Green Card Delivery Saga -- Part 1
I got my "Welcome to USA" letter along with my wife. Then CPO came. USPS online status showed "Out for Delivery" in 3 business days. When the post-woman came to deliver card package on Friday, I was waiting at the mailbox. Strangely my card envelope was missing. Wife got her card envelope. I know my mail lady for many years. I politely inquired. She replied, why would I not give something to you. I know you for so long and there is no other mail in your name. I got a little tensed, checked USPS status again, it was still showing out for delivery. So decided to wait for one more day. Saturday came and the delivery lady came at 11:30AM and she said there is no mail for you. I told her that I am waiting for an important piece of mail from the Govt. She told me that she will keep an eye and ask around the "Company". I wanted to immediately drive to USPS, but it closes at 12PM on Saturday. So, I couldn?t make it on time. I was a little impatient on Saturday and Sunday and felt something is definitely wrong by Saturday itself. We have seen this movie too many times, was the feeling I had. My immediate impression was it is lost in transit and I need to watch my identity.
Monday morning, I was at USPS at the opening time and had the both (primary and dependent) tracking information in hand. First a person at the counter helped me. He went around the post office looking for the piece of mail and finally had a tracking information printout in hand. He told me that you better talk to the main lady. I told post master, why I was there and such and such person at the counter had tried to help me today. I had already met her few years ago for a USPS / USCIS EAD card issue and I asked her if she recognizes me. She did not acknowledge. She immediately looked at the internal tracking and told me that your tracking number is sent to an invalid address. There is a typo in my street address and that address does not exist in my zip. I told her that I got USPS informed delivery notification on Saturday morning. She told me that it cannot be and asked me to show the email. Once I checked the tracking info closely, she and I realized that I got informed delivery notification for a mail already delivered previous day (my wife?s card). She went in for her part, searched around and came back and told me that she cannot give the mail to me. The mail is not to your property and it is not yours. Even though I know that you have a unique name and I know you well, I cannot help you anymore. I thanked her for helping me and the service she is doing for helping folks.
Green Card Delivery Saga -- Part 2
I came home and immediately looked at the "Welcome Notice" and it also had the address typo. However, it was delivered to me. I told myself if only they delivered the card and not the delivery notice, that would have been great. My immediate suspicion was the G-28. I looked at the G-28 sent to attorney and it was fine. I had corrected some things in G-28 sent by the attorneys and was thinking there are two possibilities: a) Attorney office messed up while assembling package and inserted only my signature page OR b) USCIS made a typo error in data entry. If it is attorney error, then someone still has to pay the $420 to USCIS. At that moment of rage, I told myself I am not going to pay if it is attorney error.
I sent an email to HR, attorneys 1 &2 and the managing partner of that law firm. Got a reply from the partner that they had checked their records for the last RFE (I-485 Supp J) and address is fine. They told me that they will invoice so much for contacting USCIS on my behalf. I asked about AR-11 and attorneys told me I should not file it as I had not moved. HR wanted me to try on my own before paying law firm. I called USCIS level 1 rep and was advised that I should do an AR-11 and wait for the mail to be returned back to the USCIS. I replied back to the attorney email chain and now HR had a reason to let the attorney?s handle it. I did not want to get involved because I was afraid that the error is on application side and not USCIS. Then you have to do a I-90, wait 2 months and so on.
Attorneys emailed back saying that they had a discussion and AR-11 is the right way to go. They did an AR-11 form and sent the confirmation. They specifically mentioned USCIS error on the AR-11. The next day the AR-11 was reviewed by USCIS and was approved. I was tracking USPS and suddenly it showed mail is in local post office. When I looked at the tracking info, I noticed that the mail came via main distribution center, then to local post office, went back to main distribution center and then it came back to local post office. It was should scheduled for delivery on that day. I was watching the entire day for mail and the delivery truck came at 5PM. It was not the regular person. It was a contractor. As usual I was standing at the post box. He took out the mail and I could see priority mail envelope with its bright red, white and black colors. It was unbelievable for me. It was the GC envelope, I smiled, thanked and came inside. I called my wife and she said it?s a lucky day. Strange that unluckiness in address mess up results in a lucky outcome. Someone had crossed my incorrect address and wrote the correct address. There was also a special note saying deliver to "THIS" address.
The "Gods must be Crazy". Life is a game and everything shall pass. Happiness and sadness are not permanent. Everything is a phase in life and time definitely fades away everything.
