Is there any point to the paper card envelope USCIS issue with Green Card now?

[arken 4,197]

3 minutes ago, fip & jim said:

Yeah right! 😝 Only cost about seven thousand dollars and counting for that privilege.

7K and counting for GC!!!!!!🤔

[Ben&Zian 4,397]

Probably with use of a lawyer. For average K-1 visa costs, including AOS generally is about $2-3k to include other costs and stuff.

[fip & jim 452]

12 minutes ago, arken said:

7K and counting for GC!!!!!!🤔

I didn't say it was for the GC. That's just the total for me up to this point. It's actually double that total as my son was 14 so we had to pay adult fees for everything for him too. I keep a spread sheet for it all and it's been $14,689 total cost from filing for the K1 ( and the K2) up until this point, including moving costs.  

6 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

Probably with use of a lawyer. For average K-1 visa costs, including AOS generally is about $2-3k to include other costs and stuff.

Didn't use a lawyer. 

Edited May 10, 2019 by fip & jim

[Carpe Vinum 2,310]

1 hour ago, TBoneTX said:

It's a little crumb of niceness (perhaps the only, ever) from USCIS to you.  Therefore, treasure and relish it.  

Yes, because said crumbs are few and far between)))

[junkmart 320]

It's RFID paper. It protects from nearby scanners that can pull your data from the smart card. Pretty common now. Usually around 32lb paper weight, so it's very thin. For reference, cardstock is around 110 lb paper weight.

[Loren Y 2,731]

It blocks RFID signals. My wife just got her EAD AP card and it come with the sleeve also. If I get a chance I will post a link to a video of me reading the card without the sleeve on it, and then in the sleeve you will see it doesn't read it. I just tried it yesterday as I was commenting on another post about the same thing. There may be a video on YouTube already, but I'll whip one up when I get a chance to. The us passport had a chip now, and so does the us passport card. I have covers for both of them that block RFID signals. Higher powered readers can pick up the card from 5-7 feet away.

[fip & jim 452]

1 hour ago, Loren Y said:

It blocks RFID signals. My wife just got her EAD AP card and it come with the sleeve also. If I get a chance I will post a link to a video of me reading the card without the sleeve on it, and then in the sleeve you will see it doesn't read it. I just tried it yesterday as I was commenting on another post about the same thing. There may be a video on YouTube already, but I'll whip one up when I get a chance to. The us passport had a chip now, and so does the us passport card. I have covers for both of them that block RFID signals. Higher powered readers can pick up the card from 5-7 feet away.

Ah, that's interesting. Thanks for the info.

 

It's quite fiddly to get out of the sleeve and put back in so I was wondering whether a different one would be better/more convenient. If you've tested it and it works then I'll stick with the "free" one they provide. ☺️

[Crazy Cat 39,213]

1 hour ago, Loren Y said:

It blocks RFID signals. My wife just got her EAD AP card and it come with the sleeve also. If I get a chance I will post a link to a video of me reading the card without the sleeve on it, and then in the sleeve you will see it doesn't read it. I just tried it yesterday as I was commenting on another post about the same thing. There may be a video on YouTube already, but I'll whip one up when I get a chance to. The us passport had a chip now, and so does the us passport card. I have covers for both of them that block RFID signals. Higher powered readers can pick up the card from 5-7 feet away.

I'd really like to see that........Either post the link here or pm me if you don't mind........

[Loren Y 2,731]

9 minutes ago, fip & jim said:

Ah, that's interesting. Thanks for the info.

 

It's quite fiddly to get out of the sleeve and put back in so I was wondering whether a different one would be better/more convenient. If you've tested it and it works then I'll stick with the "free" one they provide. ☺️

You can buy different wallets and card holders that are RFID blocking. I don't like the card holder either, the way it is designed isn't the best at all. Just left the DMV updating my wife's State ID card, and was fighting with the sleeve Everytime you try to put it back in. When I travel I have a front pocket wallet for my few cards and some cash I carry, but it blocks RFID also. You can get them starting around 10 bucks and up. Check out eBay or Amazon.

[fip & jim 452]

18 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

You can buy different wallets and card holders that are RFID blocking. I don't like the card holder either, the way it is designed isn't the best at all. Just left the DMV updating my wife's State ID card, and was fighting with the sleeve Everytime you try to put it back in. When I travel I have a front pocket wallet for my few cards and some cash I carry, but it blocks RFID also. You can get them starting around 10 bucks and up. Check out eBay or Amazon.

Yes. My daughter backpacked around Europe a few years back and she used RFID blocking sleeves for all her ID and cards. We have different cards in Europe (mostly the wireless "contactless" kind, not swipe). That's why I was suspicious about the one USCIS "give" you, it's so flimsy in comparison.

[Loren Y 2,731]

Here is a basic video I found.

 

 

 

[AstroCanada 206]

Interesting that paper can protect it.  Maybe it's a shorter range RFID chip than say my Nexus card (similar to Global Entry).  That one can be read at some distance while in my card.  The sleeve they gave me to protect it has a visible layer of shiny metal on the inside.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

I'm pretty sure they were able to read our passport cards inside our vehicle while waiting in line when we traversed a border crossing recently (they are RFID). They say to hold up the cards, but we didn't. The officer seemed surprised that were 2 more people than listed on the computer screen (one with a passport, one with a birth certificate). 

 

The passport cards also come with a sleeve, but passports don't, so maybe the technology is different?

[Loren Y 2,731]

4 hours ago, N-o-l-a said:

I'm pretty sure they were able to read our passport cards inside our vehicle while waiting in line when we traversed a border crossing recently (they are RFID). They say to hold up the cards, but we didn't. The officer seemed surprised that were 2 more people than listed on the computer screen (one with a passport, one with a birth certificate). 

 

The passport cards also come with a sleeve, but passports don't, so maybe the technology is different?

Passports also have the chip inside them as about 7-8 years ago. The passport cards and nexus, and sentri cards do also. So do TWIC cards ( But not used for border entry) I have all on these cards and passports. When I come thru the border with a car full of people, you can see the counter above the reader count off the cards it reads 1,2,3,4 etc. once all the cards or passports or sentri cards are read, then we pull to the window. If you passport has this chip symbol on it, then you have the chip also in your passport( See photo) I think just about all passports are swapped out now.

[mushroomspore 3,043]

On 5/10/2019 at 9:07 AM, Mrsjackson said:

It can’t be just paper. 

Sure seems like it. The seams of the my envelope are already coming apart a bit.

Edited May 11, 2019 by mushroomspore