I received a note fro my contact at the Buffalo office - who is the most customer-centric person I have ever encountered in government. He says that they are almost all caught up of G884 requests with only a dozen or so left.
He asked mt post this info:
If a family has brought an adopted child into the U.S. since January 1, 2004 and the child had an IR-3 VISA and it has been more than 45 days since the child arrived into the U.S., the family should have already received the child’s Certificate of Citizenship.
The Buffalo, NY office handles the G-884 requests for the adopted children who entered the U.S. since January 1, 2004 on an IR-3 VISA.
The Buffalo, NY office can also direct you to the office that may have your child’s file
If the family filed a G-884 form with the Buffalo, NY office to obtain documents from the child's file we attempt to send out acknowledgement letters within a week of receiving the request. If the family has not received at least the acknowledgement letter, they should contact Child-Citizenship-Act @dhs.gov or call 716-551-4741 ext 6130 to inquire.
Posted by Kevin at June 18, 2008 03:01 PMI contacted the Buffalo office after finding the e-mail address on here. I had some quick questions before filing the G-884. I got an immediate response from someone there. Then I got busy with school and didn't get my request sent in. A couple weeks later I got a follow up e-mail from the same person asking if we were still filing the G-884 as it hadn't been received. I did get it sent in shortly afterwards and got an e-mail when it arrived. I had both of my kids' information two weeks later. I was blown away by the quick response and the helpful personnel!
Reba
This is true! I sent my request in for the original documents to be returned around the beginning of June, around the 5th. I got a letter of acknowledgement back from them dated June 11th (with a note saying they received it June 9th)! And a quote of "it may take up to 120 days to process your request". A HUGE inprovement over the year or so that some people have said it took them. Our daughter came home Feb, 2007. I am so thrilled that the contact info was posted here. I hadn't really *thought* about filing the G884 but I am so glad I did now! Can't wait to get that "golden ticket" back!
Posted by: Debra at June 18, 2008 06:53 PMWhat if your child came home on the other visa I-4 (the one you get if you don't visit)?
Do you send it to the Buffalo office too?
We brought our child home with an IR4 visa in 2002. Our agency never told our family or other families about the G884. We left detailed voice mail at the Buffalo office and sent an email to the Buffalo office over a month ago and we never got any response. I am very disappointed that they didn't bother to tell us where we should file our request. It took congressional intervention to get our child's certificate of citizenship. So I shouldn't be surprised by this. It really seems like the USCIS makes everything so much harder for children who came in on an IR4 Visa. Very disappointed. I will call my congressman soon about this.
Posted by: we received no response at June 18, 2008 09:13 PMWe came home on an IR4 Visa and filed the G844, got it fast with no issues. (of course this was AFTER we set it again with the new contact information Kevin had posted a while back). We just filed for citizenship, and got a reciept for the check we sent with the application. No news since then. It's nice to know that they are catching up on things!
Posted by: kathy at June 19, 2008 01:09 PMHi,
We came home on an IR4 in 2004. I seen the post to send the G884 to Buffalo. When I checked on Legal-Eaze it said to send ours to the Philly office. Should we have sent it to the Buffalo office anyway?? Should I resend to the Buffalo office??
Thanks
I have a general question about the G884 Form. The signature line states that it must be signed/certified before a USCIS Official. How, exactly, do i do that if filing by mail?
thanks!
Posted by: Mitchell Myers at June 23, 2008 10:31 AMThis is so interesting. Thanks for the help. I adopted my girls from China & I'm in the middle of the passport etc maze. We came into the country at LAX (years ago) & I'm trying to figure out how to get my doc's back. Do you know if any request can go to Buffalo or only if that's where you live.
Posted by: Jean Baxter at June 28, 2008 11:14 AMCould someone let me know the email, phone, and mailing address for the Buffalo office?
Also, do you have to have your COC before you file the G884?
Thanks
Posted by: Shelly at July 3, 2008 01:30 PMWe just received our daughter's original documents after submitting the G-884 only 10 days ago!!! I am shocked the documents came so quickly as I've heard it could take months and months. We brought Gabriela home in October 2007 so I'm not sure if that made a difference in the quick turnaround or not.
Posted by: Linda at August 3, 2008 09:47 PM