Question about Fiance(e) Visa

[RE206NZ 0]

I have some questions concerning my petition for my Fiancee who is in the Philippines right now and I am in the USA. I filed for the petition in February and I received a Notice of Action on this month of April (Request For Evidence) and it is asking for "Film Dated" photographs of the Petitioner and the Beneficiary of last meeting. My question is, "Is it necessary to have the pictures with the date indicated on the bottom right corner?" because the modern days you can take out the date indicator on the settings of the digital camera these days just to make picture look nice when you print them out. I'm just afraid of any denials just because of a date not being indicated on the pictures and my Fiancee and I have been waiting for quite a while now and we really do miss each other so much. Can someone please help me get my question answered for that concern?

I also have another question concerning the process time. My Fiancee has some friends and I have some friends as well who has filed for I-129F as well and some of them didn't take that long to receive approval and are now together here in the US. Some of them said it took them 5 months and some said that it took them 6 months. My question for this concern is "What can I do to make the process faster, or what can we do to make the process faster in advance? Should she take her Medical Tests, Police Clearance, and etc.?"

My last concern for this forum, when I filed I sent the following forms to the USCIS: I-129F, Affidavit of Support (along with copies of income tax return from previous year and some paystubs of current job), Biographic Date (both from Her and Me),2x2 pictures of Myself, 2x2 pictures of Fiancee, Immigrant pictures of Fiancee, Copy of Fiancee's passport, Copy of Fiancee's Birth Certificate, Copy of Fiancee's Baptismal Certificate, Copy of Fiancee's School Certificate, Copy of My Passport (Both Philippine and US), Copy of Arrival in the Philippines, Copy of Return to the US. My last question for this concern is "What else will I be needing in order to be complete and safe?"

Thank you all very much, looking forward to reading some quick responses hopefully by tonight. God bless and good luck to those who have already made it here in the US.

[Dakine 26]

I have some questions concerning my petition for my Fiancee who is in the Philippines right now and I am in the USA. I filed for the petition in February and I received a Notice of Action on this month of April (Request For Evidence) and it is asking for "Film Dated" photographs of the Petitioner and the Beneficiary of last meeting. My question is, "Is it necessary to have the pictures with the date indicated on the bottom right corner?" because the modern days you can take out the date indicator on the settings of the digital camera these days just to make picture look nice when you print them out. I'm just afraid of any denials just because of a date not being indicated on the pictures and my Fiancee and I have been waiting for quite a while now and we really do miss each other so much. Can someone please help me get my question answered for that concern?

I also have another question concerning the process time. My Fiancee has some friends and I have some friends as well who has filed for I-129F as well and some of them didn't take that long to receive approval and are now together here in the US. Some of them said it took them 5 months and some said that it took them 6 months. My question for this concern is "What can I do to make the process faster, or what can we do to make the process faster in advance? Should she take her Medical Tests, Police Clearance, and etc.?"

My last concern for this forum, when I filed I sent the following forms to the USCIS: I-129F, Affidavit of Support (along with copies of income tax return from previous year and some paystubs of current job), Biographic Date (both from Her and Me),2x2 pictures of Myself, 2x2 pictures of Fiancee, Immigrant pictures of Fiancee, Copy of Fiancee's passport, Copy of Fiancee's Birth Certificate, Copy of Fiancee's Baptismal Certificate, Copy of Fiancee's School Certificate, Copy of My Passport (Both Philippine and US), Copy of Arrival in the Philippines, Copy of Return to the US. My last question for this concern is "What else will I be needing in order to be complete and safe?"

Thank you all very much, looking forward to reading some quick responses hopefully by tonight. God bless and good luck to those who have already made it here in the US.

Looks like you "got the cart before the horse".

You are only required to show evidence of having met in person in the last 2 years for the initial petition and approval.

You didn't need the financial proof and info intil the USEM interview. You probably just muddied the waters.

Send in ALL information proving you met in the 2 years prior to your filing date.

Early medical, police clearance etc won't speed anything up.

May help from delaying tho if problems should pop up.

Take care of the RFE first.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

It sounds like you sent sufficient proof that you've been to the Philippines, but you didn't include any actual evidence that you met your fiancee. This is why they're asking for pictures. They don't actually have to be "film dated". Almost nobody submits pictures that are "film dated". Just write on the back of each photo - the date the photo was taken, the location, and who is in the picture.

The affidavit of support and tax returns are not needed until the interview. You also did not need to submit copies of her birth certificate, baptismal certificate, school certificate, or passport - none of that is needed with the package you send to USCIS. Her original birth certificate (and a copy) and her original passport WILL be required at the consulate interview. The other stuff mentioned above - probably never required.

What is "Immigrant pictures of Fiancee"?

You're also supposed to submit original signed statements - one from you and one from her - stating your intent to marry when she arrives in the US. On this site those statements are referred to as "letters of intent". Did you include these?

Have a look at the K1 guides to see what you need to include, or should have included. Click "Guides" at the top of the page.

[Alcheringa 39]

Jim covered it all clearly, but I have to add this: you get an A for effort and a D for execution.

Following the simple Guides here in the forum, you'd have seen that you included much of what did not need to be sent to the USCIS, while failing to attach what was most important. As it has been said, the only goal of the K-1 petition is to provide convincing evidence that the petitioner and beneficiary have met at least once in person within the previous two years. Photos (captioned with dates and locations) go far in that regard.

Many of us simply print six photos to a page, and that works just fine.

By including an I-134 Affidavit of Support with the initial petition, you just told the USCIS that you simply tossed the packet together without determining what was required. That in itself shoudn't cause any issues, but it does make you look unprepared and unknowledgeable -- which isn't exactly positive in terms of speeding up the process.

Which leads to your last question. The only thing you could have done to ensure a speedy adjudication would have been to have investigated the process thoroughly, determined exactly what was needed, and then sent it in correctly the first time. Now you've received an RFE on this -- and who can say what else as it moves along -- so you've put yourself behind a few steps already and there isn't much you can do at this point but parlay their requests and keep your fingers crossed.

Even in cases where petitions were put together perfectly it can take 6+ months. Just depends on factors no one can predict.

Just educate yourself on the rest of it, and put it in order from this point on. The forum here will serve you well in that regard.

Good luck.

[Alcheringa 39]

As far as tips regarding Manila:

1) How long does she have left on her passport? She needs to have at least six months left at the time of the interview.

2) I would go ahead and acquire her local police clearance, NBI, CENOMAR and birth certificate now so that she has them in hand. And get a few copies of each (if possible) for later. Point is, get it all together now so she can proceed with the interview when the time comes. There is nothing worse than struggling with the Philippine authorities over documentation while delaying the interview itself -- when it could have been completed beforehand.

3) Once you receive your NOA2 and your petition arrives at the NVC, you can call the NVC and get the MNL case number. With that case number and NOA2 in hand (emailed scan suffices), she can show up at St. Lukes and do her medical. Even before scheduling her interview appointment. We did the medical, and immediately afterward scheduled the interview for a few days later.

4) The Manila embassy does not always send out a letter notifying the fiancé that the petition is received -- we never received ours. As such, do not expect instructions. Which is fine, since you do not need them. Here is the link to everything you need to know -- http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwfk1en.pdf --

The instructions on setting up the interview are confusing, as is the information on the embassy's website. As I told you, you can do medical with the NOA2 and case number, then call the embassy at the number stated in this PDF to arrange your own interview. It's that simple, so don't over-think it.

5) Obtaining the CFO stamp was a breeze. We showed up in the afternoon at PRISM, she sat through the briefing, and we made it over to the CFO building in time to be stamped before close of business. Be sure she has photo-copies of her visa and passport i.d. page for PRISM, and it'll speed things up if she fills out and prints the online CFO registration form ahead of time.

During the PRISM briefing they'll try to offer her a new bank account at the BDO next door, but what they fail to mention is that there are no BDO branches in the States. Which makes it a useless offer. Nevertheless, many of the girls sit over there to get it even though they have no idea why they are doing so.

In any case, we managed to move through the process at a good clip without any snags, so if you need any info just PM me.