Postal Service and Customs

L

LarrySpencer

Guest
A few of you have already received that message, but I'm desperately looking for help.

My wife recently moved back to the Dominican Republic because her J-1 visa expired. She cannot return the the US for two years. Before she left, her laptop was sent out to be repaired by Dell, but did not return until after she left. I sent the package through the U.S. Post Office to the Dominican Republic, speciifically Dajabon. The package left Miami on August 30 to the Dominican Republic. It has been half a month now since it's been in the Dominican Republic and she still hasn't received it. She has checked daily with the local post office, who offered to call Santo Domingo for her for 20 pesos (haha), and then the next time Quibery went to the post office and asked for the number claimed that she didn't even have it.

Anyway, here is my question: If a package hasn't arrived, what most likely is the problem? Customs? If so, what will they do. A Dominican friend nearly choked when he hear that I had sent her laptop through the mail instead of Fed Ex or UPS. Since it is her own personal property that she sent for and she is a citizen of the DR, what kind of taxes can she expect to pay - or should there be taxes at all since it is personal belongs being transferred there as part of a move?

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Larry
 

HOWMAR

Silver
Jan 28, 2004
2,624
2
0
LarrySpencer said:
A few of you have already received that message, but I'm desperately looking for help.

My wife recently moved back to the Dominican Republic because her J-1 visa expired. She cannot return the the US for two years. Before she left, her laptop was sent out to be repaired by Dell, but did not return until after she left. I sent the package through the U.S. Post Office to the Dominican Republic, speciifically Dajabon. The package left Miami on August 30 to the Dominican Republic. It has been half a month now since it's been in the Dominican Republic and she still hasn't received it. She has checked daily with the local post office, who offered to call Santo Domingo for her for 20 pesos (haha), and then the next time Quibery went to the post office and asked for the number claimed that she didn't even have it.

Anyway, here is my question: If a package hasn't arrived, what most likely is the problem? Customs? If so, what will they do. A Dominican friend nearly choked when he hear that I had sent her laptop through the mail instead of Fed Ex or UPS. Since it is her own personal property that she sent for and she is a citizen of the DR, what kind of taxes can she expect to pay - or should there be taxes at all since it is personal belongs being transferred there as part of a move?

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Larry
Do you want the good news first or the bad news. Your package may still be in a container in the port waiting to clear customs. It could sit there for months if nobody is there to expedite it. If that is the cas, you may still get yur computer. Or, it may have cleared customs and been forwarded to the post-office. If that is the case anyone along the way, clerk, trucker, etc., may have pilfered it. Hope it was insured.
 
L

LarrySpencer

Guest
Thanks...all of you are so encouraging! Should I go and hang myself now or later! So.....if it just happens to still be at the customs office, will they hold it for her to pick up rather than releasing it to the postal service...since the postal service just seems to compound the problem?

windeguy said:
A few months ago in Sosua when the woman opened a package she was expecting that was supposed to contain a cell phone. The cell phone had been removed and a box of matches inserted in its place.

Good luck on the computer...I expect some postal employee has either has it or will have it .
 

ricktoronto

Grande Pollo en Boca Chica
Jan 9, 2002
4,837
0
0
It's gone. Even a letter can't get there , the vultures would have been circling around the package that might have been obvious from its weight it had something of value in it.

FedEx and DHL and even then the customs hassles make that difficult.
 

POP Bad Boy

Bronze
Jun 27, 2004
984
30
0
I have a question...............

...............not really related to your question but i'm curious, If your wife WAS in the US, why didn't you file a change of status I-485 and an I-130 petition for her while she was there rather than having her back in the DR where she can't go back for 2 years???? Did you try to obtain the "waiver" of the 2 year home country requirement? I figured I would ask this question just since there are always many people interested in immigration on this site and I haven't seen too many posts regarding the J-1 visa. As far as the computer goes, kiss that goodbye. :tired:
 
Last edited:

ElPuma

New member
Jun 28, 2005
57
0
0
use always services like EPS or Business Mail, more expensive but you know after a few days you will receive the parcel.
 
L

LarrySpencer

Guest
J-1 Visa stuff

Ok....here it goes...

My wife was here on a scholarship program provided through USAID, a government agency. Students are allowed into the US for the purpose of studying and are expected to return home for two years to better their countries. (Just a little background).

Specifically, the USAID program, is completely paid for by the US, by taxpayer dollars, as a means of support to the country, not the individual. So, although the individual receives a degree, it is really the individual country's degree because that is one more person in their country (specifically DR in this case) who has specialized training. Because of this, it is very difficult to obtain the waiver. Should I have filed the paperwork while she was here, there is no exemption for her and no continuance of the original visa under this progam, and I/she would be required to pay back the full amount of the scholarship. She also didn't want me to apply because the program strictly forbid marrying while here and she didn't want to be sent home before receiving her degrees, as several were for lessor infractions.

The J-1 visa waiver is difficult to have approved. First of all, it goes to a completely different office than the residence visa form - which makes for a unique challenge. While the residence visa is off somewhere being approved, the waiver may be in the other office being denied. What does this mean? Well, basically it means that she can live here, but she cannot legally get into the country. Strange, isn't it? That's what I thought too. So the residence visa can be approved and then she will have to wait until July 25, 2007 to return because she doesn't have the visa - and it's much harder to sneak her in through the bedroom window these days! There are ways to get the waiver, however. She can be a doctor...which she isn't, and be approved fairly easily if she will continue in the medical field here. A percentage of the 20 or so waivers allowed per state per year must be set aside for this purpose. We could have children together (living here), but we don't. There could be an "extreme hardship", such as I am on a ventilator and need her constant care to live, but I am not. Therefore, we find the best money a lawyer can buy - no, that wasn't a typo - and see what happens. Maybe he can turn me into an invalid who can only be miraculously healed by her kiss...who knows!



POP Bad Boy said:
...............not really related to your question but i'm curious, If your wife WAS in the US, why didn't you file a change of status I-485 and an I-130 petition for her while she was there rather than having her back in the DR where she can't go back for 2 years???? Did you try to obtain the "waiver" of the 2 year home country requirement? I figured I would ask this question just since there are always many people interested in immigration on this site and I haven't seen too many posts regarding the J-1 visa. As far as the computer goes, kiss that goodbye. :tired:
 
L

LarrySpencer

Guest
Oh yeah, and I almost forgot...she can get a letter from the dominican government waiving their agreement with the United States...and if they want to continue receiving the funds, they better not...
 
L

LarrySpencer

Guest
J-1 Visa

Quite simply, it is a student visa. Most anyone can come to the United States to receive an education. The J-1 visa provides for this. The visa, education, etc can be paid for by several ways, either by the student (or family of), scholarships, or the government of either country. The visa always requires that the student return to their country. In fact, part of the interview process is determinining if the person has strong enough ties to their country to either have to or strongly want to return.

Sure, many have gotten around this by obtaining waivers, which are most accessable to those who had their education paid for by means other than the US government.

rellosk said:
What is a J-1 visa?