I-129F General Questions

[monyfer 27]

Hi all,

I know most of these questions have been asked to DEATH and I've tried searching and found the answer to a lot, but I still have some questions about would appreciate feedback. Sorry if some of these seem paranoid. I called the UCIS cust. serv hotline and asked the guy on the phone most of these, but he just was very rude and got exasperated with me and I don't feel like I got clear info. from him. I am sorry I sound paranoid...if someone could calm my nerves and say what they did and it got through ok I will feel better!

On the I-129 F:

1. Information about me: for address it asks State or Country. Which one does it want? Pennsylvania, or USA? Or Both? I was thinking of putting PA/USA . But I don't want to get an RFE because I didn't answer exactly how they wanted. Also, are they ok with state abbreviations, or should I write out the state name?

2. Information about alien fiance - Fernando doesn't have a middle name. Should I put NONE or leave it blank? I am afraid to put NONE for fear they will think his middle name is "None"! Do you think it would help to put it in parenthesis?

3. Also, under fiance information, it has the "State or Country" bit again. Mexico has states - I am not sure if I should put the name of the state he lives in (Jalisco) or JUST put Mexico. Or both? Also: town name. The whole thing doesn't fit. Is it ok if I abbreviate? (i.e. putting Pto. for Puerto) Or - since I can write smaller than I type, would it be ok to print out the form mostly typed and then write in ink the questions that I couldn't fit with the type?

4. Question 10: My citizenship was acquired through..: I checked off "Birth in the US". Do I have to put N/A in the other boxes? Or did I sufficiently answer the question, and can I leave the rest blank?

5. Question 13: No children. Can I just put 'None' in the first box, and leave the rest blank? Or should I put "none/NA in all available boxes"? Basically, that applies for all questions where the answer is no, (ie questions 16 and 17) where I wonder if putting None or NA in the first box is OK or if EVERY single box should have a None or NA.

6. Part E: Do I need to put N/A for these boxes or can I leave this entire section blank, since I am filling out the form myself.

On the G-325A bio forms:

1. My fiance doesn't know his parents birth dates. But they are alive and he talks to them, he is just embarrassed to ask their birth dates (search me as to why) does it look bad to put Unknown, since we have their birth locations?

2. Husband/wife names...: I just put none in the first box, is it fine?

3. Applicant's last address outside of the US for more than one year: I went to college in Italy, but I came home every summer and winter break to the US. Thus, I was only "living abroad" four months at a time, and I never had a permanent address in Italy really. I never changed my address on a drivers license/bank card/voting reg - anything - the whole time at school I maintained a US address, although technically I was living abroad. Do I have to put my addresses while in Italy, or can I consider myself more just away at school/visiting? Will they really check/care ?

Also, for Fernando, obviously all his addresses are outside the US! So I can just put none or N/A for that right, for him?

4. On the bottom of the form along the bottom where it asks names I put our names in all Caps and then I am going to put "NO MIDDLE NAME" for Fernando for his middle name since he doesn't have one. Unless I should leave it blank?

5. For jobs: He has only had two jobs and the full address doesn't fit on one so I am going to use the line below for the address and indent it so it fits. Will that be ok? Or can I just put the city and country of the Employer? I assume they need the full street address..what did you guys do?

Also, I abbreviated job titles so they would fit. I.e. "Asst." for assistant and "Mgr." for manager. Is this bad????

PROOF OF AN ONGOING RELATIONSHIP

How much should I sent now? It sounds like, from what I've read, they want to see a lot of the stuff at the interview. I was going to send some recent phone bills, ticket stubs, and pictures though. For the pictures: Do you think it is ok if I put the pictures in a Word document alongside descriptions and then print it and send it? Or do they want actual PHOTO photos? Does it make a difference?

I want to send along some emails between us, but they are all in Spanish, and I can happily translate them and write a little "I certify this is a legit translation" note - but will that look like a conflict of interest? Should I include e-mails as far back as we met, or only ones in the last two years, since that is the time frame they are interested in?

~*~*~*

Sorry for all these dumb questions! Even if you can only answer one or two I would really appreciate it!! I really want this to go through right, the first time!

Edited April 10, 2008 by monyfer

[monyfer 27]

Oh sorry - also - should I include pics from when we first met, or do they ONLY want pictures from within the last two years?

[SnowyTater 0]

Omg

Okay...I might not make it through this whole list xD

1. Put state and country, sure. It's okay to abbreviate both of those but I'd put Pennsylvania or PA, USA, not PA/USA because that just looks weird imo.

2. I think it's safe to put 'none' in for Fernando's middle name. Put 'none,' not "None," and then it should be even more obvious.

3. I wouldn't abbreviate Mexican names/places as the adjudicator is going to be much more unfamiliar with this stuff. It's absolutely fine to print the form and then fill in whatever you can't fit with a pen. I'd put the state name too if it IS a state. If it's...a district or province or something like that, then don't. I don't know anything about Mexico but I didn't know it had states.

4. Don't leave anything blank on the form as people have gotten RFEs for this. Put N/A or none wherever it's applicable.

5. First box 'none', rest of the boxes N/A. Again, leave nothing at all blank. This is in the instructions.

6. same answer.

And oh yeh to save you some serious heartache - with anything on the form that wants a date or a year or anything, I'd just go ahead and leave that blank and then fill it in by hand. The forms screw up and like to put either 0000 or ++++ and not fit in all of '2008', etc. It drove me crazy and I couldn't ever get rid of it. If you just don't TOUCH these boxes you'll save a couple hours of going AAAHH.

G-325:

1. he needs to suck it up and get their birthdates. Maybe he can ask a sibling or aunt or uncle or something. Not worth getting an RFE over this - you might not would but seriously.

2. fill in all boxes

3. When you came back to the US, did you maintain the same residence in Italy? I don't know, this is one of those 'too much info is better than not enough' situations. I'd put 'none' on the form, but then also "see attached." Attach a printer sheet of paper to the form saying something like "In Regards to Question Blah on the G-315A Form". Then explain that you were periodically in Italy for college from this month to this month, these years to these years, etc., and that you maintained permanent residence in the US and came home for summers. If you have the addresses or even just the town name of Italy that you can put down, that's great. more detail the better. They probably don't care but you want to not look like you're hiding anything.

Sign and date this form and put it behind the G-325.

They want Fernando's addresses...there's somewhere in these where they ask all of your residencies up in the past 5 years. I think a lot of people have to attach a separate sheet to fit all of these in. List all the places you and the places Fernando have listed, accurately as possible.

I think on the bottom caps names bit I'd leave Fernando's mid name part blank...you've already told them he doesn't have one. If you want to you can stick a post-it down here with a little arrow saying 'no middle name!' This is really just making it easy on the adjudicator, post it will get lost, whatever.

5. Put full address of Fernando's work. Indenting on the next line sounds fine.

Abbreviations are probably okay, but keep in mind just for all this paperwork in the future, any time you need to attach something to more fully explain/give more detail on a form, you can.

Okay, evidence of ongoing relationship:

Technically at this point all you have to give them is hard evidence, ie. proof that you've physically been together in last 2 years - plane tickets, restaurant receipts, hotel bills, etc.

I sent in 'secondary' evidence too for the heck of it. Gave a good sample of everything I had - 3-4 pics, 3-4 letters, 3-4 emails over an extended period of time. I went back 7 years on the emails but focused on the past 2. The big thing IS the hard evidence, so concentrate on this. Gather everything you have and make copies of everything so you're safe. Send in your passport stamps too. Highlight dates and POE's, whatever, to make it easier on the adjudicator.

Whatever you decide to send, do make the effort to organize your packet so it's not an 8 pound monster of cluttered terribleness. Write a cover letter that lists everything you've included in the packet in the order in which you've included it. I sectioned my packet off with the essentials first - ie forms, birth certificate, passport pics, letters of intent, etc.; then primary evidence; then secondary evidence.

Oh yeh. I do think you should get hard copies of photos because printed ones people might think you've messed with it or digitally altered it or something. No big deal. CVS or wherever will do it off a CD for like 10 cents a pic or something. Stick these in a plastic baggie and write the location and approximate date on the back, with your full names in case they're lost.

Translations - the one thing I can't help you with because I've never read a clear answer on this. I don't know how people handle translating things. I have read that someone took theirs to a language professor at their local college once and had him write up a little letter saying he'd translated it, certified its accuracy, etc. This person got through fine. I think people do it different ways...I'd try the regional forums to ask Spanish-speaking people and their fiances what they did, I guess. They can help you with your specific embassy too.

WHOO.

Oh yeh calm down like...a lot Try not to send them too much stuff and overwhelm them. If you get an RFE it's not the end of the world and only sets you back like a couple weeks. You're in for a long ride.

[*JG* 2]

Hi all,

I know most of these questions have been asked to DEATH and I've tried searching and found the answer to a lot, but I still have some questions about would appreciate feedback. Sorry if some of these seem paranoid. I called the UCIS cust. serv hotline and asked the guy on the phone most of these, but he just was very rude and got exasperated with me and I don't feel like I got clear info. from him. I am sorry I sound paranoid...if someone could calm my nerves and say what they did and it got through ok I will feel better!

On the I-129 F:

1. Information about me: for address it asks State or Country. Which one does it want? Pennsylvania, or USA? Or Both? I was thinking of putting PA/USA . But I don't want to get an RFE because I didn't answer exactly how they wanted. Also, are they ok with state abbreviations, or should I write out the state name? PA, USA is fine

2. Information about alien fiance - Fernando doesn't have a middle name. Should I put NONE or leave it blank? I am afraid to put NONE for fear they will think his middle name is "None"! Do you think it would help to put it in parenthesis? I would write does not have one

3. Also, under fiance information, it has the "State or Country" bit again. Mexico has states - I am not sure if I should put the name of the state he lives in (Jalisco) or JUST put Mexico. Or both? Also: town name. The whole thing doesn't fit. Is it ok if I abbreviate? (i.e. putting Pto. for Puerto) Or - since I can write smaller than I type, would it be ok to print out the form mostly typed and then write in ink the questions that I couldn't fit with the type? I would use whatever information you would use to mail him something. Yes, you can write it or type it or a combination of both

4. Question 10: My citizenship was acquired through..: I checked off "Birth in the US". Do I have to put N/A in the other boxes? Or did I sufficiently answer the question, and can I leave the rest blank? I put my birth certificate number, the date and place issued (from my birth certificate)

5. Question 13: No children. Can I just put 'None' in the first box, and leave the rest blank? Or should I put "none/NA in all available boxes"? Basically, that applies for all questions where the answer is no, (ie questions 16 and 17) where I wonder if putting None or NA in the first box is OK or if EVERY single box should have a None or NA. None and leave the rest blank

6. Part E: Do I need to put N/A for these boxes or can I leave this entire section blank, since I am filling out the form myself. I put N/A in the first box and left the rest blank.

On the G-325A bio forms:

1. My fiance doesn't know his parents birth dates. But they are alive and he talks to them, he is just embarrassed to ask their birth dates (search me as to why) does it look bad to put Unknown, since we have their birth locations? He needs to ask them their birth dates and fill them in. We put unknow in the box for Andre's dad; but we also put deceased in the current city of residence

2. Husband/wife names...: I just put none in the first box, is it fine? None is fine

3. Applicant's last address outside of the US for more than one year: I went to college in Italy, but I came home every summer and winter break to the US. Thus, I was only "living abroad" four months at a time, and I never had a permanent address in Italy really. I never changed my address on a drivers license/bank card/voting reg - anything - the whole time at school I maintained a US address, although technically I was living abroad. Do I have to put my addresses while in Italy, or can I consider myself more just away at school/visiting? Will they really check/care ? It says for more then a year. If it wasn't.....it is not applicable.

Also, for Fernando, obviously all his addresses are outside the US! So I can just put none or N/A for that right, for him? I left that blank

4. On the bottom of the form along the bottom where it asks names I put our names in all Caps and then I am going to put "NO MIDDLE NAME" for Fernando for his middle name since he doesn't have one. Unless I should leave it blank? That is fine

5. For jobs: He has only had two jobs and the full address doesn't fit on one so I am going to use the line below for the address and indent it so it fits. Will that be ok? Or can I just put the city and country of the Employer? I assume they need the full street address..what did you guys do? I wrote it on more then one line for each of Andre's

Also, I abbreviated job titles so they would fit. I.e. "Asst." for assistant and "Mgr." for manager. Is this bad???? That's fine

PROOF OF AN ONGOING RELATIONSHIP

How much should I sent now? It sounds like, from what I've read, they want to see a lot of the stuff at the interview. I was going to send some recent phone bills, ticket stubs, and pictures though. For the pictures: Do you think it is ok if I put the pictures in a Word document alongside descriptions and then print it and send it? Or do they want actual PHOTO photos? Does it make a difference? That sounds fine. I color copied all of ours. Later, I color copied scrapbook pages

I want to send along some emails between us, but they are all in Spanish, and I can happily translate them and write a little "I certify this is a legit translation" note - but will that look like a conflict of interest? Should I include e-mails as far back as we met, or only ones in the last two years, since that is the time frame they are interested in? I would include them, translated, as far back as you met. Just a few here and there. Doesn't have to be every day. Save that for the interview.

~*~*~*

Sorry for all these dumb questions! Even if you can only answer one or two I would really appreciate it!! I really want this to go through right, the first time!

Good luck to you.

[monyfer 27]

Thanks for the responses, you guys are amazing!!!!

On the G-325A, did you use numbers for the months, or are you expected to type them out? (i.e. 12 vs. December)

[LuckyDucky 0]

As SnowyTater said, you want to organize your packet as much as possible and try to make it simple to follow.

Personally, I broke my packet into 3 sections:

1) I-129F Packet

2) I-134 Packet

3) Proof of having met in person within last 2 years + ongoing relationship

Each of these sections went into a file folder along with its own cover letter. The cover letter had a line-by-line item of the contents. I made it very clear what exactly was in each packet and in what order.

I enclosed an all-encompasing cover letter that stated I had broken down my application into 3 sections and listed each section.

Note: I had sent in an I-134 with my initial application. A friend, who brought his wife over on a fiancee visa, recommended I send one. However, I noticed from the guides on here that it's not necessary. You may not want to send it because providing more-than-asked-for information may actually hurt you, but fortunately it didn't seem to hurt me: I was told not to expect a response until March 31st, but got an approval second week of February with no RFEs.

I only mention it here because it helped justify why I organized it the way I did. (ie, Why I had 3 sections to application.) When your fiance goes to his interview at the embassy, he'll definitely need a recent I-134. (I sent a new one to my fiancee for her interview.)

Anyway, it's up to you as to how you may want to organize it. I just tried to do it into managable "bite-sized" chunks so someone wouldn't be overwhelmed with 80+ sheets of paper. =)

Also, everything I sent had our names on it. This included a piece of paper with a ziplog bag stapled to it that contained our passport-sized pictures. (The pictures themselves also had our names on it.)

Regular 'ol pictures of us had a sticker which had our names and the date and location of where the picture was taken. I would put a few sentences describing what was happening, if applicable. In a few pictures, we had an engagement party, so I would point out her family members. I also made sure to provide translations since the person processing the application at your local USCIS might not know. I would say, "Here we are serving tea to Di and Duong Hai (eldest maternal aunt and her husband)"

Arguably, that was pretty ####### of me, but I figured a little bit more effort wouldn't hurt.

[LuckyDucky 0]

On the G-325A, did you use numbers for the months, or are you expected to type them out? (i.e. 12 vs. December)

Hmmm, I used numbers whenever they listed a (mm/dd/yyyy) in the field. There was another section that asked for my parent's date of birth, and I used numbers there.

I happened to use 3-letter Month abbreviations in the fields asking for residence and employment.

[nm123 0]

Hi, I'm going through the Ciudad Juarez consulate too. My boyfriend is the Mexican citizen.

Regarding "how" to fill out the forms, I would recommend the guides if you haven't had a chance to look at them yet (http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?autocom=custom&page=k1guide). If you click on the examples forms and how they were filled out, and follow them, you'll be fine.

Regarding the photos, you should send in actual photos, not a xeroxed picture. Another member (ucla_cutie26) did that and received an RFE. The following info will help you out (it's in response to a msg I sent to her when I was getting ready to submit my I-129F):

Anyway, now to answer you about the paperwork you have gathered. I think you may have a little too much. Let me tell you what I sent in (back in June 2006 when I submitted my paperwork). I am looking at my cover letter with the I-129F I submitted. Don’t forget to included a cover letter that states everything you are sending in. I sent:

• Payment of $170

• Form I-129F

• I-129F Supplement, it was an explanation of meeting in person since my answer did not fit in the I-129F form.

• Copy of my birth certificate

• Letters of intent to marry (from myself and my then fiancé)

• G-325A and passport pics for myself

• G-325A and passport pics for my fiancé

• For proof of having met in person/proof of ongoing relationship I lumped together and sent:

o Copies of airline boarding passes (from 4 different trips I made to Guadalajara to visit my fiancé, and 1 of those trips didn’t fall into the category of the 2 previous years before filing the petition.)

o Copies of photos (I included copies of 6 pictures. Its important to note though that I included copies of my photo album and they were not original pictures, I guess they didn’t like this, SO SEND IN ORIGINAL PICS)

o Copies of passport stamps (send in the identification page and only send in the pages of your passport that actually have stamps on them, not all of the pages.)

o Copies of emails (I sent in 6 emails)

o Copies of letters received in the mail from my fiancé (I sent in 3 letters from my fiancé, but they each were 2 pages long, which meant 6 pages)

This is what I sent them the first time around and I received an RFE (request for evidence). I think that the reason I received this RFE is for SENDING IN TOO MUCH. In the RFE, you get it states what was wrong with your petition and what they want you to send in.

They asked me to send them, this is directly from the RFE I got,

1) “Please submit film-dated photographs of the petitioner and the beneficiary together.”

2) They asked me also to send them “evidence of meeting the beneficiary in person within the two-year period preceding the filing of the petition. The primary evidence may include copies of passport pages that show the identification page and admission stamps. The secondary evidence may be airline tickets stubs and receipts (that indicate month, day and year),ATM and credit card transactions, flight itinerary on airline/travel agency letterhead. The following does not constitute evidence of meeting: disc, videos, emails, letters, phone bills, and greeting cards.

When I submitted my response to the RFE, I sent in:

• only copies of the pages with stamps on them from my passport,

• the invoices from t he travel agency where I bought my airline tickets,

• copy of boarding passes,

• bus tickets from the places we visited in Guadalajara (they had the dates on them)

• actual pictures from the visits

• ticket stubs to a soccer game we went too, had the date on them

• ticket stubs from a movie we went to watch, also had the date on them

• I also included a letter from my mom stating I have a fiancé in Jalisco and she has met him and that I met him while visiting family members from my mom’s side of the family

This time around after I answered the RFE, we got our I-129F approved and my Juan was headed to Juarez.

So, as you can see the letters, emails I sent in (and the phone records you are thinking of sending in) may in fact be considered extra material for them (and may cause you to get an RFE as I did). I like everything you have on your list except for the letters and phone records. Definitely keep the ATM receipts though because that’s good proof you were there. Also keep the hotel, bus receipts if they have dates on them.

AND LASTLY... you should read as many of the posts in the Ciudad Juarez thread as you can, because it's got lots of very useful info: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=37896

[ucla_cutie26 0]

lol, nm123 I can't believe you still have that message I sent you

Monyfer,

I would definately recommend sending in original pictures, do not send them copies of them printed out, you just don't want to risk getting an RFE. On a side note, your fiance is from the state of Jalisco. My husband is also Also, it appears you met him back in 2000 while I met my husband back in 1999.

[BigCityDave 0]

I recommend taking your time with the paperwork and make sure everything is perfect to avoid an RFE.

[monyfer 27]

Thanks for the tips.

Is Ciudad Juarez the only place to go for the Interview? Ucla_cutie, I see that is where you guys did your interview...however I think Guadalajara is closer to my boyfriend...so that is what I put on the application as the nearest consulate....but now I am wondering if I should put CDJ?

[ucla_cutie26 0]

Thanks for the tips.

Is Ciudad Juarez the only place to go for the Interview? Ucla_cutie, I see that is where you guys did your interview...however I think Guadalajara is closer to my boyfriend...so that is what I put on the application as the nearest consulate....but now I am wondering if I should put CDJ?

Check the message I sent you. Unfortunately, your fiance will have to make the trip to Juarez for his K1. My husband is actually less than an hour away from Guadalajara, and he had to take a flight to Juarez for his k1 visa.