RFE on last personal meeting

[dd4ever 0]

After 3 months (exactly) from filling for I-129F we received a RFE on last personal meeting. We have attached initially itinerary from one of our flights together, but I guess it was not enough. Now, we have been meeting every 2 weeks, since we are about 400 miles away one of us is driving and we took a few trips together. How cab we proof this, to cross the canadian border there is no vis on our passports, and from our flights together we did not kept the tickets. Does anyone went through this and any suggestions on how to proof our meetings? What if we get denied? can we get married and then just file from US? Help....

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Moved from AOS forum to K-1 forum

Moderator hat off:

What about gas receipts purchased by each of you during your visits back and forth showing the location of the gas stations? Credit card receipts for activities done together, gas purchased, hotel rooms together, gifts purchased? Any luggage tags on luggage that might have been checked showing POE; credit card statements showing purchase of flight tickets? Try to think of things that might prove you were both in the same place at the same time or travelling to the same place at the same time. Try to prepare a list of all of your meetings since then, including how you travelled and where you met, also explaining that you don't get passports stamped crossing into Canada and back and include that even though it isn't asked for. I don't know if you would be able to get a listing of border crossing dates for your license plates/tags (plates are scanned as they arrive at both borders) but you can give that a try. Did you get together with friends or family on your last visit? Would they write a notarized letter attesting to the fact that thye met with you then, that you went out together then, etc.

Good luck.

Edited January 24, 2010 by Kathryn41

[Jl_n_JL 0]

Take pictures.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

After 3 months (exactly) from filling for I-129F we received a RFE on last personal meeting. We have attached initially itinerary from one of our flights together, but I guess it was not enough. Now, we have been meeting every 2 weeks, since we are about 400 miles away one of us is driving and we took a few trips together. How cab we proof this, to cross the canadian border there is no vis on our passports, and from our flights together we did not kept the tickets. Does anyone went through this and any suggestions on how to proof our meetings? What if we get denied? can we get married and then just file from US? Help....

What you've done since filing the I-129F is of no use. You have to prove you met the requirement at the time you submitted the application. Otherwise, you have to submit a new application.

An itinerary is useless. I can go to any airline website right now and produce an itinerary for a trip and print it out. I can even purchase the tickets, and print a receipt showing that I purchased the tickets. None of this proves I actually made the trip. In your case, a boarding pass or airline baggage tags would help prove you actually got on the plane.

As Kathryn noted, receipts are good evidence if they contain two critical pieces of information: 1 - the receipts are connected in some way to you personally (credit or debit card number, etc.), and 2 - they indicate the location where the receipt was issued (name and location of a hotel, restaurant, or even ATM machine). You may be able to get sufficient records from your bank to prove this, presuming you or your fiancee used a credit or debit card while you were together. Add to this some photos of the two of you together, and you should be fine. Remember - the evidence has to show that both of you were in the same place at the same time. In other words, they have to show that she visited you or that you visited her. An ATM slip you got from your own local bank wouldn't prove this, but an ATM slip you received at a bank in HER town would do, as would an ATM slip she received at a bank in YOUR town.

If you decide to get married in the US and apply for a green card you WILL BE DENIED. What's more, your fiancee will probably be banned from the US. Why? Because you've already submitted a K1 visa application. There is NO WAY you will convince USCIS that she entered the country on a non-immigrant pass with no intention of immigrating, and this is absolutely essential if the AOS is to succeed.

Your best bet is to do your best to get the evidence you need to respond to the RFE. This is one of the simplest requirements to meet. If you can't do this, then withdraw your petition. The next time the two of you are together, go to a local notary and get your signatures notarized on a document at the SAME TIME. You can use your letters of intent for this, if you like. Submit this with your next petition. Some people will say this is overkill, but I can't imagine USCIS denying it. You'll have proof positive in one simple act.

[PeruvyandGringa 25]

yes, credit card statements? My credit card company has a year worth of detailed billing online. I purposefully purchased things with my credit card in route )Atlanta) as well as in Madrid on my last couple of trips over there (after I filed too, of course!).

Also, cell phone bills? Again, they had a year worth of statements online. I did get a little sentimental when I saw the first calls I made to my fiance's cell after meeting him. The detail shows that I was in Spain, calling his Spanish cell phone (thankfully I was being too lazy to get a calling card!). Hopefully you were using your phone en route and also at your destinations together? My fiance gets lost easily, and twice I had to call him when I arrived at the airport in Madrid. A call from my cell to his, minutes after landing in his country. Why? because he is ALWAYS waiting in the wrong terminal!

I never did keep receipts either (I certainly do now), but there were other things we did have to show we were together (and of course, I had passport stamps, so mine was a little easier).

[Dot 0]

Pictures? Events? Chat logs? emails ?

How long have you guys known each other?

Now I am feeling nervous because my person is also USA /CAnada, and you are right, I went to canada twice and got no stamps on my passport. It's not fair

Trips you guys went together? Those should have stamps if you traveled to another country there should be date stamps.

Edited January 25, 2010 by Dot

[trailmix 77]

Pictures? Events? Chat logs? emails ?

How long have you guys known each other?

Now I am feeling nervous because my person is also USA /CAnada, and you are right, I went to canada twice and got no stamps on my passport. It's not fair

Trips you guys went together? Those should have stamps if you traveled to another country there should be date stamps.

No reason for you to feel nervous Dot.

Hundreds of Canadians file for fiancee visas every year, many many have no stamps in their passport - it's just not an issue if you have other proof.

[baron555 934]

After 3 months (exactly) from filling for I-129F we received a RFE on last personal meeting. We have attached initially itinerary from one of our flights together, but I guess it was not enough. Now, we have been meeting every 2 weeks, since we are about 400 miles away one of us is driving and we took a few trips together. How cab we proof this, to cross the canadian border there is no vis on our passports, and from our flights together we did not kept the tickets. Does anyone went through this and any suggestions on how to proof our meetings? What if we get denied? can we get married and then just file from US? Help....

The proof of meeting once has to have occured on a date within two years prior to the initial filing date of your petition. Any meeting after that date is not valid for this requirement. Itineraires are useless since they prove nothing; I can draft up a fake itinerary very quickly. How about photos? Hotel receipts? Restaurant receipts? Passport stamps? Anything?

If you have nothing, then your petition will be denied and you can refile using one of these later meetings where you generated the required evidence.

[Bernie C 24]

Rather than itinerary you should submit boarding passes. How about pictures. Maybe you can tell is everything you did submit, this will enable readers to see where the voids are.

[dd4ever 0]

so I guess we are in trouble! while i am in canada he is paying, while in US I am, We are doing this for the last two years! we only use a common bank account - we have both names on it!- for common trips, but we never thought to put both names on a hotel bill ......is it really so hard for honest people to get together? I would never imagined.......we wanted to do it right, but maybe we should have gotten married first then applied for visa. At this time I only have a few visa statements with purchasing airline tickets on both names....I also asked the airline to send me copies of the tickets....we'll see if we get them on time......thanks for all your tips.....I will send eveerything I find.......

[pushbrk 12,968]

Rather than itinerary you should submit boarding passes. How about pictures. Maybe you can tell is everything you did submit, this will enable readers to see where the voids are.

Photos are secondary evidence. It's good to submit them but not primary evidence of meeting in person within a date range. As indicated already, the best you may find at this date is records of ATM or credit card purchases indicating the name and place. Any credit card or ATM receipt showing the petitioner was in Canada or beneficiary in the USA within the two years preceding the petition filing date will do.

[dd4ever 0]

if the application gets denied, what next? is there a time period before I can reapply? Is it faster to get married in Canada and then I can apply again for bringing him here? Anyone? Please.....

[TracyTN 237]

If you get denied, you'll still have to overcome the reason for the denial, so getting married doesn't automatically fix everything.

I don't get why they even care about this second meeting. Is it the only one that took place within the last 2 years (at the time you submitted the petition)?

Flight itineraries show them nothing other than two flights were booked. Boarding passes from both of you are a much better bet.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

if the application gets denied, what next? is there a time period before I can reapply? Is it faster to get married in Canada and then I can apply again for bringing him here? Anyone? Please.....

You don't have to wait for it to be denied. If you can't get the evidence you need then you can send a notarized letter to USCIS withdrawing the petition. Assuming you've never filed any other K1 visa petition, it will have no effect on your ability to reapply. There are filing limitations that require a waiver request, but these only kick in if you've filed two or more petitions at anytime in your life, or you've had a petition approved within the past two years.

A spousal visa takes a little longer than a fiancee visa, in addition to the fact that you have to get married first. On the other hand, if you withdraw your petition or it's canceled because you can't provide the evidence they need, then you'll have to arrange another meeting before you file anyway. It wouldn't hurt to go ahead and get married, and then file a CR1 petition. It will take a little longer, but it will cost less, and you won't have to file for a green card after he arrives - he'll enter the US as an LPR, and get his green card automatically shortly after he arrives.

Whichever course you decide to take, research the requirements before you do anything else. This will help ensure that you collect the evidence you're going to need for the immigration process.

[f1_gurl 0]

After 3 months (exactly) from filling for I-129F we received a RFE on last personal meeting. We have attached initially itinerary from one of our flights together, but I guess it was not enough. Now, we have been meeting every 2 weeks, since we are about 400 miles away one of us is driving and we took a few trips together. How cab we proof this, to cross the canadian border there is no vis on our passports, and from our flights together we did not kept the tickets. Does anyone went through this and any suggestions on how to proof our meetings? What if we get denied? can we get married and then just file from US? Help....

Take pictures and make sure to put date stamps on it... goodluck~