Passport with B1 visa and I-94 stolen

[Saurabh Sinha]

Hi,

My passport with I-94 was stolen on the night of Dec 31, 2012. I'd be very thankful if someone could show me the way. I came to the US on Dec 1st week, 2012 on B1 visa for business purposes and my return ticket is on Jan 13, 2013.
I got pickpocketed during new year celebrations. I have lodged a police complaint and want to know the procedure to go back to the country. I could apply for a new passport but that would take 2-5 weeks. Also, they require a residential address proof, which is a problem for me as I live in a hotel and have no form of identification except my Indian passport.
Office of Consulate General of India, Houston was not reachable and their voicemail is full. Could someone please let me know what are my options? I heard of something called an emergency travel document. Also, do I have to get a new I-94? What is the procedure for it ?

Regards,
Saurabh

[peace999]

1.Contact USCIS at 1-800-375-5283 and apply for a replacement Form I-94 by filing a Form I-102. You can download the Form I-102 from www.uscis.gov.

2. Report your lost visa to the US embassy/consulate which gave you the visa by email. Email is on US embassy website.

3. Report lost passport to the Indian High commission. Email them [email protected]
and for a new passport contact vfs call centre, whose number is **-202-800-7412

[kabkaba]

Contact the nearest Indian Consulate/Embassy. They can provide emergency travel documents if passport is possible.

[Saurabh Sinha]

Thank you very much for your help!

I have got the procedure going for filling up the Form I-102.

I have also reported the stolen Visa incident by email and have attached a copy of my passport and police report. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of my Visa. So, I have reported my Visa type, DS-160 confirmation (the one that is received for a Visa appointment) and VFS reference number, if it helps at all.
I have requested them for providing me a copy of the visa or my Visa identification number, if it is possible.

I will apply for a new passport once I receive a reply from them. I'm just worried that I may not get a new passport by my return, which is January 13. Consulate told me that there is an option to fast-track this but I'll have to arrive at the passport office in person. Houston is 1200 miles from Denver and I don't have an ID by which I could travel. I'm very anxious.

Regards,
Saurabh

1.Contact USCIS at 1-800-375-5283 and apply for a replacement Form I-94 by filing a Form I-102. You can download the Form I-102 from www.uscis.gov.

2. Report your lost visa to the US embassy/consulate which gave you the visa by email. Email is on US embassy website.

3. Report lost passport to the Indian High commission. Email them [email protected]
and for a new passport contact vfs call centre, whose number is **-202-800-7412

[kabkaba]

You don't have to wait until you hear about your lost Visa. It is important that you apply for Passport first.

You may be able to fly to Houston without an ID. Check out http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/acceptable-ids
This totally depends on how much information they have about you in their databases. Also carry other ID's that you can produce, such as credit cards, certificates, work ID etc. If you decide to give this a try, check-in online, so that you don't have to explain this to an Airline agent who may be less knowledgeable than a TSA agent. Explain your case in detail and be polite but assertive.
Check out the bus option otherwise.

Also, if you remember your I-94 expiry date and if it is longer than Jan 13, try postponing your ticket to give you some flexibility.

Whenever you do return, make sure you keep copies of your tickets and boarding passes for future reference.

[Saurabh Sinha]

Thanks for your reply.

It so happens that Indian consulate won't accept a fast-track application as I don't have a copy of my Visa and the person on phone said that "money won't be refunded. It may take up to a month and still we cannot guarantee that you'll receive the passport. Your application may be rejected as you don't have a copy of Visa.". It was extremely disheartening to hear this. I have sent the documents and I'm keeping my fingers crossed to see what they decide.

I have also attached a copy of (if it helps, at all):
1. Visa Application (DS-160) confirmation from back when I was applying for B1/B2 visa
2. VFS reference number to the VISA application
3. Application form for duplicate I-94

I'm making sure they are able to track my Visa. Honestly, I think they should keep a centralized database for such matters. I can't help but think this is highly inefficient of them.

You don't have to wait until you hear about your lost Visa. It is important that you apply for Passport first.

You may be able to fly to Houston without an ID. Check out http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/acceptable-ids
This totally depends on how much information they have about you in their databases. Also carry other ID's that you can produce, such as credit cards, certificates, work ID etc. If you decide to give this a try, check-in online, so that you don't have to explain this to an Airline agent who may be less knowledgeable than a TSA agent. Explain your case in detail and be polite but assertive.
Check out the bus option otherwise.

Also, if you remember your I-94 expiry date and if it is longer than Jan 13, try postponing your ticket to give you some flexibility.

Whenever you do return, make sure you keep copies of your tickets and boarding passes for future reference.

[kabkaba]

Don't worry, they can give you an emergency travel document if necessary. But you may need to visit in person.

Why should Indian government keep track of US Visas? They can keep track of Indians in the US, but the person has to register at the consulate for them to be able to do that.

[Saurabh Sinha]

Resolved

Hi, I got a passport from the Houston consulate today. I'm describing my experience and the process so that anyone who faces a similar situation is more informed. These are the things you need to do in order to get back to the country safe!

1. If required, dial 911 and ask for assistance.

2. Lodge a police complaint immediately describing the situation. You could lodge it online as most state police in the US have online complaint filing system.

3. Consulates have an emergency helpline in which they pick up calls within 2-3 rings. At least, the Houston consulate had one. Call them up apprising about the whole situation. They will ask you to file an application for re-issue of lost/stolen passport through VFS Global Passport services.

4. Report the loss of your visa to the American consulate through USTraveldocs India. They have the contact information on their website.

5. Go through the VFS website to fill up the relevant online form and look at the list of required documents.

6. You will require a residential address proof, which people with B1/B2 visa will not have. In that case, you'd have to get a letter from someone you know. The contents of the letter will note that the person writing it knows you and assumes responsibility of your stay. Get it notarized from a public notary.

7. One of the required documents is the copy of your Visa, which, unfortunately, I did not have. The consulate told me that it may take up to months for re-issue of passport since visa has to verified. I could not afford to stay for months. Therefore, I tried to provide all documents related to visa such as DS-160 form when I was applying for Visa, visa appointment confirmation number, VFS reference number when they were dispatching me the passport with the new stamped visa, etc. This shows that applicant is taking effort to get it tracked.

8. With your application, also write a personal letter, with an earnest tone, to consider your application and giving reasons for the loss of passport.

9. General passport application costs about $156 while fast-tracked application costs about $320. I wanted to apply for fast-tracked application but I was not allowed to since my documents were not complete, i.e., visa copy was not present.

10. My return flight was within 10 days of submission of application. If you could afford to extend your flight, you should do it. If not, ask the consulate to give you an "emergency travel document". This document could be issued within 1-3 days. Note that emergency travel document could be issued only after you follow the process of application of re-issue of passport in lieu of lost/stolen passport.

11. The consulate will ask reasons for emergency travel document. I told them that I had no kind of ID here and staying more without a passport is dangerous. Hotel reservations too require an ID. They will note your request.

12. The consulate general will consider your request and issue you the emergency travel document, which is a one way permit to enter the country. If you're lucky, the consulate general will also evaluate if it is feasible to give you a passport. In my case, I was given a passport with 1.5 years validity. I think it was due to the personal letter and follow up calls to the embassy.

13. Remember, you have to be very polite and make sure you don't annoy people with too many calls. So, I got passport within a week even though I had not applied for a fast-track and my documents were not complete.

[kabkaba]

Good to know that and also a lesson for everybody to be careful about their passports and other documents.