Greencard lost in mail- attempted theft by USPS

[Tccrump 1]

********* Attempted Green Card theft by USPS workers*****
We made the mistake of not calling to get the tracking number of the greencard within 2 weeks*********** After 30 days we called USCIS and got the tracking info. It showed the card had been scanned in to our local Post Office 3 weeks prior but no scan "out for delivery". We immediately went to our local usps who gave us a printout showing the tracking info and sent us to a pickup location. The manager at the pickup location took the sheet and said it was an internal document and we shouldn't have it. They had no idea where the mail was. He couldn't believe USCIS would send out such an important document without a "signature required" and why "it took me so long to look for it". Like them losing the card was my fault. I immediately assumed a worker stole the card. They would not provide me with a letter stating the lost it. According to USCIS that was the only way I could avoid paying again, but it would still be Up to 8 months until a new card would be issued. We opened up a internal mail theft complaint with the inspector general of the post office and the police. I received a call a week later from my local post office manager (different manager). She was in the process of telling me that she couldn't locate the mail when she asked me about The whole story again. When I mentioned my wife's name she said "hold on a minute". She returned to the call 5 mins later stating I wouldn't believe what just happened. She had the card in her lost and found. It was found on the floor of her office just a day ago. It was out of the envelope just laying there when she arrived the day before. We were very lucky to get it back but there is no way this was just a simple mistake by USPS.

[MaleAlpha 314]

16 minutes ago, Tccrump said:

********* Attempted Green Card theft by USPS workers*****
We made the mistake of not calling to get the tracking number of the greencard within 2 weeks*********** After 30 days we called USCIS and got the tracking info. It showed the card had been scanned in to our local Post Office 3 weeks prior but no scan "out for delivery". We immediately went to our local usps who gave us a printout showing the tracking info and sent us to a pickup location. The manager at the pickup location took the sheet and said it was an internal document and we shouldn't have it. They had no idea where the mail was. He couldn't believe USCIS would send out such an important document without a "signature required" and why "it took me so long to look for it". Like them losing the card was my fault. I immediately assumed a worker stole the card. They would not provide me with a letter stating the lost it. According to USCIS that was the only way I could avoid paying again, but it would still be Up to 8 months until a new card would be issued. We opened up a internal mail theft complaint with the inspector general of the post office and the police. I received a call a week later from my local post office manager (different manager). She was in the process of telling me that she couldn't locate the mail when she asked me about The whole story again. When I mentioned my wife's name she said "hold on a minute". She returned to the call 5 mins later stating I wouldn't believe what just happened. She had the card in her lost and found. It was found on the floor of her office just a day ago. It was out of the envelope just laying there when she arrived the day before. We were very lucky to get it back but there is no way this was just a simple mistake by USPS.

It is possible USCIS may not have sealed the envelope well and perhaps the card fell out or something. My approval letter came opened and upon checking the envelope, it didn't seem USCIS had applied any glue or anything to seal it.

If someone did try to steal it though, that would be silly of them to considering the green card would be worthless to them. It has your photo, name etc. Glad you got the card and Congratulations!

[Hypnos 6,576]

Nothing of what you stated precludes the fact that this may have been a simple mistake by USPS or USCIS. 

 

Hanlon's razor:

 

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity". 

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

ours came by simple post same as SS cards, driver's licenses,credit carrds 

none of these are sent requiring a signature / think about it

as for the post office someone really needs to be reported and i would ask police to take prints off it

[Coco8 1,039]

Mmm... It is weird. If you have any concern report it to the police. They might go and ask around the USPS. 

 

What sounds fishy is that she found the card in her office and put it in the lost & found. First, a costumer is NOT going to be in her office and drop their green card. Costumers don't go behind the counter. Second, if I found a green card I'd try to find the person or send it to USCIS because that is standard procedure. Third, if the envelope did open on its own, her office's floor is the last place the green card would appear. Fourth, the green card was found the day before but the envelope was supposed to get to your house like a month earlier?

 

Anyway, I'd report it to the police. Even if the chance of someone stealing your identity is small, imagine if someone got the information out of your green card! 

Edited July 18, 2017 by Coco8

[Scandi 3,979]

Well it's good money for USCIS not to send the cards with signature. The greencard and EAD card is insured up to $100 so if it disappears they can get that kind of money out of it. There are also cases where the card actually shows as "delivered" yet the person never received it. I bet those people unfortunately have to pay to get a new one and that's about $500. So it's a win-win for USCIS considering those cards probably don't cost many cents to produce.

[Hypnos 6,576]

58 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

i would ask police to take prints off it

That isn't going to happen. 

 

52 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

I'd report it to the police.

Local or even state police don't have jurisdiction over mail theft. USPS is a federal agency, and so investigation of mail fraud/theft needs to be done by the relevant federal agency. In this case it would be the US Postal Inspection Service. 

 

51 minutes ago, Scandi said:

it's a win-win for USCIS considering those cards probably don't cost many cents to produce.

Perhaps you're unaware of the extensive security features contained in both EADs and green cards, including holograms, micro-holograms, embedded RFID chips, and laser-etched fingerprints. It certainly costs more than "a few cents" to include these. 

[Scandi 3,979]

8 minutes ago, Hypnos said:

Perhaps you're unaware of the extensive security features contained in both EADs and green cards, including holograms, micro-holograms, embedded RFID chips, and laser-etched fingerprints. It certainly costs more than "a few cents" to include these. 

Alright, a few dollars per card then. Most certainly not $100 and definitely not $500.

[Tccrump 1]

Thank you for your replies.

 

 

First of all, yes I reported it to both the police and the USPS inspector general. I wanted a police report of the lost greencard to help my case when we planned to ask USCIS to waive the fee. 

 

As far as the posters who don't believe there is value in the stolen greencard, we live in Phoenix. It is not hard to find a Hispanic woman that looks similar to the black ink photo on the greencard. 

 

The fact that the card just magically appeared on the floor, out of the envelope,  a week after I contacted the Inspector General seems extremely strange.  It would also seem unlikely for the card to make it all the way across the country in the envelope, only to fall out at its destination post office after being scanned in.   

Edited July 18, 2017 by Tccrump

[Ontarkie 13,969]

~~Moved to Off Topic, from K1 P&P - As the Op is not asking about any process~~

[milimelo 4,266]

Good that you found it! 

 

We also had a missing GC but that was back in 2006. Did the I-90 first (attempted no-fee) but USCIS rejected it for non-payment. Infopass was useless as they couldn't prove they actually made the card let alone sent it out. 

 

That is when we involved our local congressional immigration liaison and without paying got the card. I think couple years later they started sending them out with tracking info.