I'm posting my experience here for more visibility to this issue.
 
I bought my RTX 2070 black brand new from newegg.ca on October 17 2018 (one week after launch) and received it Oct 26, 2018 very close to the 14 days limit which I could register the card so I can qualify for step up. 
Just before my 90 days was up, I decided to go with step up to RTX 2080 XC black. Paid the difference and $52 USD shipping to Canada. 
 
EVGA received the card and took pictures and said my card is missing sticker above PCIE and will reject Step Up. I never noticed there was a missing sticker on front of card like on techpowerup review until now that EVGA mentioned it. 
 
 
 
 
As I didn't touch any of the stickers, I'm confident during factory assembly, someone there made mistake and did not put the PCIE board sticker on my card. The serial sticker and fan stickers are on the back again untouched. 
 
 
And now potentially because of this missing PCIE board sticker which was not my fault (and what is the significance of this PCIE board sticker anyways?), my card probably no longer have warranty either.
 
I'm hearing that stepup fee will be refunded but not sure if refund me $52 step up shipping. For sure the shipping to EVGA will be out of pocket but least that only cost me less than 30 CAD.
 
I feel so unluckly because this is the first time I'm doing step up and buying brand new evga card. I have owned 2nd hand evga and didn't have to use the warranty service.
 
My card has a small issue. When each fan start spinning I hear a tick. It happens on both fans. There is no ticking when the card is spinning. During youtube playback, I would hear the tick as the fan turn on/off very often and is annoying. This was one of the reasons for going through with step up.
 
 
 
edit to Title added [Resolved] by Cool GTX

I never removed any sticker from this 2070 card. 

I'll look when I get back home. To clarify, the serial number is on back of card. EVGA is saying I'm missing sticker on top of PCIE pins on on the front of card. My card is missing this AB something sticker.

rom0n
Oh great! Thanks Adam.

Interesting. Techpowerup back side also showed a second smaller "serial Number" sticker with the same serial number as the larger sticker.

I couldn't find this smaller serial sticker anywhere in my case. I still think this sticker was not put in in the factory since this is the first time I am aware of this smaller serial sticker.
 

onemoar
void if removed stickers are completely illegal in the US 
 
you have the S/N number on the card thats all that should be required 

I don’t think the circumstances of this post had anything to do with a “Void if removed” sticker. It was specifically a serial number sticker being reference, but I think there was a little bit of mix up because most cards have a backplate and the serial number is mounted to the backplate and a matching serial number is mounted just above the gold fingers on the PCI bracket since backplates are easily removed.

Since this card doesn’t have a backplate, it looks as if there is only one serial number sticker, not two. So the situation is far different than a simple sticker that says “void if removed”.

I know the OP's problem is solved.

onemoar
void if removed stickers are completely illegal in the US 
 
you have the S/N number on the card thats all that should be required

By your own admission, if all references to the serial number were missing, the warranty would be void. The serial number is on a sticker. If all serial number stickers were missing, the warranty would be void. Your logic: doh!

EVGA's serial number stickers do not cover over screws or prevent the disassembly or repair of the card. That is the intent of the law regarding "void if removed" stickers. The absence of all serial number stickers void the video card's warranty for other reasons which are not in violation of the intent of the law.