Q's Regarding I-129F Packet

[FawkThisSite 13]

Hello everyone, I just had a few questions regarding the I-129F packet. I am in the process of putting it together as we speak, and I just wanted to get some information from anyone that could help.

1. Could someone who was approved of their I-129F please post a picture of how you put the packet together. I purchased some self-adhesive tabs today and am curious wether I should place them directly on the corresponding page or maybe on a blank page before it, like a divider.

2. For the submission of photos as evidence of having met within the past two years and also for an ongoing relationship, how should I place the photos in the packet. I read that some people placed them in plastic bags and stapled them to a paper titled accordingly. (Doesn't seem so professional)

3. Extra documentation will not affect the decision of approval, will it? For example, it doesn't ask for things such as the beneficiaries passport or birth ceritifcate, but I want to provide them as to be thorough. (All her documentation has been notorized and translated)

4. In regards to Part C, Question 2... Anything that I have been charged with has been expunged, when I went to the courthouse to retrieve that record, they basically gave me a blank piece of paper. Nothing shows on my criminal record, but it states that even if the charges have been sealed or otherwise cleared I still need to provide documentation. Someone that has experienced this situation... please tell me that you were approved.

5. For Form G-325A, it took me a long time to find what I like to do in life, is my bad employment history going to affect my application negatively?

I would like to thank everyone in advance. I really appreciate your input. It would be very nice if someone who has gone through these same situation and that were approved could post, but ofcourse I would like help from anyone and everyone. So far I have used this site to help me gather most of the information that I needed. I think it is going pretty good so far. I am currently waiting to receive mail from my fiance with her supporting documentation. I am planning on having this packet submitted as of the end of next week. I will post some pics here shortly on how I assembled my packet. Thank you again.

Edited September 19, 2010 by xlbLoOdlx

[Inky 1,111]

Plastic bags for pictures and a giant giant paperclip holding it all together in order, you can send it all fancy and done up and waste your money but that seems silly because they will throw it all out and put it back together in their folders with their hole punches the way they want it.

[FawkThisSite 13]

Plastic bags for pictures and a giant giant paperclip holding it all together in order, you can send it all fancy and done up and waste your money but that seems silly because they will throw it all out and put it back together in their folders with their hole punches the way they want it.

I currently have all documentation two-hole punched at the top fastened in a manila fastener folder. I got the information about using the tabs on the USCIS site. Am I really wasting my time preparing it this way? The money spent is well worth my fiance obtaining her visa to come back, and I only spent like $30 dollars. Either way, I don't mind. Is that how you submitted your packet? No tabs to identify sections or anything? Were you approved?

[Inky 1,111]

Yes approved, yes thats how i submitted it with a cover letter detailing whats in the package. When I saw my papers at the embassy it was all taken a part specially hole punched in their own folder with writing all over everything in red pen and black pen, they reorganized it and refiled it all differently. they added in alot of extra stuff and the file was ginormus.

[FawkThisSite 13]

Yes approved, yes thats how i submitted it with a cover letter detailing whats in the package. When I saw my papers at the embassy it was all taken a part specially hole punched in their own folder with writing all over everything in red pen and black pen, they reorganized it and refiled it all differently. they added in alot of extra stuff and the file was ginormus.

Thank you for your response. You know, my nerves are totally shot from all this, and I just want everything to be perfect. I just don't want a field officer to get irritated with my packet, considering that one months worth of text messaging alone equaled 76 pages. So I thought it would benifit me if I marked each section accordingly. The rest of my unanswered question are scaring me the most. I hope and pray that all goes well.

[Inky 1,111]

Thank you for your response. You know, my nerves are totally shot from all this, and I just want everything to be perfect. I just don't want a field officer to get irritated with my packet, considering that one months worth of text messaging alone equaled 76 pages. So I thought it would benifit me if I marked each section accordingly. The rest of my unanswered question are scaring me the most. I hope and pray that all goes well.

We too were scared about everything wanting everything perfect but in the end we made it a mountain out a mole hill! for real! It seemed way more complicated and complex than the whole thing really is. These people have 100s of thousands of petitions cross their desks im pretty sure they have seen everything and anything lol. If there is a mistake they send you an RFE and you get to fix it. It adds a little time to the petition but its better than them just tossing it in the bin!

[FawkThisSite 13]

We too were scared about everything wanting everything perfect but in the end we made it a mountain out a mole hill! for real! It seemed way more complicated and complex than the whole thing really is. These people have 100s of thousands of petitions cross their desks im pretty sure they have seen everything and anything lol. If there is a mistake they send you an RFE and you get to fix it. It adds a little time to the petition but its better than them just tossing it in the bin!

Sorry for my delay in response. I was reading up on the RFE's. Could you please tell me what you provided for evidence of meeting in person within the past two years. I have a slew of pictures (in person, and conversations through Skype after she left), movie tickets, and a "Security Checkpoint Clearence Pass" from Continental Airlines with my name printed on it, proving that I took her to the airport the day that she left. Please tell me that is enough.

Edited September 19, 2010 by xlbLoOdlx

[Inky 1,111]

Sorry for my delay in response. I was reading up on the RFE's. Could you please tell me what you provided for evidence of meeting in person within the past two years. I have a slew of pictures (in person, and conversations through Skype after she left), movie tickets, and "Security Checkpoint Clearence Pass" from Continental Airlines with my name printed on it, proving that I took her to the airport the day that she left. Please tell me that is enough.

We put in about 25 pictures with names dates and places writen on the back of it. Then airline ticket stubs, itinerarys and passport stamps. We put some internet chat papers and some phone call papers as well as some photo copys of cards and envelopes we had sent back and forth. Nothing we put in was originals it was all copys. Kept the originals.

[FawkThisSite 13]

We put in about 25 pictures with names dates and places writen on the back of it. Then airline ticket stubs, itinerarys and passport stamps. We put some internet chat papers and some phone call papers as well as some photo copys of cards and envelopes we had sent back and forth. Nothing we put in was originals it was all copys. Kept the originals.

Oh, I did forget to mention that I will be sending in copies of her airline tickets, copies of all pages in her passport, about 25 photos as well, internet chat papers, and two months worth of phone bills (Calls and Text). Is it ok that I printed out my Voice and Messaging details myself? I highlighted all calls and texts made to and from her.

We are also sending in copies of her birth certificate (front and back, and translated), Intent to Marry Letter (In her native language and translated). Her G-325A, My G-325A, The I-129F and Supplement letter for how we met. Movie stubs..... am I missing anything here. I keep checking, double checking, triple checking. I mean, I just need to hear it from someone who has been approved really.

My nerves are so bad right now that I have lost 13 pounds in the past 10 days. So you can imagine how I feel.

[Neonred 3,842]

Thank you for your response. You know, my nerves are totally shot from all this, and I just want everything to be perfect. I just don't want a field officer to get irritated with my packet, considering that one months worth of text messaging alone equaled 76 pages. So I thought it would benifit me if I marked each section accordingly. The rest of my unanswered question are scaring me the most. I hope and pray that all goes well.

You are not really sending 76 pages of text messaging, are you?

You said you don't want a field officer to get irritated, but your application is how many pages?

My whole application was not even h30 pages as I remember. couple of pages of e-mails, couple of pages of phone records, couple of copies of cards and letters, couple of pictures, etc. Who wants to look through hundreds of pages of text and chat "evidence"? That was my thought. We had no issues.

Save the birth certificate and passport for her interview. They don't need it yet.

Edited September 19, 2010 by Neonred

[ThaitoUSA 15]

I concur that 76 pages of evidence is unnecessary. A sampling of a dozen or so pages over a period of time i.e. several months, would be fine for proof of an ongoing relationship, which is not even required until the embassy interview. However, many will suggest it be included now in a technique called "Front-loading."

Some embassies have been known to refuse evidence presented on the day of the interview e.g. phone records, photographs, etc. and then claim that there was insufficient proof of an ongoing relationship. By front-loading, it ensures the evidence is accepted, since it is included in the petition that has already been approved by USCIS. Most embassies do not reject/ignore evidence presented during the interview, so front-loading is more of an embassy specific practice. We front-loaded some evidence, but gathered and brought plenty more to the interview.

Even in support of the argument of front-loading, 76 pages of texting from a single month seems excessive. 1 or 2 pages per month over a period of several months or years is more compelling than scores of pages produced in a single month.

[tru_loves_journey 117]

Hello everyone, I just had a few questions regarding the I-129F packet. I am in the process of putting it together as we speak, and I just wanted to get some information from anyone that could help.

1. Could someone who was approved of their I-129F please post a picture of how you put the packet together. I purchased some self-adhesive tabs today and am curious wether I should place them directly on the corresponding page or maybe on a blank page before it, like a divider.

2. For the submission of photos as evidence of having met within the past two years and also for an ongoing relationship, how should I place the photos in the packet. I read that some people placed them in plastic bags and stapled them to a paper titled accordingly. (Doesn't seem so professional)

3. Extra documentation will not affect the decision of approval, will it? For example, it doesn't ask for things such as the beneficiaries passport or birth ceritifcate, but I want to provide them as to be thorough. (All her documentation has been notorized and translated)

4. In regards to Part C, Question 2... Anything that I have been charged with has been expunged, when I went to the courthouse to retrieve that record, they basically gave me a blank piece of paper. Nothing shows on my criminal record, but it states that even if the charges have been sealed or otherwise cleared I still need to provide documentation. Someone that has experienced this situation... please tell me that you were approved.

5. For Form G-325A, it took me a long time to find what I like to do in life, is my bad employment history going to affect my application negatively?

I would like to thank everyone in advance. I really appreciate your input. It would be very nice if someone who has gone through these same situation and that were approved could post, but ofcourse I would like help from anyone and everyone. So far I have used this site to help me gather most of the information that I needed. I think it is going pretty good so far. I am currently waiting to receive mail from my fiance with her supporting documentation. I am planning on having this packet submitted as of the end of next week. I will post some pics here shortly on how I assembled my packet. Thank you again.

Hi, I followed this guide to assemble our packet.Just print it and follow instructions.Good Luck with your journey http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

[usmcwife 3]

I think you need to step back a bit and think about who will be opening it. Try not to vary too much from what they request because if you were receiving it and had to wade through 70 pages of texts to get to the actual forms that might be frustrating.

I wouldn't worry about attaching every page together into one packet because they will just take it apart. We just made sure that the forms couldn't get mixed up by stapling them. for example I stapled the i129f together. I also stapled the g 325a with my photo, which i did put in a ziploc bag and had attached to a blank paper. They don't want the photo adhered to anything since there has to be writing on the back. Then I just put it in order of what was listed on VJ and mailed it in an envelope.

Extra documentation won't affect the decision but it might frustrate the person who is getting the packet. I suggest not putting something in unless they ask for it. It will just make the packet more confusing to the person getting it.

I had to attach a separate page for my G-325a for the employment and where i've lived, since i've lived in different countries and had many different jobs. It did not affect our petition. Are you the petitioner or beneficiary? If you are the petitioner you just have to be sure you meet the minimum income requirements or have a sponsor and you should be all good. I think that is more important in the interview phase but I can't recall since it wasn't an issue for us. That also applies to the criminal record part too. I don't believe the petitioners record would affect the application, only the beneficiaries.

Basically they only care about the USC's money and the petitioners criminal history. haha.

Also, at the application submission they only require proof of having met, proof of the relationship is for the interview part. So focus on sending the passport pages, flight itineraries, airline ticket stubs, and photos. We felt that anything more than 5 - 10 pictures would be overkill. We did put in a few emails, and phone records but only a couple of pages, they don't want to read a novel. And make sure there isn't anything too personal in them either.

[baron555 934]

Hello everyone, I just had a few questions regarding the I-129F packet. I am in the process of putting it together as we speak, and I just wanted to get some information from anyone that could help.

1. Could someone who was approved of their I-129F please post a picture of how you put the packet together. I purchased some self-adhesive tabs today and am curious wether I should place them directly on the corresponding page or maybe on a blank page before it, like a divider.

I just used paper clips and binder clips.

2. For the submission of photos as evidence of having met within the past two years and also for an ongoing relationship, how should I place the photos in the packet. I read that some people placed them in plastic bags and stapled them to a paper titled accordingly. (Doesn't seem so professional)

I did the baggie thing also. I labeled the back of each photo and also labeled the bag.

3. Extra documentation will not affect the decision of approval, will it? For example, it doesn't ask for things such as the beneficiaries passport or birth ceritifcate, but I want to provide them as to be thorough. (All her documentation has been notorized and translated)

The only thing that could happen by sending tons of documentation is that USCIS may have a delay in assigning a new adjucator after the first one had to be hospitalized with a back ache from lifting your heavy package!!!! No problem, I did a little front end loading.

4. In regards to Part C, Question 2... Anything that I have been charged with has been expunged, when I went to the courthouse to retrieve that record, they basically gave me a blank piece of paper. Nothing shows on my criminal record, but it states that even if the charges have been sealed or otherwise cleared I still need to provide documentation. Someone that has experienced this situation... please tell me that you were approved.

Then write exactly as you have written here for your documentation. USCIS has their own secret ways of checking on this. Be truthful.

5. For Form G-325A, it took me a long time to find what I like to do in life, is my bad employment history going to affect my application negatively?

As long as you currently meet the requirements, you should be fine.

I would like to thank everyone in advance. I really appreciate your input. It would be very nice if someone who has gone through these same situation and that were approved could post, but ofcourse I would like help from anyone and everyone. So far I have used this site to help me gather most of the information that I needed. I think it is going pretty good so far. I am currently waiting to receive mail from my fiance with her supporting documentation. I am planning on having this packet submitted as of the end of next week. I will post some pics here shortly on how I assembled my packet. Thank you again.

[Ryan H 3,855]

For Form G-325A, it took me a long time to find what I like to do in life, is my bad employment history going to affect my application negatively?

As long as you meet curent income requirements (125% over poverty level, yourself or with a co-sponsor); then the employment history will not be relevant.

I concur that 76 pages of evidence is unnecessary. A sampling of a dozen or so pages over a period of time i.e. several months, would be fine for proof of an ongoing relationship, which is not even required until the embassy interview. However, many will suggest it be included now in a technique called "Front-loading."

Some embassies have been known to refuse evidence presented on the day of the interview e.g. phone records, photographs, etc. and then claim that there was insufficient proof of an ongoing relationship. By front-loading, it ensures the evidence is accepted, since it is included in the petition that has already been approved by USCIS. Most embassies do not reject/ignore evidence presented during the interview, so front-loading is more of an embassy specific practice. We front-loaded some evidence, but gathered and brought plenty more to the interview.

Even in support of the argument of front-loading, 76 pages of texting from a single month seems excessive. 1 or 2 pages per month over a period of several months or years is more compelling than scores of pages produced in a single month.

This is the peril of submitting only what is asked for, to have the embassy or consulate refuse it on interview day. I also agree that 76 pages of text messages for one month is excessive. I would suggest you print 1 or 2 and include the phone records for all the rest.

Good luck to you!