costa rica What did your visa packet look like?

[minaxo 0]

My fiancé is in Costa Rica. He had his K1 visa interview last week and picked his packet up this morning! We've read everywhere that you must not open or tamper with the packet in any way, so we are a bit concerned about how the packet looks. He says when he went in, the lady at the post office asked him if he was there to pick up a visa. He confirmed and gave his ID, and she proceeded to rip the packet open to take his passport out and what was left was the manila envelope with the missing corner but no other protection.. this seems odd to me as the manila envelope has a giant hole in it by design. He asked her about this and she basically just said 'that's how they send it' and gave no other information. Did anyone else's packet look like this? Most examples I find are from the Philippines and they look nothing like this, and there is very little information for Costa Rica specifically.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[JFH 12,189]

My packet wasn’t from Costa Rica but it was a thin paper envelope that barely survived the flight. Many embassies do use envelopes with a cut corner to enable the envelopes to be checked by airport security personnel for hidden weapons, contraband, etc. I put my packet inside a large plastic wallet because the envelope was so thin.

[VNN 147]

My parents-in-laws' immigration visa envelops look like yours with a cut corner but (1) in cheaper type of paper (2) a normal A-4 paper with some basic information (name, address, visa type, class, etc.) stapled to the envelop (it was fell out and they freaked out  ).

Edited May 14, 2019 by VNN

[Lil bear 3,831]

It is not uncommon for one corner of the sealed envelope to have been cut. There have been lots of reports of this.  Seems like it’s standard in some places .. it’s not as if you could get anything out of that cut area. Ours wasn’t precut, but I still placed it in another protective envelope anyway. The outer envelope was meant to be opened do you could get to your passport and the information sheet about paying the GC fee etc . It’s the inner envelope that needs to remain as it is. 

[Scandi 3,970]

That's what my visa package looked like as well. Completely normal. Hole big enough to see that it only contains documents, small enough to stop someone from tampering with the content.

[Greenbaum 12,258]

That envelope is OK. Just wrap it in something like a plastic grocery bag and pack in your carry on luggage. The slit in the corner is for immigration at your POE will have easy access to the documents contained within the envelope. They can slid a letter opener into the slot and open the envelope with ease and it will not slow them down.

 

Your fine.