Hello,

Hopefully someone who have gone through this process with HCMC can help answer this question for me. I am trying to gather as much evidence as possible to prepare for the upcoming interview. Here's a quick recap of my situation:

I met my fiancee in the Fall of 2004 from her aunt living here in the US (only relative). At the time I took the introduction as a friend and did not think anything of it. So, from 10/2004 to 10/2005 I purchased Phone Cards from stores locally. Those were physical cards that I trashed them after each used.

From 11/2005 to 7/2006 I started to make purchases for phone cards online. I was able to print out all of the receipts.

From 08/2006 to Present I signed up with Lunex Telecom and so they were able to mailed me a monthly statement that shows all the calls I've made which included my fiancee's house phone number and cellular number.

My question is can I use those Phone Card receipts prior to 08/2006 to provide to the HCMC as part of evidences? My original thought was that there is no way for them to tell if in fact I made those calls to my fiancee since my Phone Bill only showed the 1-888, 1-800, 1-866, etc. numbers and not my fiancee's house number.
I've highlighted all the calls on my phone bills to match up with all of those numbers given from the calling cards. I would say that 90% of our communication is through the phone, where I would call her twice a day and almost everyday.

I'm just not sure if they can be used. It's not enough credible evidence but I'm hoping that when they do see the bill and call logs from Lunex Telecom they can see how much time we spent talking on the phone. Has anyone ever submitted phone cards as evidences and did they believe that you used it to call your SO?

Any input would greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading this.

-Ken

IMO: It can't hurt.

If I were the CO I'd say it is circumstantial evidence at best.

If I were to be setting up the phone part of your evidence file, I would start with the most current date on top and work your way back. In my mind, that would show you've certainly been talking for the past year with the Telecom records. That would then make the other evidence more palatable.

Will they turn you down for not including it? Not a chance. Will they approve you just based off of it? Nope. They are going to look at everything, not just one single piece of evidence.

I say include it, but put the current provable stuff up top so they don't just thumb through receipts and never see the real logs.

Thank you Neverseen. I think I will do just that, by putting the larger stack of Lunex Telecom on top and the rest of it follows. Just like you, I'm already feeling that butterfly and I still probably have 2 months away until the interview date. I just want to prepare as much as possible.

Over the weekend I went to see my fiancee's aunt to gather information from her such as copies of her Passport, driver license, list of addresses she has lived for the past 5 years, date she immigrated to the US and means of immigration. I got this information from a fellow VJ Member that had gotten a blue slip asking the beneficiary to list all of her relatives living in the U.S. Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid, but I just want to prepare for the worst case.

Dear MR2nice,

I'm sorry if I could make you worry. But it doesn't matter how you arrange your evidence.

The CO will ask how did you know each other and evidence for the very first time you met. They did the same in every interview.

I think that you should draft a letter to explain as you said on this forum. If they don't not ask this detail, you would be lucky. If they ask for evidence your wife/fiance have show to them what you had (the phone card and the phone records with the phone number of 1-800, 1-888,... ) and explain as your letter.

Do you have any other kind of evidence such as emails?? They can accept for emails. We didn't have the phone records for the first period but we had the emails.

Good luck

Hien

Thank you David-Hien. Yes, we do have evidences of emails. We also have hand written letters (mostly from her to me, about 30 or so total). I also have gifts receipts for all 3 years of her birthdays/valentines gifts that was delivered to her home. I will take your advice and write a letter to explain our case, similiar to the one I sent in with the I-129F but explaining the details regarding the phone card. Should I get the letter notarize or it's not needed? Thanks again.

- Ken

For me, sure I will.

Thank you!

If all of you had other evidence of the first period such as emails, I think that the phone records will not be a problem. I think you may ignore the phone records and should not show to them if you had other better evidence.

Unless they ask for the phone records of first period you may have to show.

About the explaination letter, I don't know if you should have the notarization. But if it can make the evidence look better, just do that and send to her in VN.

When I was in the interview, I had only emails for the first period. We sent email to each other for 2 years plus 1 year of waiting for visa. We sent one email per day at least. Three years are more than one thousand days. It means we had more than two thousand emails, which made them impressed. The CO took ten minutes to read all the email of our first period.

Good luck to you all,
Hien

I used phone cards extensively to call my (then) fiancee. I noted the date(s) they were used and included the receipts for their purchase. Just how much weight they carried in determining our case, I don't know, but I believe they are just a part of the overall picture. Your fiancee should have them with her should the CO wish to see them or consider them. Better to be safe than sorry.

did you ever actually MEET your fiance?

oh wait...i just checked your timeline. From what I understood the embassy is interested in the evidence that would prove that you have an ongoing relationship from the moment of the application for the visa until the moment of the interview. That included phone cards, phone statement (if she ever called you from her home she can present that). You can submit anything that is stamped (postcards, letters). That also includes e-mails, instant messengers and pictures.

I actually have the phone logs from calls made since last 08/2006 to present because that was when I signed up with Lunex Telecom. They send me monthly statement showing calls made to my fiancee's house/cell #. It also shows calls made from my cell #. If the embassy is interested in the time frame from the day I filed the petition until the interview date then I'm not too worry. I'm just worried that from 10/2004 to 07/2006 that I do not have credible evidence for phone logs because everything before 08/2006 I was using phone cards. On top of that, my AT&T online bill only let me download the call logs for the past 18 months period. I'm trying to get the rest of the bill from AT&T and they want to charge me $5 for each month to reprint. I still need an extra 20 months to complete the time that I have known my fiancee. Even if I do get those past 20 months bills, I can only highlight all the 1-800 # from the phone cards, which is not really proof. Not sure what to do. Sigh...

you dont have to prove every step of the way. I just randomly had 2-3 statements of calling my hubby over the entire period between the interview and the filing, a couple of random emails, a couple of random Instant messaging dates and a couple of post cards I sent my honey over the real mail. It does not have to prove every single day of the period...it can be for...i dont know...August, October and December..you know what I mean? you're making too big of a deal out of it EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE! breathe in and breathe out

Thanks kinzaza. I guess I'm a little paranoid knowing that Ho Chi Minh Consulate can be tough. I'll take a deep breathe now and relax.

What i am doing is this:

I took phone statements and highlighted the access number for the calling card every time i dialed it ( both house phone and cell phone )
Then i glued six phone cards on each bill with the access number showing. I have over 60 pages with countless highlights of the number being dialed ..i have hundreds of calling cards.

Of course this along with other evidence.

THERE we GO! Just be careful about submitting enough documentation about the financial support. They like looking at that. I mean letters from the employers, copies of tax returns, bank statements and all of that. Also, don't make the mistake I made. If you guys took pictures when you met...have her bring them to the interview...as many as possible I just took the "between the dates evidence" which didn't include many pictures and they didn't really like that I mean i still got approved but I got an ugly look somewhere along the way with a question "You only have one picture with your fiance?" to which i replied that I have hundreds just not between the filing date and the interview...anyways..Romanian embassy was just ...weird... :-P

As for financial im taking 3 years w2's and 3 years tax transcripts.
Also taking an employer letter.


What lese should i take??

bank statement showing when the USC opened the account and the current balance

Ok...i have spent about 9000 dollars this year on trips to Colombia.....I am basically on fumes as far as my bank acct...I didnt put hat in because of that...any suggestions...and what do you mean with ...when USC opened the acct??

Thank you everyone for the great advices. Got my I-134, tax return, and letter of employer ready and I'll well over the 125% poverty line. I will be making my 3rd trip this year to see my fiancee next week and I will take more pictures, this time also focusing more with her family members as well.

My annual salary is around 54K....Plus around a 10k to 15k Christmas bonus ??

From what I've read, if your tax return exceeds the 125% poverty line then you don't really need to provide a bank statement showing when you opened the account and the sum amount deposited for the past 12 months.

than you have absolutely nothing to worry about. About the account...THe romanian embassy sent me the info in Package 3 stating what I need to bring to the interview with me. Along with the Affidavit of support they said that I could bring the letters from the employers, tax returns..blah blah and the bank statement stating the date the account was open in the bank and the current balance I know it sounds weird...but you have PLENTY..so don't worry about it


no the bank statement is really just one of the supporting documents and it's totally optional

I also have a condo which i rent out ...im a residential manager in Manhattan NY and i get an apartment in the building i manage.

Should i put one of my mortgage statements?? I get the rent in cash , so im not sure if its smart to provide it being that i dont report it as an income, which its not because the rent still doesnt cover the full mortgage payment.

Phone card receipts are not valid evidence for proof of an ongoing relationship. You cannot show who you were calling

yup exaclty...do that and dont worry about those phonecards If you're making your recent trip you can submit the copies of your tickets, flight itinerary, copies of the stamps and visas (if there are any for USC for her country).
GOOD luck i will keep my fingers crossed

Thanks for clearing that up. My bank refused to give me the total amount deposited for the past 12 months. They were only able to give me a letter that has the date when it was opened and current balance.

I know that i cant really prove who i was calling , but i have phone records from before i met Leidy and i had never dialed the phone card number and after its all over the place...I hope that its just a minimal part of my evidence..I have gone to see her 6 times in Colombia and i will be going to the interview, I flew her to Panama andmet her there for a vacation...i have receipts for restaurants, money transfers to her....of course the stamps on my passport from the 6 times i have been there...over 400 emails...over 170 pictures from different trips to her...

GOD I HOPE IM OK...IM GETTING NERVOUS..MY INTERVIEW IS IN 3 WEEKS!!!!

I agree. Just that during the first 1.5 years I didn't know I was going to marry my fiancee so that's why I'm worry about the call logs during that time. 90% of communication for us are over the phone.

The poverty line is around 13k/ yr You have 54K...you have nothing to worry about...The letter from the employer, the W2's and the tax returns will be more than enough as long as the Affidavit of Support is filled out properly

or 17..something like that either way...you're waaay up there!

Guess im panicking because the interview is so CLOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do know what you're going through..been there done that...i was at the embassy for 3 days...on average for 4 hrs/day... but i got approved...and so will you

Wow! 6 times to visit her. Now if that's not showing proof of ongoing relationship I don't know what is. I think with the evidences you have it looks to be a strong case. I wish you best of luck with the interview.

Thanks ...And I really hope so!!!!!

He really IS in love...hehehe that's awesome :-P

MR2nice THANK YOU !!!! YOU GUYS ARE VERY COMFORTING!!!

Hey! that's why VJ is for but people are going to get pissed...we're going off topic here

OK so do you guys think this is all enough or can i add anything????

Rofl no that will be enough! Please post the good news on December 31st!

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!!

It looks to be good and I think when you receive packet 4 they will also list some evidences that could help going through your Consulate. Do you have pictures of the engagement or perhaps receipt of engagement ring? I know it's not madatory, but it would be a plus.

Im actually buying the rock when i get there....Her dad is in the jewelry business and he said i would get a better diamond for a good price there...She doesnt have it yet.




The interview is Monday the 31st, im getting the rock on the friday right before

That's great!! It looks like you'll have the complete package. Just thinking about the 6 trips to visit her. All I can say is WOW!! By the way, how is her health coming along? I hope she's doing well.

Thanks a lot for asking!!!! She is doing MUCH better!!!! Thank God!!!!!!

Thats why i was a little worried bout tghe bank statement...I really have taken a beating to my savings this year!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very happy to hear she's doing much better. Hang in there, soon you'll both be together and I know how much you want to be there for her through this tough time.

ABSOLUTELY!!!! IT WAS VERY HARD TO BE SO FAR WHEN SHE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL!!!!!
HOPEFULLY EVERYTHING WILL BE JUST FINE!!!!!!!!

AND GOOD LUCK TO YOU TOO!!!!! IM SURE YOU ARE VERY WELL PREPARED!!!

Thank you very much!

Byron I understand you are freaking out at times prior to the interview but how freaked out would you be 3 days prior to the interview trying to print out some stuff from your computer and the printer stopped communicating with your machine? That´s exactly what´s happening here right now! I dont know if to laugh or get angry lol...trying to fix it ...

ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! I WOULD LOSE MY MIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That always seem to happen at the last minute. Could you possibly print them at work?