Citizen or not, at least once in their first 20 years of life just about everybody living in a big country like the US has a basic curiosity to ask which city or state or country they were born in, if it wasn't directly told to them. Even if they have no concept of immigration.
Hi everyone,
This is about my brother. We have been living in United States for over 20 yrs. and we never knew we were not citizen, tho we never did say we were because we never had too. We all found this out on Ending of March that were weren't. My father told us, that about over 15 yrs ago, there was a burglar in our home and our Alien Cards and Passport was stolen and was never found, and for whatever reason, they never get to replace the Alien card, and right away, I filed for whatever papers I need to file for my sake.
Unfortunately 1 of my brothers who is the youngest lost his wallet at a hotel one night and lost all his ID (driving permit, social securtiy card, school ID). Well now, he is trying to get his alien card replace but he needs some sort of ID with his picture in it. He has a copy of his old passport but he has a picture of it when he was 1 yrs old, he is now 22 yrs old. He has his birth certificate but that is not enough. He went to the immigration place but they told him he needs a picture id to prove it is him on the birth certificate and the copy of passport. We don't have anymore idea how are we going to get an ID for him. He does not know his alien card number and it does not show on the copy of his passport either. What else can we do to get him an ID or what can we do so the USCIS accept his application without a current ID?
4/02/09 Filed I-90 application/Replacement Alien Card
4/06/09 I-90 Notice Date for Biometrix
4/13/09 Filed N-400
4/17/09 USCIS receipt of N-400
4/27/09 Biometrix appointment
5/14/09 I-90 Approval Notice
6/12/09 Appointment Letter for N-400 Interview
6/15/09 Alien Card production delayed
7/14/09 Alien Card Received
7/21/09 Naturalization Interview / Pass
8/08/09 Oath Ceremony Received
8/21/09 Oath Ceremony Date
Looks like your brother is out of luck. USCIS will not issue GC (& they are correct) without first validating your brother identity. It is your brother responsibility to prove his case.
How did you and your brother obtain a driver's license without a birth certificate or passport?
I find it hard to believe that in over 20 years of life none of you asked your parents where you were born.
I have to say that I also find a number of points in your story rather suspicious.
For example, how were you and your brother able to get driver's licenses in the first place, without having to show your green cards? Also, it is not believable that your brother would have carried his social security card in his wallet. Nobody, and I mean nobody, does that.
Regarding you yourself, how were you able to get an I-90 approved if, presumably, you did not have a photocopy of your old green card and did not know your A-number?
I know you have them now, but in post 16 you mentioned that this year is the first time you saw them. Which means you were somehow able to obtain driver's licenses without the birth certificates, and without passports.We all have Birth certificates as mentioned above.
Citizen or not, at least once in their first 20 years of life just about everybody living in a big country like the US has a basic curiosity to ask which city or state or country they were born in, if it wasn't directly told to them. Even if they have no concept of immigration.
Showing the green card or other evidence of immigration status is a recent trend, and I don't think all states have that rule yet. I didn't have to show any immigration-related paperwork to get my first US license in 1999 or to renew it about 5 years later. Given that they had no physical green card available, I'm just curious how they got the license without a passport or birth certificate ... what did they use as ID to get the license? Whatever else they used as ID may be helpful now.
Actually, I know of some people who do that. I've seen it in their wallet.
Does it mean if anyone. citizen or noncitizen, once lose all ID papers, he will be stranded forever? He can not even leave teh country because he can not prove where he is from. The only option for him is to starve to death?
There muist be a way out.
How or why or "is it really happened" is not I am going to comment on. For question you have posted, here is the reply.
Looks like your brother is out of luck. USCIS will not issue GC (& they are correct) without first validating your brother identity. It is your brother responsibility to prove his case.
I guess best bet in his case is local DMV or school/college he last attended. You may want to contact local senator/congressmen.
Unfortunately that is true in this country. What I have learned in last fifteen years staying in US that you are nothing but what you can prove you are. ID, documents, SS# etc. it's all about paper work.
Does it mean if anyone. citizen or noncitizen, once lose all ID papers, he will be stranded forever? He can not even leave teh country because he can not prove where he is from. The only option for him is to starve to death?
There muist be a way out.
Believe it or not, we did, I do have one, my dad came with me when I had to take my permit test, after that I took my test without my dad and took driving test and got my license. We are NOT illegal here at all....we had or I had expired lost green card, we are permanent residence here, I have an attorney that help me out with my situation about my papers cuz i know nothing about it then and I was scared, but then my attorney told me that just because i lost my greencard and expired, it does not mean my status has changed. I had to call my school for me to get a copy of my passport and thank god, they photocopy a page in my passport with A# on it and the stamped of i-1551 or something like that, those were copied again by my attorney and shipped it with my i-90 application. I got my biometrix for 1-90 and because i had my fingerprints for i-90, they did not ask me to do it again for N400.
I know you have them now, but in post 16 you mentioned that this year is the first time you saw them. Which means you were somehow able to obtain driver's licenses without the birth certificates, and without passports.
What is your brother's country's consulate* saying about producing a replacement passport for your brother? If they will provide a passport, that should make the other steps easier.
*assuming they have a consulate in the US
Unfortunately that is true in this country. What I have learned in last fifteen years staying in US that you are nothing but what you can prove you are. ID, documents, SS# etc. it's all about paper work. You may even get a GC for a dog if you can submit required paper work and prove that dog is eligible.
In OP brother case, if possible, I would suggest try to get ID from school/college where your brother got his education. If he know his past professor(s)/teachers, they might be able to help him out in this ID trap.
So even after naturalization, we can run into that nightmare if we
lose every paper we have? Maybe even placing doc into a bank
does not help if th ebank also need you to rpovide some ID papers
for your to access the security box.
How many people surviced this kind of thing after Katrina?
Was it before 9/11 when you got your driver's license?
I am pretty sure that now in every single state you have to produce a proof of legal status in the U.S. when you apply for a driver's license. As you say you had a "lost an expired green card" which is in this day and age would not have gotten you a driver's license, even if your dad came with you. The DMV people would have required an actual document proving either U.S. citizenship or a legal status in the U.S., and a claim that you had such a document but lost it would not have been sufficient.
Regarding your brother, does he still have his old passport with I-551 and an A-number stamped there? Does he know his A-number?
Does he have copies of any of the lost documents, like school id, social security card, green card, driver's license? If not then it will be extraordinarily difficult if not impossible for him to regain proper documentation. I would say that he needs to talk both to a civil lawyer and an immigration lawyer right away. Perhaps there exists some sort of a judicial process for certifying one's identity (through testimony of witnesses etc) that might be used here...
Going back to his school is definitely one of the step he will do, its 6:25 am in hawaii now, but he will go. It should show in his transcript who were his teachers back then. Thanks
I thought you could apply for your country's passport with a birth certificate only...am I wrong? He is NOT a US citizen so he can re-new his old passport and go from there. I think going to the embassy and explaining the issue might help you a little.