the packet was not given over at the POE, and must be routed to USCIS.

Also, whilst there, make certain that the K-1 visa was noted in their system, or it'll cause a rash of pain later when applying for AOS.

[KayDeeCee 4,904]

You can find deferred inspection sites with contact info and hours of operation here > http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/contacts/deferred_inspection/

[jan22 3,190]

What status did they give him? You need to be sure that the I-94 indicates he was admitted as K-1. Otherwise, even if/when you turn in the envelope, it might cause big problems when you file for AOS.

[tzarrin 0]

Yes, he was admitted on K-1 status and also his passport was stamped that he entered on a K-1 visa. I'm just worried that if we apply for AOS they are going to realize that they never received the brown envelope and it is going to cost us significant delays. We will give USCIS a call on Tuesday and probably head over to a deferred inspection site. Thank you!!

[Darnell 8,480]

USCIS can't fix this.

Only CBP can fix this. No need to call. Just pick an office, for CBP, and go in person. Hint: POE offices rarely close...

[Darnell 8,480]

So, what resolution you gots? It's been a while, please to share?

[tzarrin 0]

We went to CBP Deferred Inspections and handed over the envelope, they said it seemed that everything was in order but they don't issue receipts. They also said that they could not confirm we would not run into any problems for his AOS, as USCIS only reviews the documents in the brown envelope once you have applied for AOS. Fingers crossed that this won't come back to bite us!