k-1 packet (pictures/copies/evidence)

[bekam 0]

hi yall... about to send the I-129F packet. Every time I check and re check i think of new questions, i stress a little bit more.. so I just want to ask about the packet to those who know-

1- with the I-129F packet and sending the "evidence of having met/ relationship"- I have photocopies of some pictures of me and my fiance - some pictures of just us together (wearing different things, different locations.) I also have pictures of us with his family in Mexico.. (some pictures of us with sisters, nieces, dad.. etc). The question is *should the pictures be in color?? * and do i have to have a description of the photo??-where it was taken, year, who is in the photo??-

2- how necessary is extra evidence and such.. i have some emails from my fiance to my parents discussing our relationship etc.. also phone bills and records, and some letters that i have sent him and him to me..

Thanks so much all who read and help!!

[Impatient Cupcake 10]

pictures = secondary evidence.

you must include boarding pass, passport stamps, etc.

[EllaC 190]

hi yall... about to send the I-129F packet. Every time I check and re check i think of new questions, i stress a little bit more.. so I just want to ask about the packet to those who know-

1- with the I-129F packet and sending the "evidence of having met/ relationship"- I have photocopies of some pictures of me and my fiance - some pictures of just us together (wearing different things, different locations.) I also have pictures of us with his family in Mexico.. (some pictures of us with sisters, nieces, dad.. etc). The question is *should the pictures be in color?? * and do i have to have a description of the photo??-where it was taken, year, who is in the photo??-

2- how necessary is extra evidence and such.. i have some emails from my fiance to my parents discussing our relationship etc.. also phone bills and records, and some letters that i have sent him and him to me..

Thanks so much all who read and help!!

The first step, which consists of sending the I-129F packet to USCIS, is all about primary evidence. You need evidence such as: boarding passes, passport stamps, itineraries, receipts from places you've been together(such as hotels). Use COPIES. Originals are required at the interview.

Include photos as secondary evidence and make sure to type date and location on the back of each one and maybe even name, if it isn't obvious. Something we did and worked for us was to stick 2 photos on a 8.5 x 11 sized paper(or A4 in Romania) or whatever works for you(we included around 20 photos, but we knew they were considered secondary evidence). That way I mentioned our names easily as well as dates and places and made it easier for them to attach the paperwork to their own folder using ACCO fasteners.

The pictures are secondary evidence like I said, which means they can also be printed on a grayscale.

Edited August 9, 2011 by Ella & Octav

[mugumogu 18]

hi yall... about to send the I-129F packet. Every time I check and re check i think of new questions, i stress a little bit more.. so I just want to ask about the packet to those who know-

1- with the I-129F packet and sending the "evidence of having met/ relationship"- I have photocopies of some pictures of me and my fiance - some pictures of just us together (wearing different things, different locations.) I also have pictures of us with his family in Mexico.. (some pictures of us with sisters, nieces, dad.. etc). The question is *should the pictures be in color?? * and do i have to have a description of the photo??-where it was taken, year, who is in the photo??-

2- how necessary is extra evidence and such.. i have some emails from my fiance to my parents discussing our relationship etc.. also phone bills and records, and some letters that i have sent him and him to me..

Thanks so much all who read and help!!

I am also going through the process with Mexico. I hired an immigration consultant to help me put the I-129F package together & can tell you what we did. Here is was was in my package:

1. I-129F Petition

2. G-325A For me

3. G-325A For her

4. Copy of my birth certificate

5. Two page letter explaining how we met, our visits with each other, places we went, and our intentions.

6. Copies of my passport pages

7. Pictures of us together. My consultant advised me to make a sort of "scrapbook" of no more than 15 pictures of us together. I bought some nice paper at a scrapbook store. I looked at all the photos of us together and picked out 15. They are ones of her with my parents, me with her parents, us together, etc. I took them to the pharmacy and made some color copies. I glued 3 to a page for a total of 5 pages. Next to each picture on the page, I typed a description. I put the date of the photo and a description of where it is and who is in it.

That's it!

I got the NOA1 about a week later. I then realized that I forgot to include copies of my divorce. I called the California Service Center number on the NOA1 and spoke with a representative. She said to send in the divorce documentation with a copy of the NOA1 and a letter explaining what happened. I went to the family court records office and got a couple of certified copies. I wrote a brief letter apologizing about not including it and asked if they could attach it to my original petition. Now, even though it's not required with the original I-129F package, I had read many posts on this site that says you should include emails, phone calls, bills, and other evidence with it. Some people call it "front-loading" the petition. In other words, giving them as much information as possible up front because all of that will be reviewed by the consulate before your fiance(e) has the interview. Anyway, I figured since I was sending in my divorce documentation, for my own piece of mind, I included a few of these items (copies of trip itineraries, phone bills, and credit card bills). I mailed this all back and just waited. I was pleasantly surprised that our petition was approved last month!

In short, all of that evidence is not required with the I-129F petition. The instructions included with the I-129F do not ask you to submit those things. I did it for my own piece of mind primarily because of what I read on this site. All you are required to submit is what it asks for in the instructions included with the form. I'm not saying everyone has to or should do it this way, but this is what we did. How you put yours together is up to you. Hope this helps!

[ateneaalexander 10]

My fiance and i only sent 4 photos lol one of us kissing another one of us and showing my engagament ring and two more with my family, we di put dates and names of the people that was on the pix. BUT the most important thing besides pix are boarding passes and passport stamps when he came to mexico to meet my family .

[wissnan4ever 10]

For pictures I put two on 8.5x11 and printed them out on photo paper I have a total of 10 pictures

I typed up the place and date on mailing labels and stuck them on the pictures

I included copies of 4 emails one birthday card from each

boarding passes, itinerary for me and my dad, passport stamps, phone records,hotel receipts (western union) and the actual receipt from the hotel itself. Birth Certificate, Pay stubs from the last 4 weeks 325A from the both of us passport photo's letter of intent's . I placed post flags on each paper on the bottom and wrote the name of the document on the flag. Anything to make the life of a CO easier and yeah I know I dont need the pay stubs at this stage but I believe in this case more is better than less...So bascially I totally front loaded my application little OCD uhhh yeah

Edited August 9, 2011 by wissnan4ever

[Austramerican 83]

For pictures I put two on 8.5x11 and printed them out on photo paper I have a total of 10 pictures

I typed up the place and date on mailing labels and stuck them on the pictures

I included copies of 4 emails one birthday card from each

boarding passes, itinerary for me and my dad, passport stamps, phone records,hotel receipts (western union) and the actual receipt from the hotel itself. Birth Certificate, Pay stubs from the last 4 weeks 325A from the both of us passport photo's letter of intent's . I placed post flags on each paper on the bottom and wrote the name of the document on the flag. Anything to make the life of a CO easier and yeah I know I dont need the pay stubs at this stage but I believe in this case more is better than less...So bascially I totally front loaded my application little OCD uhhh yeah

I think thats what I'm going to do too. I will give them so much proof, I still have a LOT of stuff since things relating to Ben I don't ever throw away Has there ever been a case where someone has had too much and they would want less, or can you pack it full of things as long as its not like 5 lbs of paper?

[mugumogu 18]

I think thats what I'm going to do too. I will give them so much proof, I still have a LOT of stuff since things relating to Ben I don't ever throw away Has there ever been a case where someone has had too much and they would want less, or can you pack it full of things as long as its not like 5 lbs of paper?

Well, you don't want to piss them off. That's for sure!

[Austramerican 83]

Well, you don't want to piss them off. That's for sure!

Yeah, I'm really excited since I do have so much proof and I want to share it but thats what I'm afraid of, pissing them off somehow :x How much would too much be? I know about 15 pics, Receipts and iteneraries, and hotels, shared bank accounts, we have proof that we've been living together for a year and he's on my car insurance, we also have letters and packages from before we met and after, emails from a year before we met up until he came to America, etc. I'm not sure if I should add it all :x (Not to hijack the thread, just curious since I'm new to the whole process...)

[K&E2009 71]

pictures = secondary evidence.

you must include boarding pass, passport stamps, etc.

Hang on! Seriously, unless you have been planning to go down the K-1 visa route for quite a while, NOBODY keeps their boarding passes, thinking "I'm gonna keep these for the K-1 visa!"

Printable flight itineraries, yes. But, boarding passes, I doubt it!

[Fordnut74 1]

I agree, "frontloading" the package definitely does not hurt, so long as it is reasonable. Don't want 100 pages of chat logs, or entire family history picture album. Personally, I don't think making a scrapbook to send really helps much. I read on here in the sticky that each person processes like 20-30 packages a day, so I doubt they spend much time looking at more then just a few pictures. I sent six, and hand wrote dates and places on back. I made sure to include one that I took with my phone that had a date stamp on it. She sent one we took of us, with her in a negligee and me shirtless- Something a little personal. And other irrefutable evidence of me having been where she lives like hotel receipts, visa's, my Ethiopian ID card, passport and entry and exit stamps, wedding ring set receipts with address that is local to her.

We are saving some things back for her to bring to interview- A few more pictures, joint US bank account statement that has her name and my address already, western union, new letter of intent, more chat transcripts, etc. Stuff to show continued growth of relationship while waiting for I-129F approval. I would think sending too much at once would give the impression of trying to hard, or compensating. Don't know, could be wrong.

And, almost as important as enough of the right stuff, is making sure it is organized very well. Information means nothing if they don't know what it is, or where to find it. That is something that is regularly beat into my head in the military. Organization. And so far it seems to be working for us- Approved in 51 days, no RFE, and just got my NVC number today- 4 days after USCIS approval!! The VJ cover letter example is a very good start, and then I modified it a bit making everything enclosures, and labeling everything. Real easy to be able to locate everything in the package, and identify what it is. This is all new to me though, so take everything with a grain of salt. I just know it is working for me, so far...... The formatting will be a little off, but here is what I did-

John Doe

1234 Plaid House Rd

Some city, OR 99999

United States Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

USCIS

P.O. Box 660151

Dallas, TX 75266

05/31/2011

Nature of the submission: I-129F ORIGINAL SUBMISSION

To Whom It May Concern:

Enclosed please find my Form I-129F, Petition for K-1 Fiancé Visa for Her Name, and supporting documents.

Enclosures include:

- (1) Payment in the amount of $340

- (2) Adjudication Expedite Request

- (3) I-129F

- (4) G-325A and passport style photo (Petitioner)

- (5) G-325A and passport style photo (Beneficiary)

- (6) Birth certificate (Petitioner)

- (7) Letter certifying intent to marry (Petitioner and Beneficiary)

- (8) Divorce Decree (Petitioner)

- (9) Free to marry certificate (Beneficiary)

- (10) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Pictures, one date stamped(phone picture)

- (11) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Copy of Ethiopian Visa

- (12) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Ethiopian ID Card.

- (13) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Military orders to Djibouti, Africa

- (14) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Hotel Receipts

- (15) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Copy of Ethiopian Visa

- (16) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Copy of Passport and visa stamps

- (17) Proof of ongoing relationship- excerpts from ooVoo chat

- (18) Proof of ongoing relationship- Wedding ring purchase receipt (Petitioner)

- (19) Proof of ongoing relationship- Engagement Set purchase receipt (Beneficiary)

- (20) G-1145 E-Notification of application and petition

Copies of documents submitted are exact photocopies of unaltered documents and I understand that I may be required to submit original documents to an Immigration or Consular officer at a later date.

Signed,

John Doe

Edited August 9, 2011 by Fordnut74

[Austramerican 83]

I agree, "frontloading" the package definitely does not hurt, so long as it is reasonable. Don't want 100 pages of chat logs, or entire family history picture album. Personally, I don't think making a scrapbook to send really helps much. I read on here in the sticky that each person processes like 20-30 packages a day, so I doubt they spend much time looking at more then just a few pictures. I sent six, and hand wrote dates and places on back. I made sure to include one that I took with my phone that had a date stamp on it. She sent one we took of us, with her in a negligee and me shirtless- Something a little personal. And other irrefutable evidence of me having been where she lives like hotel receipts, visa's, my Ethiopian ID card, passport and entry and exit stamps, wedding ring set receipts with address that is local to her.

We are saving some things back for her to bring to interview- A few more pictures, joint US bank account statement that has her name and my address already, western union, new letter of intent, more chat transcripts, etc. Stuff to show continued growth of relationship while waiting for I-129F approval. I would think sending too much at once would give the impression of trying to hard, or compensating. Don't know, could be wrong.

And, almost as important as enough of the right stuff, is making sure it is organized very well. Information means nothing if they don't know what it is, or where to find it. That is something that is regularly beat into my head in the military. Organization. And so far it seems to be working for us- Approved in 51 days, no RFE, and just got my NVC number today- 4 days after USCIS approval!! The VJ cover letter example is a very good start, and then I modified it a bit making everything enclosures, and labeling everything. Real easy to be able to locate everything in the package, and identify what it is. This is all new to me though, so take everything with a grain of salt. I just know it is working for me, so far...... The formatting will be a little off, but here is what I did-

John Doe

1234 Plaid House Rd

Some city, OR 99999

United States Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

USCIS

P.O. Box 660151

Dallas, TX 75266

05/31/2011

Nature of the submission: I-129F ORIGINAL SUBMISSION

To Whom It May Concern:

Enclosed please find my Form I-129F, Petition for K-1 Fiancé Visa for Her Name, and supporting documents.

Enclosures include:

- (1) Payment in the amount of $340

- (2) Adjudication Expedite Request

- (3) I-129F

- (4) G-325A and passport style photo (Petitioner)

- (5) G-325A and passport style photo (Beneficiary)

- (6) Birth certificate (Petitioner)

- (7) Letter certifying intent to marry (Petitioner and Beneficiary)

- (8) Divorce Decree (Petitioner)

- (9) Free to marry certificate (Beneficiary)

- (10) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Pictures, one date stamped(phone picture)

- (11) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Copy of Ethiopian Visa

- (12) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Ethiopian ID Card.

- (13) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Military orders to Djibouti, Africa

- (14) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Hotel Receipts

- (15) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Copy of Ethiopian Visa

- (16) Proof of having met in person in the past two years- Copy of Passport and visa stamps

- (17) Proof of ongoing relationship- excerpts from ooVoo chat

- (18) Proof of ongoing relationship- Wedding ring purchase receipt (Petitioner)

- (19) Proof of ongoing relationship- Engagement Set purchase receipt (Beneficiary)

- (20) G-1145 E-Notification of application and petition

Copies of documents submitted are exact photocopies of unaltered documents and I understand that I may be required to submit original documents to an Immigration or Consular officer at a later date.

Signed,

John Doe

This is brilliant thank you!!

[wissnan4ever 10]

The cover letter is nice but I opted out for the flags on the bottom of each page. Easy navigation and everything is labeled but than again I havent sent my packet off yet but I showed it to a friend of my mine who is a paralegal and she was like a lawyer would love you so neat and organized. I'll be find in the coming months what's my verdict.

[wissnan4ever 10]

Hang on! Seriously, unless you have been planning to go down the K-1 visa route for quite a while, NOBODY keeps their boarding passes, thinking "I'm gonna keep these for the K-1 visa!"

Printable flight itineraries, yes. But, boarding passes, I doubt it!

Funny you said this I never thought in a million years that A I would fall in love with someone who wasnt living in the same country as me let along be petitioning for them. But I guess I was one of those people that just hold's on to things and BOY am I glad I did

[mugumogu 18]

Yeah, I'm really excited since I do have so much proof and I want to share it but thats what I'm afraid of, pissing them off somehow :x How much would too much be? I know about 15 pics, Receipts and iteneraries, and hotels, shared bank accounts, we have proof that we've been living together for a year and he's on my car insurance, we also have letters and packages from before we met and after, emails from a year before we met up until he came to America, etc. I'm not sure if I should add it all :x (Not to hijack the thread, just curious since I'm new to the whole process...)

Listen, none of that additional stuff is required for the initial I-129F package. If you sent nothing else that what was required, you would be OK. There is no set number of things that you should send. It's always better to send more than less, but save some stuff for the interview. Don't send everything. I printed every phone bill that I've received since I've known my fiancee, but I only sent 3 from various time periods in order to show an ongoing relationship. I will give her all of them to take to the interview. Just pick out a few things (receipts, boarding passes, bills, etc.) and send them in. That's already more than what is required. Some people have an I-129F package that's 200 pages. Mine was about 50 & mainly because of my divorce documentation. Without that, it would have been about 20 pages.

Edited August 9, 2011 by mugumogu