Visa Office Lost Passport! Help!

[Peas]

My wife mailed her passport to Buffalo in late February. When we hadn't heard anything by April we decided to contact the Buffalo visa office. They wrote back a week later and said that they had return-mailed the passport on March 8. We haven't received it, so clearly it's lost.
We e-mailed (because you can't phone them) the Buffalo office and informed them that we had not received the passport, and could they pretty please tell us if they can track their mail, or if they would be so kind as to tell us what would happen if the passport was lost.

A week passes with no response. My wife and I are losing our minds.

Finally they respond, but with a level of absurd arrogance that I never imagined possible.

They tell my wife that she has to come to Buffalo and prove that she has done everything possible to authenticate that the passport is missing.

They offer no explanation as to how THEY lost the passport. They refuse to answer our simple and reasonable enquiries regarding locating the passport. They don't have a conversation with us, they don't try to sort things out, they just summon my wife to Buffalo like despots. The craziest part is they want Sarah to prove that the passport was lost when Buffalo won't even give us information on how THEY lost it.

Mad doesn't come close to descbring how I'm feeling.

So what can I do? THis insane summons to Buffalo can't be serious, can it? There has to be a way to settle this reasonably. I mean, they haven't even tried to have a conversation with us yet.

If anyone has any helpful advice about how to deal with an absurd visa office and a lost passport, I would greatly, greatly appreciate it.

 

[matthewc]

Welcome to dealing with Buffalo. I haven't had to, but I know others who have had ridiculous things happen. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that Buffalo lost it, and are trying to shunt the blame onto you somehow.

I'd suggest you report the passport lost and start the process of getting a replacement, and keep trying to sort it out with Buffalo. You may just have to go there, unfortunately, they're unlikely to change their mind once they've asked you to do something.

 

[YorkFactory]

I don't see anything that points to your passport having been lost by the consulate rather than in the mail. Where did they send the passport, and by what method? Do you have a tracking number for the mail or courier service?

 

[iarblue]

Like they say it may be eaier to report it lost and replace it but gettig buffalo to restamp it could be more of a problem.

 

[Peas]

See, that's the ridiculous thing. We've asked them if there's a tracking number and they refuse to reply. They've made absolutely no attempt to try and track the passport down. They just automatically blame it on us, even though they've admitted they were the last ones to actually have the passport. It's been amazing. They haven't even attempted to solve the problem, their only response has been to summon us to Buffalo. I'm disgusted.

 

[YorkFactory]

Did you provide any sort of return envelope? If not, they would have sent it out via regular mail from Buffalo (to the U.S.) or Fort Erie (to Canada) depending on where you're located, and there would be no tracking number.

 

[Peas]

We sent an addressed return envelope, just like they asked for.

I can`t understand why they would refuse to talk to us about it, to help figure out happened to the damn passport. And I certainly don`t understand how they think we have to come to Buffalo to fix their mistake.

 

[YorkFactory]

We sent an addressed return envelope, just like they asked for.

Does the Express Mail/Xpresspost tracking number on the return envelope give you any results when you put it into the USPS/Canada Post site?

 

[Swede]

I can`t understand why they would refuse to talk to us about it, to help figure out happened to the damn passport. And I certainly don`t understand how they think we have to come to Buffalo to fix their mistake.

I think they refuse to talk to you because they're embarrassed by the matter and that they want you to come to Buffalo because it's easier for them to make you jump through their hoops than the other way around. It's a rather sordid way of doing business, but as an applicant you've got precious little leverage in a bargaining situation like this...

 

[huyentdinh]

Dear Peas

It's two years from when you posted your passport situation in this forum. Now I'm almost in the same situation. I sent all my immigration documents to Canada embassy in New York City. They told me that they returned my documents in April 3rd 2012, but now I haven't received it yet. So I started to think that my passport is lost. So I really hope you can share what did happen with your passport and how Canadian guys respond for that??
You can send me an email at huyendtt21484@hotmail.com

Thanks.

 

[CharlieD10]

Dear Peas

It's two years from when you posted your passport situation in this forum. Now I'm almost in the same situation. I sent all my immigration documents to Canada embassy in New York City. They told me that they returned my documents in April 3rd 2012, but now I haven't received it yet. So I started to think that my passport is lost. So I really hope you can share what did happen with your passport and how Canadian guys respond for that??
You can send me an email at huyendtt21484 @ hotmail.com

Thanks.

Just so you know, passports are often detained by Customs to ensure they are not being sent across borders for illegal purposes.