Two Quick Questions

[rs1971 0]

Hi,

Just a couple of quick questions:

(1) As I read through the archives here there is a lot of talk about 'high fraud consulates' but I've not really seen any kind of list of which embassies fit this definition. Is there some kind of objective measure or is it pretty much just a subjective criteria. In either event, I'm wondering whether or not people consider Bogota, Colombia to be a high fraud consulate?

(2) A few weeks ago I received in the mail from my fiancee, signed / dated copies of her G-325A and letter of intent. The forms are dated April 3rd, but unfortunately, I still haven't got everything together to send the I-129F packet off. Does it matter if the signatures are stale by a few weeks?

Thanks in advance.

-rs1971

[Audy_Rob 26]

Hi,

Just a couple of quick questions:

(1) As I read through the archives here there is a lot of talk about 'high fraud consulates' but I've not really seen any kind of list of which embassies fit this definition. Is there some kind of objective measure or is it pretty much just a subjective criteria. In either event, I'm wondering whether or not people consider Bogota, Colombia to be a high fraud consulate?

(2) A few weeks ago I received in the mail from my fiancee, signed / dated copies of her G-325A and letter of intent. The forms are dated April 3rd, but unfortunately, I still haven't got everything together to send the I-129F packet off. Does it matter if the signatures are stale by a few weeks?

Thanks in advance.

-rs1971

The signatures can be off by a few weeks with no issue. The only reason USCIS might think there is an issue is because the passport style photos should be taken within thirty days of the submission of the I-129F. She did send you recent passport style photos didn't she??? Anyway, if the signatures are dated six weeks before the submission, then the photos are probably not within specification either.

[Nik+Heather 121]

1. Just anecdotally, when I think of high fraud consulates Bogota doesn't ring a bell as one of the worst offenders (Anything in MENA, Ecuador, Nigeria) but also neither does it ring as one of the easy ones (Canada, UK, Australia...) There is a link at the top of the page for Reviews: Embassy/USCIS POE. You can read up about people's experiences there. Based on that research, you may consider "front loading" your petition with some of the requirements, especially for relationship bonafides with your petition packet.

2. No, I don't think they would consider the signatures to be "stale" Hell, they might not even look at your petition for 6 months, what is a week or two to that? It's perfectly understandable that it may take some time to assemble the filing.

[TBoneTX 43,254]

Heather is correct. From personal experience, hear me now: Be eternally thankful that you are NOT dealing with a certain smaller neighboring country's U.S. consulate, si man!

[TheBears 9]

Not that we did K-1, but since we all go through USCIS the same, here's my 2 cents.

We signed our paperwork August 1st. We didn't submit the petition until Halloween. By the time USCIS received it, the signatures were 3 months old. No problems so far. I can't see a few weeks making any difference. Just bring an updated letter of intent to the interview, just in case.

[Bernie C 24]

Agreed - dates should not be a problem. I had Doan sign papers when I was in Vietnam in April 09 and did not send the petition until June 09 so there was a few months between - not a problem for us.

[rs1971 0]

Thanks everyone for all of the comments - they are all very useful.

-rs1971