Evidence of having met within the past 2 years

[Percival504 0]

Hello to all and thank you in advance to all who reply.

Like everyone else, I am trying to make my petition as presentable as possible (this is an original submission). I bought fancy binders and made a really cool letterhead for our letters, indexed and tabbed everything. I put everything in those plastic binder inserts so that I didn't have to hole punch anything. Here is my concern:

I am afraid that the evidence that we have met in person within the past 2 years is lacking. I have read many posts recently wherein an RFE was received for more evidence of the within 2 years meeting.

My evidence consists of: (1) my fiancee's ticket from Russia; (2) a receipt for her return ticket to Russia; (3) copies of her J-1 Visa (stamped on her entry, but not her exit); (4) a copy of the page of her passport stamped on the date of her return to Russia; (5) a copy of her social security card; (6) her I-94 Departure/Arrival Record NUMBER (the actual I-94 was taken); (7) Two affidavits from the partners in my firm stating that they saw us together within the past two years; and (8) two photographs with hand written places and dates on the back. Is this sufficient evidence?

Of course, I am also including emails and telephone records. My concern with the telephone records is that the bill doesn't show a name or phone number - just the account number -- will that be a problem?

[garya505 2]

Hello to all and thank you in advance to all who reply.

Like everyone else, I am trying to make my petition as presentable as possible (this is an original submission). I bought fancy binders and made a really cool letterhead for our letters, indexed and tabbed everything. I put everything in those plastic binder inserts so that I didn't have to hole punch anything. Here is my concern:

I am afraid that the evidence that we have met in person within the past 2 years is lacking. I have read many posts recently wherein an RFE was received for more evidence of the within 2 years meeting.

My evidence consists of: (1) my fiancee's ticket from Russia; (2) a receipt for her return ticket to Russia; (3) copies of her J-1 Visa (stamped on her entry, but not her exit); (4) a copy of the page of her passport stamped on the date of her return to Russia; (5) a copy of her social security card; (6) her I-94 Departure/Arrival Record NUMBER (the actual I-94 was taken); (7) Two affidavits from the partners in my firm stating that they saw us together within the past two years; and (8) two photographs with hand written places and dates on the back. Is this sufficient evidence?

Of course, I am also including emails and telephone records. My concern with the telephone records is that the bill doesn't show a name or phone number - just the account number -- will that be a problem?

Why only 2 photos?

[Yodrak 7]

Percival,

The case officer who will process your petition will not be impressed - they are not going to see your fancy binders, they are going to see you documents hole punched and clamped into the same plain file folder that the USCIS uses for holding all petitions and application.

On the other hand, the clerk in the sorting room who has to remove everything from those plastic binder inserts is going to be cursing you for the extra work you've put them through, and may even lose an item or two as they toss the plastic binder inserts into the trash.

Concentrate on substance - that's what the petition will be judged on.

Yodrak

Hello to all and thank you in advance to all who reply.

Like everyone else, I am trying to make my petition as presentable as possible (this is an original submission). I bought fancy binders and made a really cool letterhead for our letters, indexed and tabbed everything. I put everything in those plastic binder inserts so that I didn't have to hole punch anything. Here is my concern:

I am afraid that the evidence that we have met in person within the past 2 years is lacking. ....

[YuAndDan 153]

Sounds like the same amount of evidence that I included, but I included about 5 photos from various days that we were together.

Your evidence is adequate.

As for all the fancy stuff I did not do that, I just punched all paper work at the top using 2 hole punch, and used a simple little binder clip at the top of each group of documents, put everything in 1 plastic folder ans sent entire package to them

Edited October 31, 2006 by YuAndDan

[garya505 2]

My stuff was complete and well-organized, but I just used paper clips and staples.

I was approved with no problems.

[Percival504 0]

OK. Thanks to all who replied. Please forget about the binders, etc. -- the only point that I was making was that I have carefully considered the organization and presentation, recognizing that "form ever follows function." There are only two photos of us because I do not like to take photographs.

I guess I want to return to my original question (thank you YuAndDan and Yodrak): is the evidence, in your opinion (who ever replies, that is), sufficient? If not, would it be helpful to get other affidavits? I am visiting Russia in 2 weeks; could I send in evidence of that meeting after submitting the petition, but before receiving an RFE?

Yodrak -- I genuinely appreciate your advice and the situation you refer to is precisely what I would like to avoid. I had the impression from other posts that it would be a good idea to tab everything. I have even heard of others indexing or creating a table of documents for their submission. Is it truly better to just staple and binder clip everything together? If I do that, should I just stick in sheets separating the various documents or would it still be useful to use index tabs?

[Yodrak 7]

Percival,

Don't have an opinion on whether or not your evidence is sufficient - haven't seen it.

Don't staple anything except multi-page documents.

Using various size binder clips to hold related types of documentation together, and then the groups together as a whole, with each grouping labeled, is a good way to go. Binder clips hold things firmly in place yet are easy to remove.

Yodrak

...

I guess I want to return to my original question (thank you YuAndDan and Yodrak): is the evidence, in your opinion (who ever replies, that is), sufficient? If not, would it be helpful to get other affidavits? I am visiting Russia in 2 weeks; could I send in evidence of that meeting after submitting the petition, but before receiving an RFE?

Yodrak -- I genuinely appreciate your advice and the situation you refer to is precisely what I would like to avoid. I had the impression from other posts that it would be a good idea to tab everything. I have even heard of others indexing or creating a table of documents for their submission. Is it truly better to just staple and binder clip everything together? If I do that, should I just stick in sheets separating the various documents or would it still be useful to use index tabs?

[Nanusia & Lukaszek 0]

OK. Thanks to all who replied. Please forget about the binders, etc. -- the only point that I was making was that I have carefully considered the organization and presentation, recognizing that "form ever follows function." There are only two photos of us because I do not like to take photographs.

I guess I want to return to my original question (thank you YuAndDan and Yodrak): is the evidence, in your opinion (who ever replies, that is), sufficient? If not, would it be helpful to get other affidavits? I am visiting Russia in 2 weeks; could I send in evidence of that meeting after submitting the petition, but before receiving an RFE?

Yodrak -- I genuinely appreciate your advice and the situation you refer to is precisely what I would like to avoid. I had the impression from other posts that it would be a good idea to tab everything. I have even heard of others indexing or creating a table of documents for their submission. Is it truly better to just staple and binder clip everything together? If I do that, should I just stick in sheets separating the various documents or would it still be useful to use index tabs?

If you are going to Russia in 2 weeks, wouldn't it be better to get more evidence and then submit? I think its best to submit all evidence in the beginning, better to overload than not enough and risk RFE.

Good luck

[payxibka 10,048]

I guess I want to return to my original question (thank you YuAndDan and Yodrak): is the evidence, in your opinion (who ever replies, that is), sufficient? If not, would it be helpful to get other affidavits? I am visiting Russia in 2 weeks; could I send in evidence of that meeting after submitting the petition, but before receiving an RFE?

Your meeting evidence needs to be pre-petition. If you file your petition before you leave the evidence you gather will be post-petition and therefore not qualifying. I agree that since you are two weeks from another visit that it might be a good idea to hold off and gather additional evidence and submit after you return if you are uneasy about the quality of your current evidence.

[Tim&Poonam 0]

If you are visiting Russia in 2 weeks, why not hold off until you return to file your petition. You can then show 2 meetings and include more photos. Whats another 30 days gonna hurt?

[Tim&Poonam 0]

I submitted evidence from 2 trips and was approved very fast. I sent airline reciepts, boarding passes, hotel bills, credit card statements, musuem ticket stubs, reciepts for dinners, and about 12 photos of us together and one with us and her mom together.

I didnt send emails and phone bills because this doesnt prove we met in person, it only shows we have an ongoing relationship. I will submit that evidence at her interview. I am also going back to visit her in a few weeks and will also show evidence from that trip as well.

Edited October 31, 2006 by Tim&Poonam