Solid Evidence You met in Person

[PanamaJack 1]

What I did in addition to having the boarding passes and country entry exit stamps, photos and hotel recipt. I went to a notary with my fiancee and 2 witnesses and had the notary examine our Identification as we are using it it apply for the K-1 and state that we were present together on this day [while I was ther of course] in her office and applied her notary seal. Then I took it to an official translator to be translated into english... I read someone mention here somewhere that it was a solid way of proving you met in person.. Has anyone else here done this type of evidence document ?

Edited October 10, 2009 by PanamaJack

[Otto 83]

Well that is certainly one way to show you were together - not sure how many folk do/don't do this, I'm guessing not that many do. It is certainly an arrow in your quiver.

[pushbrk 12,102]

What I did in addition to having the boarding passes and country entry exit stamps, photos and hotel recipt. I went to a notary with my fiancee and 2 witnesses and had the notary examine our Identification as we are using it it apply for the K-1 and state that we were present together on this day [while I was ther of course] in her office and applied her notary seal. Then I took it to an official translator to be translated into english... I read someone mention here somewhere that it was a solid way of proving you met in person.. Has anyone else here done this type of evidence document ?

I've never heard of anybody going to such lengths. The boarding passes and passport stamps evidence you were in the same country. That's good enough for USCIS every time.

[PanamaJack 1]

What I did in addition to having the boarding passes and country entry exit stamps, photos and hotel recipt. I went to a notary with my fiancee and 2 witnesses and had the notary examine our Identification as we are using it it apply for the K-1 and state that we were present together on this day [while I was ther of course] in her office and applied her notary seal. Then I took it to an official translator to be translated into english... I read someone mention here somewhere that it was a solid way of proving you met in person.. Has anyone else here done this type of evidence document ?

I've never heard of anybody going to such lengths. The boarding passes and passport stamps evidence you were in the same country. That's good enough for USCIS every time.

Well you have heard of it now.. I read about doing this somewhere in this forum. As I stated I do not remember where. BUT... It was sugested by a member here... It can't hurt to make the extra effort and do this .

Edited October 10, 2009 by PanamaJack

[Mitch and Bruna 0]

What I did in addition to having the boarding passes and country entry exit stamps, photos and hotel recipt. I went to a notary with my fiancee and 2 witnesses and had the notary examine our Identification as we are using it it apply for the K-1 and state that we were present together on this day [while I was ther of course] in her office and applied her notary seal. Then I took it to an official translator to be translated into english... I read someone mention here somewhere that it was a solid way of proving you met in person.. Has anyone else here done this type of evidence document ?

I've never heard of anybody going to such lengths. The boarding passes and passport stamps evidence you were in the same country. That's good enough for USCIS every time.

Well, I wish I had thought of that 4 months ago when we were together, but we weren't talking about marriage and thinking about government bueracuracy then. Could you guys give me some advice?

I recently had my passport stolen (reported and I am in the process of getting a new one) and I don't have any boarding passes for flights to Rio. I am back in the states and she is in Brazil.

I have visited 4 different times and I have:

Credit card and bank statements that show activity in fiancee's country. No actual receipts.

Lots of pictures

Flight Itineraries

Hotel confirmations

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks

[pushbrk 12,102]

What I did in addition to having the boarding passes and country entry exit stamps, photos and hotel recipt. I went to a notary with my fiancee and 2 witnesses and had the notary examine our Identification as we are using it it apply for the K-1 and state that we were present together on this day [while I was ther of course] in her office and applied her notary seal. Then I took it to an official translator to be translated into english... I read someone mention here somewhere that it was a solid way of proving you met in person.. Has anyone else here done this type of evidence document ?

I've never heard of anybody going to such lengths. The boarding passes and passport stamps evidence you were in the same country. That's good enough for USCIS every time.

Well, I wish I had thought of that 4 months ago when we were together, but we weren't talking about marriage and thinking about government bueracuracy then. Could you guys give me some advice?

I recently had my passport stolen (reported and I am in the process of getting a new one) and I don't have any boarding passes for flights to Rio. I am back in the states and she is in Brazil.

I have visited 4 different times and I have:

Credit card and bank statements that show activity in fiancee's country. No actual receipts.

Lots of pictures

Flight Itineraries

Hotel confirmations

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks

Go with everything you have along with a copy of the report your passport was stolen. I expect it will do nicely particularly since there are four visits.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

What I did in addition to having the boarding passes and country entry exit stamps, photos and hotel recipt. I went to a notary with my fiancee and 2 witnesses and had the notary examine our Identification as we are using it it apply for the K-1 and state that we were present together on this day [while I was ther of course] in her office and applied her notary seal. Then I took it to an official translator to be translated into english... I read someone mention here somewhere that it was a solid way of proving you met in person.. Has anyone else here done this type of evidence document ?

I've never heard of anybody going to such lengths. The boarding passes and passport stamps evidence you were in the same country. That's good enough for USCIS every time.

Well you have heard of it now.. I read about doing this somewhere in this forum. As I stated I do not remember where. BUT... It was sugested by a member here... It can't hurt to make the extra effort and do this .

That was probably me. My fiancee and I had our letters of intent notarized at the US consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. For us, it wasn't an unreasonable thing to do. We were there, we had the letters with us, and it only took about 15 minutes to go into US citizen services and have our signatures notarized. We didn't need to make any special trips, or draw up any special documents, or have anything translated. We just signed our letters of intent in front the consular officer, he stamped and signed them, we paid and left.

The letters of intent don't need to be notarized. They were just a convenient place to get a stamp and signature from a consular officer. The contents of the document they are notarizing are not important. The fact is that a US government witness confirmed me and my fiancee were in the same room at the same time.

Of course, we submitted all of the 'regular' evidence, like boarding passes, stamped passport pages, photos, etc. The notary stamps were just a "clincher".

[Bsze 50]

My fiance and I had our letters of intent notarized too. (And we did it because of Jim's great advice!) We didn't have boarding passes because we met in the States where I was a student, and we didn't travel out of state or stayed at hotels when we traveled in state.

[keithNvaleria 0]

I am thinking that we will just take the kids to play in the courtyard at the embassy about twice a week. After 2 weeks, they will give us free visas, just to not come back.

[Chris_Жанна 11]

What I did in addition to having the boarding passes and country entry exit stamps, photos and hotel recipt. I went to a notary with my fiancee and 2 witnesses and had the notary examine our Identification as we are using it it apply for the K-1 and state that we were present together on this day [while I was ther of course] in her office and applied her notary seal. Then I took it to an official translator to be translated into english... I read someone mention here somewhere that it was a solid way of proving you met in person.. Has anyone else here done this type of evidence document ?

You'll be fine. Sounds like you did your homework. Only other thing I can think that you may want to do is take a picture together with the front page of a news paper, but it sounds like you already have more than enough evidence.

Best of luck!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

What I did in addition to having the boarding passes and country entry exit stamps, photos and hotel recipt. I went to a notary with my fiancee and 2 witnesses and had the notary examine our Identification as we are using it it apply for the K-1 and state that we were present together on this day [while I was ther of course] in her office and applied her notary seal. Then I took it to an official translator to be translated into english... I read someone mention here somewhere that it was a solid way of proving you met in person.. Has anyone else here done this type of evidence document ?

You'll be fine. Sounds like you did your homework. Only other thing I can think that you may want to do is take a picture together with the front page of a news paper, but it sounds like you already have more than enough evidence.

Best of luck!

I've heard this recommended before. I've also heard it recommended that you should include photos in front of famous local landmarks. In the age of PhotoShop, I think that USCIS would give a photo like that just as much weight as they do any other photo. I wouldn't include a photo like this at the consulate stage, at least not in a high fraud country. If they accept that the photo is legitimate (they probably would), it still would look staged. Posed photos are often not very useful in proving a relationship, especially if they look like they should be accompanied by a ransom note. On the other hand, if you were at any large family gatherings where it would have been difficult to get everyone in the frame at the same time, then it would be helpful to have some random shots of groups of people, and maybe a single "portrait" style of the whole family. Again, I'm talking about the consulate and not USCIS.

For the petition, it's best to depend on your primary evidence (boarding passes, visa stamps, hotel receipts, etc.) to establish a time frame when you and your fiancee were together, and the fact that you actually traveled to her country. The photos just need to demonstrate that you were actually together during the trip. Since the hardest part is actually going there, USCIS is likely to accept any evidence you were together if you can prove you were both in the same country at the time you claim to have been.

Just for giggles, I made a 'shopped' a photo of myself and Phuong standing in the crow's nest of the flag tower at the Citadel in Hue City. It looks very convincing, but of course it's a fake - visitors aren't allowed to climb the flag tower at the Citadel. I didn't even take the photo of the flag tower - I got it from the internet. Also, the clips of myself and Phuong were taken from two different photos which WERE taken with my camera. Obviously, I wouldn't dream of including such a photo with our evidence. I was just having some fun to amuse Phuong.

[Greg_n_Lien 0]

What I did in addition to having the boarding passes and country entry exit stamps, photos and hotel recipt. I went to a notary with my fiancee and 2 witnesses and had the notary examine our Identification as we are using it it apply for the K-1 and state that we were present together on this day [while I was ther of course] in her office and applied her notary seal. Then I took it to an official translator to be translated into english... I read someone mention here somewhere that it was a solid way of proving you met in person.. Has anyone else here done this type of evidence document ?

I've never heard of anybody going to such lengths. The boarding passes and passport stamps evidence you were in the same country. That's good enough for USCIS every time.

What if i do not have the boarding passes from my first trip???? I do have the Visa stamps in my passport and LOT of pictures of US together at obvious HCMC landmarks. Will that be suffient as proof of arrival in Vietnam???

Edited October 11, 2009 by gthuffines

[pushbrk 12,102]

What I did in addition to having the boarding passes and country entry exit stamps, photos and hotel recipt. I went to a notary with my fiancee and 2 witnesses and had the notary examine our Identification as we are using it it apply for the K-1 and state that we were present together on this day [while I was ther of course] in her office and applied her notary seal. Then I took it to an official translator to be translated into english... I read someone mention here somewhere that it was a solid way of proving you met in person.. Has anyone else here done this type of evidence document ?

I've never heard of anybody going to such lengths. The boarding passes and passport stamps evidence you were in the same country. That's good enough for USCIS every time.

What if i do not have the boarding passes from my first trip???? I do have the Visa stamps in my passport and LOT of pictures of US together at obvious HCMC landmarks. Will that be suffient as proof of arrival in Vietnam???

The visa stamps are sufficient primary evidence of meeting. USCIS is not looking for an abundance of redundant evidence, just sufficient to conclud you were actually together in the past two years. It's best to concern yourself with evidence of a bona fide relationship and addressing any red flags associated with how you met etc. The bona fides are the larger hurdle that impacts your ultimate succuss. Evidence of meeting is a small but absolutely required step in getting the petition approved. Petition approval is the easy part.

[Chris_Жанна 11]

What I did in addition to having the boarding passes and country entry exit stamps, photos and hotel recipt. I went to a notary with my fiancee and 2 witnesses and had the notary examine our Identification as we are using it it apply for the K-1 and state that we were present together on this day [while I was ther of course] in her office and applied her notary seal. Then I took it to an official translator to be translated into english... I read someone mention here somewhere that it was a solid way of proving you met in person.. Has anyone else here done this type of evidence document ?

You'll be fine. Sounds like you did your homework. Only other thing I can think that you may want to do is take a picture together with the front page of a news paper, but it sounds like you already have more than enough evidence.

Best of luck!

I've heard this recommended before. I've also heard it recommended that you should include photos in front of famous local landmarks. In the age of PhotoShop, I think that USCIS would give a photo like that just as much weight as they do any other photo. I wouldn't include a photo like this at the consulate stage, at least not in a high fraud country. If they accept that the photo is legitimate (they probably would), it still would look staged. Posed photos are often not very useful in proving a relationship, especially if they look like they should be accompanied by a ransom note. On the other hand, if you were at any large family gatherings where it would have been difficult to get everyone in the frame at the same time, then it would be helpful to have some random shots of groups of people, and maybe a single "portrait" style of the whole family. Again, I'm talking about the consulate and not USCIS.

For the petition, it's best to depend on your primary evidence (boarding passes, visa stamps, hotel receipts, etc.) to establish a time frame when you and your fiancee were together, and the fact that you actually traveled to her country. The photos just need to demonstrate that you were actually together during the trip. Since the hardest part is actually going there, USCIS is likely to accept any evidence you were together if you can prove you were both in the same country at the time you claim to have been.

Just for giggles, I made a 'shopped' a photo of myself and Phuong standing in the crow's nest of the flag tower at the Citadel in Hue City. It looks very convincing, but of course it's a fake - visitors aren't allowed to climb the flag tower at the Citadel. I didn't even take the photo of the flag tower - I got it from the internet. Also, the clips of myself and Phuong were taken from two different photos which WERE taken with my camera. Obviously, I wouldn't dream of including such a photo with our evidence. I was just having some fun to amuse Phuong.

I can understand your point. I included a pic with Janna and I holding the front page of the news paper in my petition. The only reason I suggest this is that this is a form of proof for some insurance claims and also accepted evidence in some court cases. Of course with the petition I sent photos of Janna with myself and family and friends as well as ones I thought showed a loving relationship. But of course you are correct, in the age of photoshop this could look staged to the consul especially in high fraud countries. I was just making more of a reference to USCIS for the petition to clear, but the consul does see the evidence that was originally submitted to USCIS.

And of course photos are just secondary forms of evidence. The boarding passes, itineraries, I-94's, receipts of travel, Visas, Stamps on passport, etc..

will be the most convincing.

Honestly, I think the OP has more than enough evidence and should not have a problem with the USCIS as far as establishing the point that they have met in the last 2 years.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

What I did in addition to having the boarding passes and country entry exit stamps, photos and hotel recipt. I went to a notary with my fiancee and 2 witnesses and had the notary examine our Identification as we are using it it apply for the K-1 and state that we were present together on this day [while I was ther of course] in her office and applied her notary seal. Then I took it to an official translator to be translated into english... I read someone mention here somewhere that it was a solid way of proving you met in person.. Has anyone else here done this type of evidence document ?

I've never heard of anybody going to such lengths. The boarding passes and passport stamps evidence you were in the same country. That's good enough for USCIS every time.

What if i do not have the boarding passes from my first trip???? I do have the Visa stamps in my passport and LOT of pictures of US together at obvious HCMC landmarks. Will that be suffient as proof of arrival in Vietnam???

If you got a single entry visa then the visa sticker should have a "HET GIA TRI - USED" stamp on it, and the opposing page should have the entry and exit rubber stamps. Make sure you include copies of both pages - the visa sticker page, and the entry/exit stamp page. The visa sticker has valid dates on it, but the entry/exit stamps show the dates you actually entered and left the country.