Wife on H4. Passport Lost. Please Help

S

samusa123

New Member
Guys,
We lost a bag which contained my wifes passport which had a H4 stamped. I am really tensed. What should I do. First I should get a Indian passport and then.. Can I send her to Toronto for stamping. I need to get her passport stamped since I am going to Europe for some time.
What all documents are required to get her passport stamped in say Toronto. I just have a copy of her I 94 and do not have a copy of her passport. I have my I 797 and my H1 stamped. What all does she need to get her passport stamped. Please help guys the company lawyer wont return my calls and I could not find anyone with the same situation
 
Re:

Hi,

I was in the same situaion 2 years back.Fortunately I had a copy of my passport and original I-94.

What i did was applied for a new passport with Indian Consulate here, u may too, dependimng on your jurisdiction with a copy of my passport and the lost case.I paid $200/- i guess for the service and got a new passport issued from Texas within 3 months.
I could not get my Visa restamped in Canada, as the INS adviced me to go and get it stampes where it was originally issued. I cou;ld stay in this country without any problem, and finally got my H4 stamped again when we took a vacation to Idia. This is not a complicated issue as such,normally as long as u stay in the US.
In your case, things look a little difficult as u do not have a copy of your passport.Try to see if you can dig out the passport no or so.

Hey,u may need to contact and report your passport loss immediately to the Indian consulate.Call them and ask how to proceed.
Takje good care of your I-94.
 
Re:

Hi again,

Hope u have the passport number atleast.If not, the US immigration authority, as they would have entered your passport number and details in their systen when u landed in this counrty.

First thing, let the authorities know u have lost it .Once u apply for a new passport , the Indian consulate will send u a letter saying that they have recd your application for a new passport in lieu of lost one.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanx for the reply. but what to do to let the authoritied know. Do I have to fax a letter or something. If so where to do it. I do have the passport no.
From your reply I think its not worth going to Toronto. Should I send it to St Louis.
Thanx again. Its nice of you that you replied since you have been in similar situation. Maybe I have to leave my wife back here and go to Europe. I really hate to do this.. Guess this is the punishment I get for my negligence:(
 
First of all, you need to contact the Indian Embassy nearest you.
Depending on your location, you would need to find the embassy assigned the jurisdiction of your place. You would need to get their application form for lost passport, and follow what directIons they provide. The application form may be downloadable from their site- but make sure you get the form pertinent to your embassy, not any embassy in the US. tHE MAIN EMBASSY IS IN Washington DC. Their site is at http://www.indianembassy.org/. Info about all embassies is on that site.

We were in Atlanta when we lost the passport. When we called the embassy they also advised us to report the loss to the police. We did so, but they said the Georgia Police stopped registering such cases because they were getting too many such cases. So we got a complaint number or case number from the cop we talked to. This is important, in case they do not register such a case.


Remember that you may need to go to the embassy in person, as getting the application form thru mail is time consuming. Stamping the passport with another H4 Visa may not be possible from the US- your wife may need to get it stamped from India- that's what the INS told us. However, we were free to stay in the US in the meantime. But please do contact your local INS office about this and confirm for yourself.

Hope this helps.
 
Hi
callmejee thanx for ur replies. One last question, when you went to Canada and the officials told you that you cannot stamp the visa, were there any problems coming back to US. Because you had no stamp on your passport right. I am thinking of taking a chance of sending my wife to Canada for stamping. But am a bit reluctant because of the risk involved while she is coming back.
Thanx again.
 
Hi,

No, I never went to Canada for4 stamping my H4.I called up the INS and asked them if I could do that.They said if I go out of the country, I will need to stamp it from India as that was where it was stamped originally on the lost passport.

Not sure if the rules have changed now.Call up the INS and find out if u can do that,they ae very helpful and will give u direction .I had absolutely no problem and travelled all over this country with my passport copy and new passportapplication recepit from the Indian consulate.But never went out of US.

Make sure before u get out of this country.
 
No, I don't have the number at hand. But, sure did not work too hard to get it. Just to t the INS website,look for some contact number and follow the instructions.I remember the wait was long, but someone will attend to u eventually.

jee.
 
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