What To Do if Your Green Card or Work Permit Gets Lost in the Mail?
When immigrants apply for certain immigration benefits in the U.S., including permanent residency or work authorization, and if their application is approved, they expect to receive a card in the mail, such as a green card or work permit. However, often, applicants do not receive these documents at all.
Oasis’ own clients have been affected by this occurrence. In one instance, after 2 years of waiting for their work permit, one of our clients was notified by U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) that their card had been delivered. However, our client did not receive the document. After notifying USCIS of the lost card, USCIS responded by requesting additional payment to process another application in spite of their policy of waiving fees in situations where documents are not received. This is only one of many cases in which applicants are forced to deal with the consequences of a frustrating and faulty system.
What is the importance of immigration documents?
Not having access to documents that prove a person’s legal immigration status can significantly limit their opportunities and financial stability. In the case of a work permit, the document serves as verification of work authorization. If someone doesn’t have a document to prove their ability to legally work in the U.S., their employment opportunities virtually disappear until they can obtain this document. In a system where a work permit already takes 6 months on average to process, having a document lost in the mail is an additional delay that many immigrants literally can’t afford. For some, these documents also serve as their only official government ID. Not having this can impair their ability to obtain other benefits, such as a social security number or driver’s license, enrolling in school, and even traveling within the U.S.
The consequences are costly
Depending on the case type, a work permit costs at least $410 to process. There have been times when if a work permit is not received by the applicant, USCIS expects the applicant to pay additional fees to process a new application.
Although USCIS has a policy of waiving filing fees in situations where documents have been issued but not received, because of the lack of clarity around processes within USCIS as well as with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), sometimes even after contacting customer support at both of these facilities, the only solution offered is to reapply for the document.
Essentially, what this means is that USCIS expects someone to start from the beginning and pay an additional cost for a replacement document that has already been paid for. A replacement green card costs $540.
Having no answers and with no one to take responsibility for this alarming situation, clients and attorneys alike are left frustrated and with few options.
So what can be done?
Our Director of Programs, Rachel Kafele, and other expert legal advocates spoke to Noticias Telemundo to weigh in on how to avoid the loss of your official documents or to try to recover them.
The first thing to be aware of is that noncitizens in the United States should always report a change of address to the USCIS by filling out a Form AR-11 within 10 days of moving. This will hopefully help make sure that USCIS has the correct and updated address on file when mailing documents.
For those with pending immigration applications, it’s possible to check on the case status by visiting the USCIS website and get a sense of when to expect documents in the mail. Documents themselves can also be tracked once they are sent through USPS.
If the documents seem to be lost, a claim can be filed with USCIS as well as with USPS.
More guidance from USCIS on how to request a replacement document and in which cases the fees are waived, can be found here. In situations where the error is the fault of USCIS or USPS, the corresponding agency should assume the cost.
Unfortunately, when it comes to lost green cards, experts recommend to re-apply for the document even if that means paying another fee, due to the long processing times.
In any case, one can always apply for a fee waiver, and more information about how to do this can be found here.
For an article in Spanish with the full list of suggestions on steps to take when dealing with this frustrating and common situation, click on the link below.
Published November 9, 2023