How much is too much..?

[BFP XX 62]

Hello everyone

While my fiance and I feel that we have educated ourselves very well with all things k-1(primarily due to all the helpful posters on vj), we still have a few questions.

We are currently in the process of creating our initial packet, and have a question about proving our ongoing relationship.

The main reason for our question, is how we chose to primarily communicate while we were apart. She was living in Australia when we met, and as to not accrue nasty phone bills was to communicate through Facebook's messenger app, as well as a "walkie talkie" app called "voxer" which basically allowed us to talk the same way a Skype call would.

That being said, we have minimal cell phone logs, but MASSIVE amounts of other communication. Thousands of messages through Facebook and Voxer.

So with that, we've come to our question...how much proof is too much(too little?).

I've printed out all of our cell phone calls/texts, but it only shows a handful of calls and a few more texts. We have never deleted our Facebook messages, and have hundreds of pictures of the messages logged and ready to print should that become necessary...

Should the minimal calls/texts logged be enough? Should we print some of the Facebook messages? If so, how many should be enough/overkill?

I understand all cases vary, and am not looking for a specific number... just some guidance from anyone who can help us shed some light on this, and get us one step closer to being together forever

Thanks in advance,

M&A

[TJNeumeyer 1]

When sending the initial I-129F packet, they're looking for proof that you've personally met in the last 2 years. They're not all that interested in proof of the ongoing relationship. They want PRIMARY evidence which are things like passport stamps, boarding passes (not just copies of itineraries) etc. Photos are considered secondary evidence. They want irrefutable proof that you were in the same place at the same time when you met

[Girl from Celebes 588]

Don't overload. Take a few conversations each apps that you and your fiance use. Here what my fiance and I ensembled into our I-129F package.

*Emails on YouTube described how we met first time so we did not have add additional sheet to explain.

*Screenshots when we were doing video calls on Skype, showing my fiance and I sharing videos.

*A few emails from different months. We included 10 emails were taken from five years our relationship. Choose carefully

*I have Skype subscription calls monthly. I took different months from our call logs. I called him many hours each day. So that's long sheet. That's why I only printed from 4 months.

Good luck!

Edit:

don't forget to include proof met in person within 2 years. Boarding pass, passport stamps visa, and pictures are showing you together in same place and same time.

Edited October 28, 2013 by Girl from Celebes

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

How much is too much depends somewhat on the country of the beneficiary. As you are dealing with the UK, a low fraud country, I agree with the others- a few photos together with solid evidence you have met is enough. Bring more to the interview, but you may not even be asked for it.

Edited October 28, 2013 by Penguin_ie

[BFP XX 62]

Don't overload. Take a few conversations each apps that you and your fiance use. Here what my fiance and I ensembled into our I-129F package.

*Emails on YouTube described how we met first time so we did not have add additional sheet to explain.

*Screenshots when we were doing video calls on Skype, showing my fiance and I sharing videos.

*A few emails from different months. We included 10 emails were taken from five years our relationship. Choose carefully

*I have Skype subscription calls monthly. I took different months from our call logs. I called him many hours each day. So that's long sheet. That's why I only printed from 4 months.

My only concern with using pictures from our internet/app based conversations was that they might say the evidence isn't strong enough, due to possible manipulation/editing of screen shots. I didn't want to send a lot of that style of evidence, only for them to say it isn't strong enough proof in the first place.

We have passport stamps, boarding passes, itineraries, pictures, the whole nine(and then some).. so I'm not really concerned about proving that we were physically present in the past two years, I was just unsure of how much of the other correspondence would be required.

I guess it's better to have all the excess for the interview, and just be as cut and dry as possible with the I-129.

[Avery Cates 1,141]

Don't go too nuts, mostly focus on the proof that you've met in the last 2 years, and send a little that the relationship is genuine. A few pictures of you both together, write on the back when and where they were taken. If all you have is digital photos, (common nowadays) I would absolutely recommend snapfish.com for getting prints. They did really good by me, the shipping was fast (put in my order late one night and got an email notification that they were ready to ship in the early hours of the next morning) and I think I got like 20 or 30 free prints for signing up.

Photos, boarding passes, passport stamps, and a few other things showing having met in the last 2 years is really all you need. The I-129f is basically the approval for the embassy to start the process of determining genuine relationship, which you'll need all that chat log, phone calls, etc. sort of business for, depending on the embassy.

[Girl from Celebes 588]

My only concern with using pictures from our internet/app based conversations was that they might say the evidence isn't strong enough, due to possible manipulation/editing of screen shots. I didn't want to send a lot of that style of evidence, only for them to say it isn't strong enough proof in the first place.

We have passport stamps, boarding passes, itineraries, pictures, the whole nine(and then some).. so I'm not really concerned about proving that we were physically present in the past two years, I was just unsure of how much of the other correspondence would be required.

I guess it's better to have all the excess for the interview, and just be as cut and dry as possible with the I-129.

UK is one of low fraud countries, as far as I concern. So, overload is not necessary. Just took a few conversations that you think will show how genuinely is your relationship. I took a vary emails to show them our conversation like discussing about love, career, even just shared a link of an article when he was at work or I was working, or when he sent me a christmas picture with guys who working for him at US Coast Guard. Follow your heart and you'll be fine. Good luck!

Edited October 28, 2013 by Girl from Celebes

[J & L 10]

I'd just print out a few pages (no more than 5) with messages from different months and highlight the dates if possible, so they're easier to see. I wouldn't send too many pictures either, but I'd get them printed professionally so the images are more clear. Like someone else suggested, chat logs etc. are secondary proof so they're not as important as you'd think. I've never seen anyone getting an RFE because they never sent phone logs or chat logs -but I may be wrong about this.

We sent about 5 pages with messages we sent to each other with some IM program and only 3 pictures. That said, we're still waiting but when we were sending our cause I read that sometimes sending too much stuff can confuse them and delay your case.

Focus on filing the documents properly and sending proof you've met in the past 2 years (boarding passes, ESTA documents showing the address where you were staying, entry stamps and all that). Everything else that proves you're in a relationship can be brought at the interview at a later date.

[Cathi 5,795]

With our petition we sent a few emails, copy of passport stamps from my passport along with copy of boarding passes, and a copy of our marriage contract(we did cr-1), and the required forms from USCIS. He is from a MENA country and his petition was approved with no RFE. You really don't need to front load a lot being from the UK. Best of luck!

[baron555 934]

When sending the initial I-129F packet, they're looking for proof that you've personally met in the last 2 years. They're not all that interested in proof of the ongoing relationship. They want PRIMARY evidence which are things like passport stamps, boarding passes (not just copies of itineraries) etc. Photos are considered secondary evidence. They want irrefutable proof that you were in the same place at the same time when you met

Correct.

For the interview, compile as many different types of evidences (you CAN purposefully generate different evidences) as you can. Plan to tie them all together with a Evolution of our Relationship letter which should describe how your relationship began and followed the normal steps in the evolution of a relationship leading up to the desire to become married.

[jenoral 3]

We downloaded FB chats and included some of those as well as some transcripts from our video chats.

Incidentally, I printed our digital pics together on regular printer paper and didn't have an issue as our paperwork was approved. As everyone as mentioned above, they just want proof of a real, loving, ongoing relationship. Good Luck

Edited October 28, 2013 by jenoral

[Ketsuban 1,034]

I'm doing a CR-1, but think this is still relevant.

I took a screenshot of my email inbox, one for each year starting with 2006. Not the email content, just the inbox. I saw someone else had done this and got approved on it, so it was a great time saver!

I added a chat log from 2005 when we first found out we liked each other, and a couple of chat logs from Skype from 2012/2013.

For picture evidence, I included three photos from each trip we took to see each other (21 pics in total). I did four photos to a page, just printed from a regular inkjet on to regular paper.

Make sure you label your pics with who's in them, the dates and the locations. Include the passport stamps to corroborate the dates and times.

Worst case scenario, USCIS will ask for additional evidence and specify what exactly you need. You'll be fine

Edited October 28, 2013 by Ketsuban

[AliAli 11]

When sending the initial I-129F packet, they're looking for proof that you've personally met in the last 2 years. They're not all that interested in proof of the ongoing relationship. They want PRIMARY evidence which are things like passport stamps, boarding passes (not just copies of itineraries) etc. Photos are considered secondary evidence. They want irrefutable proof that you were in the same place at the same time when you met

CORRECT!

[pro_star 52]

Okay, ours (which as you can see has been approved, just lost in the black abyss between CVC and NVC....) had flight itineries, and his passport stamps, couple pictures (grand total of five lol...)

Make sure with your petition you include:

Form G-1145 (e notification)

The actual I-129F itself

USC passport picture and copy of the birth certificate

G-325A (for both of you!)

Originally signed statements of intent to marry (again both of you need to do one)

oh and passport sized pictures for the both of you (taken within the past six months) to go with the G-325A.

Best of luck!

[BFP XX 62]

Thank you all very much. This is my first thread on VJ(surely not the last), and it's been very helpful.

I'm sure I'll be posting a lot more in the coming months, and hopefully I'll get just as much feedback.

Until we speak again,

M&A