Waiting to mail in I-129f

[cloclo2 3]

So I've already done all the work for the I-129F (I am the USC) and I took it to my parents house (in the US) a month ago because I am living in Mali, West Africa and do NOT trust the mail system with such an important package.

Now, the packet is just sitting at my parents house and I'm having them wait to send it in. Why am I not sending it in right away? We are having a hard time with some of his documents for the interview (especially birth certificates and arrest/court records from when he was a juvenile).

I like to be prepared and I don't want to submit the I-129F until we've made serious headway on those issues.

So my question is: How old is too old for the dates/signatures on the I-129F? Our letters of intent were dated and signed for April 17th. Will they accept old letters? Am I safe to wait another month or so?

Thank you in advance for your responses.

[Élan 3]

I think you'd be safe for another month. If anything, you could attach a letter which explains why you waited two months. I still don't envision any kind of problem, though.

Keep in mind, you could always mail it now and postpone the interview if you haven't procured the necessary documents by them.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

So I've already done all the work for the I-129F (I am the USC) and I took it to my parents house (in the US) a month ago because I am living in Mali, West Africa and do NOT trust the mail system with such an important package.

Now, the packet is just sitting at my parents house and I'm having them wait to send it in. Why am I not sending it in right away? We are having a hard time with some of his documents for the interview (especially birth certificates and arrest/court records from when he was a juvenile).

I like to be prepared and I don't want to submit the I-129F until we've made serious headway on those issues.

So my question is: How old is too old for the dates/signatures on the I-129F? Our letters of intent were dated and signed for April 17th. Will they accept old letters? Am I safe to wait another month or so?

Thank you in advance for your responses.

There is no time limit for the signatures. No problems.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I think you'd be safe for another month. If anything, you could attach a letter which explains why you waited two months. I still don't envision any kind of problem, though.

Keep in mind, you could always mail it now and postpone the interview if you haven't procured the necessary documents by them.

There are no time limits on signatures. The only time limits for the petition are that the persons must have met in person within two years prior to filing. I think the OP is smart to wait to send it in. We did the same. You may as well make sure all the hurdles are jumped before starting down that raod. we are talking about marriage here and a lifetime commitment, not a Prom date. Get it right and THEN send it.

[Iraqvet 68]

So I've already done all the work for the I-129F (I am the USC) and I took it to my parents house (in the US) a month ago because I am living in Mali, West Africa and do NOT trust the mail system with such an important package.

Now, the packet is just sitting at my parents house and I'm having them wait to send it in. Why am I not sending it in right away? We are having a hard time with some of his documents for the interview (especially birth certificates and arrest/court records from when he was a juvenile).

I like to be prepared and I don't want to submit the I-129F until we've made serious headway on those issues.

So my question is: How old is too old for the dates/signatures on the I-129F? Our letters of intent were dated and signed for April 17th. Will they accept old letters? Am I safe to wait another month or so?

Thank you in advance for your responses.

If you have saved your documents to a computer, i would print them out, sign and date them as recently as you can. And if you cannot, a simple letter explaining why the dates are not recent should be ok. Try to be as thorough as possible about everything. I don't think USCIS is out to deny people petitions, but if something looks odd to them on the petition they start getting RFE happy.

[C Med 14]

So I've already done all the work for the I-129F (I am the USC) and I took it to my parents house (in the US) a month ago because I am living in Mali, West Africa and do NOT trust the mail system with such an important package.

Now, the packet is just sitting at my parents house and I'm having them wait to send it in. Why am I not sending it in right away? We are having a hard time with some of his documents for the interview (especially birth certificates and arrest/court records from when he was a juvenile).

I like to be prepared and I don't want to submit the I-129F until we've made serious headway on those issues.

So my question is: How old is too old for the dates/signatures on the I-129F? Our letters of intent were dated and signed for April 17th. Will they accept old letters? Am I safe to wait another month or so?

Thank you in advance for your responses.

You stated that you're waiting until you have all the documents needed for the interview...do you mean the interview at the embassy after the petition is approved here? If that's the case, you can send in the I-129F right now because you are going to be waiting at least 5 months before your petition is approved, and likely an additional 2 months from the time the petition is approved until your interview. So, in short, your interview is a minumum of 7 months away from the time you file. Unless you anticipate that it will take you longer than that to obtain the information you need, then send it in now. Why make yourselves wait any longer? Best of luck!

Edited May 13, 2011 by C Med

[maggieb 4]

Oh I am sorry Matt, I didn't realize you are an immigration officer. Sorry about that.

I signed and dated my part of the petition Nov 2010, and my fiancee signed and dated and then sent the full petition in at the end of Jan 2011. We got our NOA2 60 days after our NOA1. USCIS didn't question the length of time in between mine and his signatures and sending it in. Wait until your ready and have all the info you need. It's your life, thats in those papers for USCIS to read and review.

[Iraqvet 68]

And how was that "piss poor advice"?? Are you saying there is a time limit for signatures? If so, what is it?

Actually, the advice was correct and right on. There is no time limit.

So what your saying is, I could date an I-129f from 1970 and send it in and it would raise no question? Not buying it sir.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

So what your saying is, I could date an I-129f from 1970 and send it in and it would raise no question? Not buying it sir.

People are saying a few months is not a big deal. Nobody's saying "Sure, send it in 30 years, no problems!" You're jumping to extremes to attempt to make a point. And it's not working.

[Matt & Bing 56]

Oh I am sorry Matt, I didn't realize you are an immigration officer. Sorry about that.

LOL – So you have to be an immigration officer to post replies on Visa Journey??

My concern is with the original poster – The fact is he need not be concerned about a delay in the date of actually filing their petition versus the dates attached to documents filed with their petition.

Which was the point of Gary’s response as well.

[Gosia & Tito 199]

So I've already done all the work for the I-129F (I am the USC) and I took it to my parents house (in the US) a month ago because I am living in Mali, West Africa and do NOT trust the mail system with such an important package.

Now, the packet is just sitting at my parents house and I'm having them wait to send it in. Why am I not sending it in right away? We are having a hard time with some of his documents for the interview (especially birth certificates and arrest/court records from when he was a juvenile).

I like to be prepared and I don't want to submit the I-129F until we've made serious headway on those issues.

So my question is: How old is too old for the dates/signatures on the I-129F? Our letters of intent were dated and signed for April 17th. Will they accept old letters? Am I safe to wait another month or so?

Thank you in advance for your responses.

A couple of months probably won't make a difference. We had to delay the sending because of pictures (I am the USC, she -understandably- wanted a picture in which she looked well). Well, that took about a month and then I realized I didn't have her signature in one of the forms (well, more like I spaced it out and didn't realize she need to sign), so another 2-3 weeks went by. I have the NOA2 now (and no RFE), so I would say there was no problem.

As for your concern to get other papers ready, I am with you; in some countries (don't know about Mali though) it takes absurd amounts of time to get anything official, so is best that you know ahead of time that you will have things more or less ready or in the works. That said, it would be 5-6 months before you even get the NOA2 and then probably another 1-2 months before interview, and you can always change the schedule. So, I'd send it already.

[Iraqvet 68]

People are saying a few months is not a big deal. Nobody's saying "Sure, send it in 30 years, no problems!" You're jumping to extremes to attempt to make a point. And it's not working.

Ok so saying there is no time limit between signature dates and sending it in is extreme. I can certainly understand a few months, no questions. So my point would work. Some arrogant posters on here need to be more clear about what they are saying when trying to answer somebodies question.

[Iraqvet 68]

LOL – So you have to be an immigration officer to post replies on Visa Journey??

My concern is with the original poster – The fact is he need not be concerned about a delay in the date of actually filing their petition versus the dates attached to documents filed with their petition.

Which was the point of Gary’s response as well.

Why give the immigration officer a reason to further investigate you because of a time gap? I would think it wouldn't be a problem for the case worker if they had a simple letter stating the circumstance.

[cloclo2 3]

Thanks for all your quick replies. Paperwork is a pain in the butt here (plus he was born in Ivory Coast so getting that birth certificate right now is proving a bit difficult) and we've got some other complicated documents.

We're working on it all and should send it in soon. I just like to be prepared. Plus I am living here in Mali with him so it's not like we need to get it done quickly to be together. I'm happy taking our time.

Thanks again. As usual, VJ is a wealth of information

[Iraqvet 68]

This formthe original poster, I just contacted USCIS about this issue. They said that every year they update the I-129f form and is given a new revision date. If the paperwork is sent after the date has expired they will make you send in a new one. The people on here that have lots of purple Hearts and stars under ther name can give you false information.