I need help & info. on Mail and Visiting at DVI-RC, Or any rules regarding DVI -( IN THE RECEIPTION AREA) I guess untill paper work is compleated.

I am in the same boat as you. I do know if you send him postcards he will get them quickly. Letters can take from 3 weeks to 3 months for him to get. Dont send any manilla envelopes, they come back. I sent off my visit app. 6 weeks ago. I tried to schedule an appt to see him but I am still not approved. good luck! let me know if you find anything out

Thanks so much for your reply, I've sent letters and postcards, (TWO EACH),Everyday for a week and a half! I hope he is getting them. We didnt even get to talk the day he left. And I dont know if he even knows If I know where he is at! If I hear anything I'll let you know, OK? Thanks again and GOOD-LUCK to you.

my hunnee is has been at reception at dvi trcy for over 3 months. it took 18 days for him to receieve my mail, I sprayed perfume on 2 letters and they were returned. I was able to send him postage stamps. one book per letter or card. for some strange reason it took about 6 weeks to get approved for visitation. there is no access to phones in reception. i recently called the prison about sending a money order and they said if you sent it to po box 20 instead of the po box 600 it will reach them faster, which it did because he wrote me and told me he rec'd it pronto. only send the money order in the envelope and no letter because that will slow it down. use the po box 20 for money orders only. if you send a check they said it could take 30 days to clear.

take care

carol

Hi Karen,

Since you had some specific visitation questions for DVI-Tracy, I have moved this thread to the California forum on PTO so your post will have the opportunity to get more specific responses and the best answers to your questions... I’ve found they often get more and better answers there, AND the information will be here to help others in the future, too. :)

You also might want to thumb thru the California forum to see if some of your questions have already been answered in the past... the direct link to the forum is here:

http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=127

Hope you find the info you're looking for and good luck! :)

Lys

Hello everyone, Thanks for all the info. For the MONEY-ODERS TO DVI-RC, DO YOU JUST CHANGE IT TO PO BOX 20, (NOT 600) And You still sent it in (INMATES NAME & CD#)? Or Just address it to( DVI- RC )? Thanks again for all your help. You all have A GOOD-DAY! (OH YEA... ANY CERTIN AMOUNT OF MONEY OR LIMIT)?

inmates name cdc#
dvi
p.o. box 20
tracy, calif 95378
any amount you wish

hope this hopes

carol

sorry hope this helps hahahah!!!!

carol

Thanks again Carol! You seem to be helping me threw this ALOT LATELY, MUCH THANKS. Have a good evening Carol, And EVERYONE ELSE TOO! LOL

Hello shortnsasy, I envy you that you are less that 30 mins. away from your man. Mine use to be at tracy dvi until he was transferred 342 miles away from me. I have to say though dvi was one of the better prison's that I've had to visit so far. the c/o's are fairly nice except I couldn't stand the short little fat dude officer valaderes, he will look for any little reason to not get you into your visit. I think he hates woman :) well I hope your man is home to you soon and good luck with your future marriage.

Well, maybe I can help with some of this.

I send mail in manila envelopes and it goes through. I haven't had anything come back, but my daughter in law sent a picture of she and the baby swimming at the river and they sent it back because they were in bathing suits. It was not a sexy pic either as she is 6 months pregnant and holding their 10 month old daughter for God's sake, but whatever.

You can send stamps ( one book) or metered envelopes (20)with your letter also, but it seems to slow it down when you enclose anything besides the letter itself. Cards go through the mail room very fast (less than a week) but letters take about 2 weeks to get to my son. If you add something like stamps or a writing tablet it takes 3-4 weeks. And it is really slow when they first get to reception. My son didn't get anything for several weeks when he first got there, and then slowly but surely it started trickling in to him.

As for the visiting part...I took my daughter in law and granddaughter down there last Sunday for our first visit. It wasn't as bad as I had imagined. It was a lot like county actually, except dirtier.

In reception, it is one hour behind glass, 2 people max including children. They will do a split visit if there are more than 2 of you and you agree to do that.

But before you can visit you have to be approved. He sends you a visiting questionaire and you send it back to the prison. That takes 4-6 weeks (took 5 for us) to get approved. Then when he finally tells you you are approved, you have to call to schedule the visit for reception 2 days in advance. You can only call between 8:00 and 10:00 Tues-Friday.

Visiting is on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

There is a taped recording that tells you what to NOT wear...the number you call is 800-374-8474. That is a voice mail system that takes you through a long phone tree. The last darn thing on the phone tree is the rules. Basically no spaghetti string or tank tops, no stretch pants, no sheers, no denim, no flip-flops, dresses & shorts not more than 2 inches above the knee, no underwire bras, etc., etc., etc., just listen to the message.

The prison is right off I-5, easy to get to, and the guards weren't rude or anything, except for one little hispanic guy who gave my daughter in law a very hard time, just teasing her. I think it is because she is young and innocent looking and they knew it was her first time.

They did start the visit late, and cut it short, so we didn't really get a full hour, but all in all, it wasn't a bad experience. It was just so darm short for the 3 hour drive one way in 108 degree weather!

Hope that helps some. If you have any other questions I can help with, feel free to PM me, or post them here.