Greencard stolen overseas

[Villanelle 4,122]

This is more of a rant then a request for help although if anyone has any to offer please do.

My husband is overseas (Scandinavia) Last night he left his wallet in his dads car cause he was tired and they were going out early the next day. The next day they get up and the car is gone. Stolen. Its a safe neighborhood and things like that never happen there. Im guessing it was just some kids cause its not a very valuable car. Hes getting a police report and is working on setting up an appt at the Embassy for a travel document/boarding foil. He has the 10yr card. 

The Embassy website says to fill out the 131, pay for it and then make your appointment. 575$. Seriously. Five hundred dollars? And then another 500 dollars to file the i90 for a new card? Is this correct? 

There should be provisions for people who get robbed overseas. Its bad enough you lose money being robbed but then you have to pay hundreds of dollars to replace immigration documents. Talk about kicking you when you are down.

Well, Im off to the blood bank- they still pay for donations right? How much blood do I have to give for 575$

 

[Loren Y 2,755]

Yes, it is completely outrageous. When my fiancee gets her green card it is going in the gun safe never to come out unless really needed. You can carry a copy on your person and 99 percent of the time be fine. You kinda have to take it when you travel, but I plan to treat it like I do my passport when I travel. I land, it goes into the hotel safe, and doesn't come out until I go to the airport to leave said country. I have carried copies of my passport in so many countries I have lost count, and when asked by any type of military or law enforcement I have yet to have an issue with just having a copy on my person. Not that I draw that much attention when I travel, but I rent cars and drive commercial vehicles all the time all over the world, and there are checkpoints and other times you need to show identification, and a copy has worked for me just about everywhere except one time a money exchange wouldn't accept a copy or allow me to change currencies without my actual passport ( That they make a copy of anyway... WTH? make a copy of my copy seriously) But otherwise no issues.

 

And yes, it's not blood you want to donate, look for a Plasma Center. They pay 50-75 dollars for plasma donations, you usually don't get anything for blood. And you can only donate every 5-6 days I think, so if you only get the 50 dollars each time, and donate every 6 days, should take you about 69 days to make the 575. this is a rough estimate, math isn't my strongest subject.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

13 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

Yes, it is completely outrageous. When my fiancee gets her green card it is going in the gun safe never to come out unless really needed. You can carry a copy on your person and 99 percent of the time be fine. You kinda have to take it when you travel, but I plan to treat it like I do my passport when I travel. I land, it goes into the hotel safe, and doesn't come out until I go to the airport to leave said country. I have carried copies of my passport in so many countries I have lost count, and when asked by any type of military or law enforcement I have yet to have an issue with just having a copy on my person. Not that I draw that much attention when I travel, but I rent cars and drive commercial vehicles all the time all over the world, and there are checkpoints and other times you need to show identification, and a copy has worked for me just about everywhere except one time a money exchange wouldn't accept a copy or allow me to change currencies without my actual passport ( That they make a copy of anyway... WTH? make a copy of my copy seriously) But otherwise no issues.

 

And yes, it's not blood you want to donate, look for a Plasma Center. They pay 50-75 dollars for plasma donations, you usually don't get anything for blood. And you can only donate every 5-6 days I think, so if you only get the 50 dollars each time, and donate every 6 days, should take you about 69 days to make the 575. this is a rough estimate, math isn't my strongest subject.

You are correct about the whole plasma donation part. But you can only donate every 3-4 days and only about 8 times a month. 

 

 As a young single Marine back in the day we would go give plasma to get some beer money. Also after giving it made getting drunk alot easier.

[little immigrant 801]

I would convince your husband to become a citizen. No more dealing with renewing and replacing green cards. In the long run it's cheaper too. 

[Villanelle 4,122]

Technically you are suppose to carry your GC on you at all times- and there are a few people on here that insist that everyone should to be in accordance with the law, but in reality yeah, not many people actually carry them- and cause they are so expensive to replace you are better off keeping it secure and just having a copy.

My husband always carries his in his wallet along with his SS card and other IDs. He just likes to have it in case he needs it, I did tell him a long time ago if something happens to it- that its a lot of money to replace. But since hes never lost his wallet and no one would attempt to rob him cause of how he looks he just has been carrying it.

He also never leaves his stuff in the car. It was just an odd night where he was tired and bad luck I guess. His dad does not lock the garage, or the car- he actually leaves the keys in the car so I guess it was bound to happen. 

Im just really hoping they find the car ditched somewhere and his wallet is still wedged between the seat and console where he left it.

[Villanelle 4,122]

2 minutes ago, little immigrant said:

I would convince your husband to become a citizen. No more dealing with renewing and replacing green cards. In the long run it's cheaper too. 

He cant. Hes from one of the few countries that dont allow dual citizenship. He gets a gov pension from them and if hes not a citizen he cant get it anymore.  It stinks. He couldve been a citizen by now if not for that. 

[geowrian 22,337]

Ugh, I'm so sorry to hear about his issues.

 

Yes, a replacement for any fault not of USCIS is $575. If he had insurance that covers theft, that would likely cover this cost...I'm not too sure how common this is overseas, though (I have this coverage on my car in the US).

He should be able to get a boarding foil for the time being without issue or excessive costs...so at least he's not stranded.

[little immigrant 801]

Then that makes sense. Too bad. 

 

SSN card is definitely something you don't want to keep in your wallet though. Did he also leave his US driver's license in it? Don't forget to freeze all the cards which were in it. I hope he still has means to get around. 

 

I have two wallets. One with my credit and debit cards and one ID and another with my most used credit card and my driver's license. If I lose one I still have the other and I don't need to replace everything. 

 

If you lose your driver's license will they make you do the test again? I always wondered that so I make sure I never lose mine haha 

[Boiler 45,665]

They will not take my Blood, something to do with Mad Cow.

[CarlHamilton 252]

45 minutes ago, Damara said:

There should be provisions for people who get robbed overseas. 

 

Why?  Would that be fair to people who are robbed domestically?  I don't follow your logic.  In any case, the reason it's so expensive is because they can't issue green cards willy nilly to whoever claims they lost theirs.  It's an important document that opens the door to many benefits, so there's an expensive process behind it to ensure it's not abused.  If you're not happy with this and you are a US citizen, contact your senator or representative.  I'm sure they'll get on this right away. 

[Villanelle 4,122]

26 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Ugh, I'm so sorry to hear about his issues.

 

Yes, a replacement for any fault not of USCIS is $575. If he had insurance that covers theft, that would likely cover this cost...I'm not too sure how common this is overseas, though (I have this coverage on my car in the US).

He should be able to get a boarding foil for the time being without issue or excessive costs...so at least he's not stranded.

I understand the card replacement is costly but its 575$ for the fee for the 131 to get a boarding foil as well! You would think the boarding foil would be free or cheaper then that- or that you also get a replacement GC for that money, but no- they are separate fees it seems.

 

17 minutes ago, CarlHamilton said:

Why?  Would that be fair to people who are robbed domestically?  I don't follow your logic.  In any case, the reason it's so expensive is because they can't issue green cards willy nilly to whoever claims they lost theirs.  It's an important document that opens the door to many benefits, so there's an expensive process behind it to ensure it's not abused.  If you're not happy with this and you are a US citizen, contact your senator or representative.  I'm sure they'll get on this right away

 

. 

Again I understand replacing the GC is costly- Im talking about charging 575$ to fill out the 131 for a boarding foil. It just seems crazy if you are robbed overseas that you have to pay almost 600$ to be able to come home to the US. 

 

23 minutes ago, little immigrant said:

Then that makes sense. Too bad. 

 

SSN card is definitely something you don't want to keep in your wallet though. Did he also leave his US driver's license in it? Don't forget to freeze all the cards which were in it. I hope he still has means to get around. 

 

I have two wallets. One with my credit and debit cards and one ID and another with my most used credit card and my driver's license. If I lose one I still have the other and I don't need to replace everything. 

 

If you lose your driver's license will they make you do the test again? I always wondered that so I make sure I never lose mine haha 

Yup he had everything in it but his passport. He says his dad has some kind of insurance that is going to give him a rental car for a few weeks until they see if its found and what condition its in. 

He also mentioned maybe filing a claim for the fees to replace the GC and boarding foil cost but I dont know if something like that is covered. Hes suppose to come home next week and his dad is almost 90 so hopefully he can get everything resolved before leaving for his dad and is able to get a boarding foil and not have to delay his flight. 

He says he didnt cancel his cards but he looked and no one tried to use them (eyeroll). Apparently tomorrow he will go cancel them. (he uses overseas banks) My husband is an extremely strong willed man and we've been together a long time. I'll just tell him once (or twice) what I think the 'proper' thing to do is and he will handle it whatever way he decides. It seems hes going to attempt to go to the Embassy and tell them he doesnt have the money to pay for the boarding foil and they need to just give it to him. I dont think thats going to work but who knows? Often he does stuff like that and people for some reason just make exceptions for him and do things they arent suppose to do. But he will handle this- Im confident of that... 

 

I just had to rant about this because the overall cost is crazy. People traveling in foreign countries that are robbed have plenty of problems and 600 dollars is a lot of money for a boarding foil to get home. 

Edited September 24, 2018 by Damara

[Boiler 45,665]

Does he have Travel Insurance?

[geowrian 22,337]

3 minutes ago, Damara said:

I understand the card replacement is costly but its 575$ for the fee for the 131 to get a boarding foil as well! You would think the boarding foil would be free or cheaper then that- or that you also get a replacement GC for that money, but no- they are separate fees it seems.

Seriously??? Wow....I didn't think they charged the full fee for that as well. Dang...

[Going through 5,671]

13 hours ago, Damara said:

It seems hes going to attempt to go to the Embassy and tell them he doesnt have the money to pay for the boarding foil and they need to just give it to him. I dont think thats going to work but who knows?

I don't think that's going to work in his favour either, but who knows?  Crazier things have happened at Embassies.  

 

To have to pay the full $575 cost for the boarding foil, and then pay the full $575 i-90 fee to replace the green card on top of that is crazy, I agree.

[Unlockable 7,315]

Damara, sorry to hear about the ordeal.

Edited September 25, 2018 by NuestraUnion