A few questions :)

[Britt♥Marco 9]

I've been reading through the tips and forums for a while now. My boyfriend (fiance! got to get used to saying that ) and I are ready to submit our I-129F package but I have a few questions..

1.

As far as financial support goes, I'm a student (AKA i'm poor, LOL) so my father agreed to fill out whatever is necessary (I-134?). I should be finished school in December and have a new job by the time he gets here but for now is it alright for just my dad to fill out a form?

2.

My boyfriend has a few financial issues in the NL, a few outstanding loans/bills/whatever. Too much to pay off within a year or so- Is that going to hold him back at all? We could always make payments from the US.

3.

We have actually set a rough estimate for a wedding date, as my parents requested (May of 2012).. do any of you guys think 10 months is enough time? I've seen some on here that have been waiting 11 months and others that get approved extremely quick! I know we should wait until we have visa in hand and he crosses the Atlantic to be with me.. but I also need to please the parents.

4.

Document of how we met- no real idea how this is supposed to sound. What I have written is basically a first-person docu about when we started chatting and how it evolved over the years. I wrote it (the USC) and didn't get him to sign it.. is this alright?

Darn, I had more questions but now I actually go to post and I forget as usual It might sound like either A. i'm paranoid or B. i'm OCD ... but I'd really just like to get this right the FIRST time (ok, i might be both haha)

Anyways, any help is appreciated! Thanks guys

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Everything else sounds fine, but you need primary, third-party evidence of how you met, and proof of having met in person in the last two years. People usually use boarding passes, receipts from foreign country, or passport stamp, but a letter about how it happened is not enough. 10 months until wedding should be okay, but you never know, so make sure the plans are semi-flexible. Good luck.

[Inky 1,111]

1. Even though you don't make any money right now you will have to fill out a I-134 anyways when the time comes because you are his primary, you will fill one out then your dad will too and they will look at your dads more so than yours for the sponsorship.

2. no issues just make sure he continues to pay them!

3. a rough date is good but do not book anything! just in case it takes longer than expected.

4. I just wrote a single small paragraph on how we met online and then met in person including the dates of it and we both signed it. (because I was visiting at the time that we were filling the papers out, USC didn't wanna fill it out cus he does paperwork all day so i just did it and he signed everything lol!!)

- we both included a letter that was a few sentences long saying that we both intend to marry and want/cant wait to marry within the 90days after entry on the K-1 visa. Signed our own letters and included them in the packet.

[Britt♥Marco 9]

Everything else sounds fine, but you need primary, third-party evidence of how you met, and proof of having met in person in the last two years. People usually use boarding passes, receipts from foreign country, or passport stamp, but a letter about how it happened is not enough. 10 months until wedding should be okay, but you never know, so make sure the plans are semi-flexible. Good luck.

ah yeah, i know

I have my boarding passes as well as his copied. I just noticed that on the visa tip/guide thingy they also ask for the letter. I didn't want mine to sound retarded

Thanks!

Edited July 26, 2011 by Britt♥Marco

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Ahh, sounds good then!

[Mike&Rach 0]

1.

You're dad can fill out the form to be a co-sponsor but you still have to fill out the form as the petition.

2.

They won't look at his finances. The only thing that would hold him back is depending how much he owes and if he can afford to pay it when he first moves over. If I were him I'd start looking if he could consolidate them into one loan or if he can just make minimal payments on some and focus on getting one down. He can make arrangements to pay from the USA.

3.

10 months would probably be enough. I personally would not plan a wedding at all till I had the visa. So much can hold you back and when you have the visa you have up to 9 months to plan (6 months to us it, 3 months when in the usa to get married)

4.

We just wrote in the box on Q18 how we met and when we saw each other after that and how we kept in contact inbetween. I attached all the prove of meeting in person flights tickets etc and just typed a sheet before it with a list of the visits and dates.

[Nigel&Meggie 40]

ah yeah, i know

I have my boarding passes as well as his copied. I just noticed that on the visa tip/guide thingy they also ask for the letter. I didn't want mine to sound retarded

Thanks!

Make sure the boarding passes have the full dates on them including the year. Some don't display the year and hence are pretty worthless. That happened to us and we got an RFE. Copies of passport stamps are better.

[Britt♥Marco 9]

Make sure the boarding passes have the full dates on them including the year. Some don't display the year and hence are pretty worthless. That happened to us and we got an RFE. Copies of passport stamps are better.

Hmm, i have lots of stuff. i tend to keep EVERYTHING. (ie our first movie tickets together, all of our passes for museums and tours we went on, every train ticket i had, plane tickets, etc.) Would it be bad to just include everything to be safe? I don't want them to be like "Pff, you guys are annoying sending too much stuff! DENY!" lol

[Inky 1,111]

Hmm, i have lots of stuff. i tend to keep EVERYTHING. (ie our first movie tickets together, all of our passes for museums and tours we went on, every train ticket i had, plane tickets, etc.) Would it be bad to just include everything to be safe? I don't want them to be like "Pff, you guys are annoying sending too much stuff! DENY!" lol

Our I-129F was like an inch and a half thick of evidence, and when i went to my interview they had to have all the paperwork in TWO folders because we had so much papers plus the papers the USCIS and NVC and embassy add to it. When i got my visa and packet i had to bring TWO packets across the border because they couldn't fit it all in one envelope, even then both of them were busting full of paper lol.

I was only coming from Canada and i'm sure we didn't need that much stuff in it but I wanted to make sure there was no RFE and no delay. We had none lol and the whole thing took a bout 4 months from start to visa in hand and moved to the USA.

[J and S 38]

Make sure the boarding passes have the full dates on them including the year. Some don't display the year and hence are pretty worthless. That happened to us and we got an RFE. Copies of passport stamps are better.

That's a bit worrisome. I just mailed mine off, and I noticed my boarding passes didn't have the year. I sent an email copy of my itinerary (there's no hardcopy as it was through travelocity), and also sent in a color copy of my passport which has the entry stamp (year included obviously). I hope that suffices and I don't get an RFE or I'm screwed. I'm guessing it'll be enough cause they'd have to be pretty thick to see not see that the dates match lol. But in case, what would one do to acquire a boarding pass or something official to show the year? Not a single one of my boarding passes actually have the year on it.

[Nigel&Meggie 40]

That's a bit worrisome. I just mailed mine off, and I noticed my boarding passes didn't have the year. I sent an email copy of my itinerary (there's no hardcopy as it was through travelocity), and also sent in a color copy of my passport which has the entry stamp (year included obviously). I hope that suffices and I don't get an RFE or I'm screwed. I'm guessing it'll be enough cause they'd have to be pretty thick to see not see that the dates match lol. But in case, what would one do to acquire a boarding pass or something official to show the year? Not a single one of my boarding passes actually have the year on it.

What you sent should be ok, especially as you sent in a copy of the passport stamps. That satisfied our RFE, so I really don't think you have anything to worry about. What we did in response to the RFE just to make sure, was to write on the copy of the passport stamps and identify each trip with a short description and include any other evidence we both had that matched that particular trip. For example, I highlighted a trip to Spain we took and referenced it to a copy of the hotel receipt we included - just to make everything obvious to them that we were both there together. Also, regarding that Spain trip, as I'm from the EU I didn't get a passport stamp but she did. Therefore, even though my boarding pass didn't have the year on it, the date matched exactly the day and month of her passport stamp so I included that and wrote a brief description explaining it. We got our NOA2 a few days later. I just wish we had included the copy of the passport stamps in the first place, but the RFE didn't slow us down by too much.

Hope that makes sense - anyway, I'm sure you'll be fine with what you have already sent

[J and S 38]

What you sent should be ok, especially as you sent in a copy of the passport stamps. That satisfied our RFE, so I really don't think you have anything to worry about. What we did in response to the RFE just to make sure, was to write on the copy of the passport stamps and identify each trip with a short description and include any other evidence we both had that matched that particular trip. For example, I highlighted a trip to Spain we took and referenced it to a copy of the hotel receipt we included - just to make everything obvious to them that we were both there together. Also, regarding that Spain trip, as I'm from the EU I didn't get a passport stamp but she did. Therefore, even though my boarding pass didn't have the year on it, the date matched exactly the day and month of her passport stamp so I included that and wrote a brief description explaining it. We got our NOA2 a few days later. I just wish we had included the copy of the passport stamps in the first place, but the RFE didn't slow us down by too much.

Hope that makes sense - anyway, I'm sure you'll be fine with what you have already sent

Ah, thank you very much.

Yes. I actually photocopied my whole passport, as I didn't want to leave anything to chance. I wrote which stamps referenced the trip. I only took one, and he hasn't been to the states. But my poor passport became the abuse of my friend who accidentally spilled coke on it It looks brown so I hope they still accept that and don't ask for me to turn in my passport. The stamps are still visible and easy to read. Just a hassle. But in the off hand chance they ask for my passport, I'll gladly give it. Okay maybe not gladly. lol. I even wrote that the discoloration was due to a drink accident. haha

Ah you know how it goes. It becomes so easy to get paranoid over the smallest of things. It took us a while to get the papers sent in due to some circumstances. So we're hoping this goes quickly.

[Britt♥Marco 9]

Thanks for all the help!

I've got another question for you guys!

My birth certificate is WAY too big to copy on a normal sheet of paper... is it alright to copy half and half? Like, top half and bottom half? Or should i just go and copy my passport as well to be safe? (I was hoping i wouldn't have to copy my passport, a million blank pages, blah)

Edited July 29, 2011 by Britt♥Marco

[cmoore25 4]

I sent a copy of my passport with my I-129f. I just copied the first page with all of my information and my picture and also a copy of my the page with my stamps showing my entrance and exist from Scotland. No RFE

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Thanks for all the help!

I've got another question for you guys!

My birth certificate is WAY too big to copy on a normal sheet of paper... is it alright to copy half and half? Like, top half and bottom half? Or should i just go and copy my passport as well to be safe? (I was hoping i wouldn't have to copy my passport, a million blank pages, blah)

What kind of birth certificate is too big to copy to a normal sheet of paper? Was this birth certificate issued by the government of the state where you were born?