Letters confirming relationship to send in with first K1 packet

[garnet80 1]

Hello, my mother and uncle have agreed to write or sign letters that verify my fiance and I are in a genuine relationship, and have them notarized. Maybe I'm being stupid, but if my fiance signs them at the same time my mom and uncle do, this will help prove he was actually here and we met, right?

Also, should these letters be formal? Or casual? If they need to be formal, is there a general structure to use? Don't want to mess this up when, at least in my mind, it seems like a good thing to add.

I don't love the idea of sending in emails. :/ Is it inadvisable to skip this? Right now for proof of meeting and ongoing relationship are:

several pictures, taken over two trips, most of us, a couple with us and my mom, us at my work with my boss, and us with my uncle.

scanned passport stamps

scanned boarding passes

printed itinerary

printed copy of the receipt of the shuttle service which drove him to the airport to my home

soon the notarized relationship confirmation letters?

I might be forgetting things...

We don't talk on the phone, ever. We just use google chat video. We don't have landlines, and can't really swing the crazy cell bills. We do email a lot... but I don't know, if I can skip sending those, I will.

I could scan exchanged greeting cards and what we've written? And the stamp/postmark too.

Thanks!

[Calypso 464]

Hello, my mother and uncle have agreed to write or sign letters that verify my fiance and I are in a genuine relationship, and have them notarized. Maybe I'm being stupid, but if my fiance signs them at the same time my mom and uncle do, this will help prove he was actually here and we met, right?

Also, should these letters be formal? Or casual? If they need to be formal, is there a general structure to use? Don't want to mess this up when, at least in my mind, it seems like a good thing to add.

I don't love the idea of sending in emails. :/ Is it inadvisable to skip this? Right now for proof of meeting and ongoing relationship are:

several pictures, taken over two trips, most of us, a couple with us and my mom, us at my work with my boss, and us with my uncle.

scanned passport stamps

scanned boarding passes

printed itinerary

printed copy of the receipt of the shuttle service which drove him to the airport to my home

soon the notarized relationship confirmation letters?

I might be forgetting things...

We don't talk on the phone, ever. We just use google chat video. We don't have landlines, and can't really swing the crazy cell bills. We do email a lot... but I don't know, if I can skip sending those, I will.

I could scan exchanged greeting cards and what we've written? And the stamp/postmark too.

Thanks!

Are you and your fiance preparing the I-129F?

Everything that you have mentioned sounds suitable. I also made my younger brother, mother, and a close friend write a letter stating that my fiance and I have a real relationship way back when we were getting the I-129F ready for submission. I had each letter notarized, too. If your fiance is only about to send the I-129F, there's no need to include chat logs, e-mails, phone bills, or greeting cards. As far as I remember in the I-129F, you only have to prove that you met within the past two years. Proof of ongoing relationship such as chat logs, e-mails, phone bills, or greeting cards are to be submitted to the Embassy in the final stage of the K1 visa process.

BTW, my fiance only sent 4-6 photos for the I-129F. There was no problem about that. We had no RFE's at all.

Hakuna matata.

God bless us all.

FAE

[Calypso 464]

As for the structure of the letter that you want your mom and uncle to sign, it was I, the beneficiary, who made them and I just asked my brother, mother, and friend to copy them and sign. Ahehehe... I didn't want it to be a burden for them. I was just assisting, after all, I needed them to do me a favor. I didn't follow any sample but I designed it half-formal and half-casual. Another thing was that I asked my mother, brother, and friend to do it handwritten with signature and another copy for each typed with signature, too, then had all copies notarized.

Aside from you me, there are surely other applicants who sent notarized letters to the USCIS as part of the I-129F.

Hakuna matata.

God bless us all.

FAE

Edited December 25, 2009 by Arbind.Ariadne

[Lindsey8181 1]

Hi!

I know the idea of including emails in your packet as evidence doesn't sit well, but I would recommend doing it. I included about two emails per month that my fiance and I have known each other, along with two chat logs for that month. We mainly commiunicate via Skype and there are a few emails and brief chats here and there. You can always black out whatever content you are uncomfortable sharing, but it's a good idea to show there is dated communication between the two of you. Also, if it helps, I'm sure you will never meet the people reviewing your file and I'm sure they have come across all types of stuff in emails, chats, etc., so I wouldn't worry about it too much. I had my reservations as well, but if it's going to help establish proof of our relationship and make the processing faster, I'll do whatever it takes.

I would definitely include scanned copies of any mail including postage that you have sent to each other. The attorney I saw recommended doing that. Again, include things from a range of dates.

Everything else that you plan to include sounds good. I'm not sure about the letters from your mom and uncle - I don't think it would hurt. Maybe someone else could weigh in on that one.

Hope this helps and wishing you the best of luck!

[Anh map 2,098]

For the I-129F you need to prove that you've met face to face within the last two years. Affidavits are secondary evidence. Primary evidence are passport stamps , boarding passes, baggage tags, a couple of photos.

The proof of bona fide relationship is at the interview stage. That is where the emails, snail mail, etc. will be evaluated. The affidavits can be included as well if you like. The sampling of emails and chat logs will show the development of your relationship. If you've discussed something particularly juicy, just black that portion out. The CO is interested in your relationship, not your sex life.

[Martyshk 137]

I added notarized affidavits from my parents, her parents, her uncle and grandmother (we stayed at their place in The Netherlands) and also from my aunt and uncle (we stayed at their place in Israel).

Basically, those affidavits are all free form. Something like: "I, yadda yadda, am fully aware that these two are in genuine relationship and they stayed at my house on these dates, yadda-yadda).

You don't need to include that stuff, but I doubt it will hurt.

I am also concerned with the chat logs (we don't email each other pretty much, just chat and calls), because 99% of our chat logs is quite personal, I can maybe pick out two-three over the course of 7 months that won't be blacked out completely.

However, as previous posters put it - if that ####### gets us a visa, I don't care what they read and who reads it!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hello, my mother and uncle have agreed to write or sign letters that verify my fiance and I are in a genuine relationship, and have them notarized. Maybe I'm being stupid, but if my fiance signs them at the same time my mom and uncle do, this will help prove he was actually here and we met, right?

Also, should these letters be formal? Or casual? If they need to be formal, is there a general structure to use? Don't want to mess this up when, at least in my mind, it seems like a good thing to add.

I don't love the idea of sending in emails. :/ Is it inadvisable to skip this? Right now for proof of meeting and ongoing relationship are:

several pictures, taken over two trips, most of us, a couple with us and my mom, us at my work with my boss, and us with my uncle.

scanned passport stamps

scanned boarding passes

printed itinerary

printed copy of the receipt of the shuttle service which drove him to the airport to my home

soon the notarized relationship confirmation letters?

I might be forgetting things...

We don't talk on the phone, ever. We just use google chat video. We don't have landlines, and can't really swing the crazy cell bills. We do email a lot... but I don't know, if I can skip sending those, I will.

I could scan exchanged greeting cards and what we've written? And the stamp/postmark too.

Thanks!

You don't need ANY proof of relationship for the petition. Only proof of meeting in person at least one time in the last two years. NO, your fiance signing the letters will not prove anything. The petitioner needs to submit proof they have been to Canada, or vice versa, such as plane boarding passes and evidence YOU TWO have met in person (they do not care if he has met your aunt and uncle) such as photos.

You are entering into a process which will require you to demostrate evidence of relationship, multiple times, over the next several years. I suggest you communicate in a manner that will generate such evidence, not just what is convenient or cheap for you, but it is your choice. It is the responsibility of the couple to PROVE their relationship.

[TBoneTX 45,536]

In the letters that others write for you, the writers should include their complete contact information. I received this advice from an attorney.

[Danu 19]

Hello, my mother and uncle have agreed to write or sign letters that verify my fiance and I are in a genuine relationship, and have them notarized. Maybe I'm being stupid, but if my fiance signs them at the same time my mom and uncle do, this will help prove he was actually here and we met, right?

Also, should these letters be formal? Or casual? If they need to be formal, is there a general structure to use? Don't want to mess this up when, at least in my mind, it seems like a good thing to add.

I don't love the idea of sending in emails. :/ Is it inadvisable to skip this? Right now for proof of meeting and ongoing relationship are:

several pictures, taken over two trips, most of us, a couple with us and my mom, us at my work with my boss, and us with my uncle.

scanned passport stamps

scanned boarding passes

printed itinerary

printed copy of the receipt of the shuttle service which drove him to the airport to my home

soon the notarized relationship confirmation letters?

I might be forgetting things...

We don't talk on the phone, ever. We just use google chat video. We don't have landlines, and can't really swing the crazy cell bills. We do email a lot... but I don't know, if I can skip sending those, I will.

I could scan exchanged greeting cards and what we've written? And the stamp/postmark too.

Thanks!

Really for the first part of the application you only need to send proof that you've seen each other in the last 2 years. Photos, plane tickets, hotel reciepts credit card statements from the time you were there, that kind of thing. Everything else is something you would take to Vancouver/Montreal but they generally don't even look at much of the stuff like emails and letters from family. Those would be great to take to the consulate with you just incase but Canada doesn't require you to frontload your petition like other countries do. Your itineraries, passport stamps, boarding passes etc will be fine for the proof of meeting within 2 years.

We don't call a lot either because he only has a cellphone, but we printed out text records and skype logs, a few msn chats, a few messages off facebook, a card he sent me and brought some pictures to the consulate as well. The only thing our dude looked at was the card and one picture. Better to be over prepared there than underprepared, but thats all for the consulate phase.

Edited December 28, 2009 by Danu