When you bring your newly adopted child into the U.S., you hand over a sealed envelope at Customs and Immigration. This envelope, given to you during your child’s visa interview at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in the country where you adopted, contains a copy of the foreign birth certificate, adoption decree, etc. You can apply for return of the contents of the envelope, at no charge, by filing the G-884 with the USCIS. Processing time will vary, depending on the specifics of the case and the officer case load. Don’t expect it to be very quick. To obtain the G-884, you can down load it from the USCIS website.
