I-129F Proof: Is there such a thing as too much?

[mirrortraveler 1]

Hey you guys,

It's me again. As stated in my previous message, we are currently in our initial application process for the K-1.

To document our entire 7 year relationship, we have accumulated a lot of photos, emails, postcards, facebook messages, skype records, copies of flight records, receipts, movie tickets, train tickets, etc.

It's all so much, in fact, that we've just had to upgrade our application to a 5" binder in order to fit everything.

A few months ago, we were able to briefly talk to an immigration attorney for free (we can't really afford one, though) and she kept mentioning to put in "everything but the kitchen sink". On the other hand, it's the records of our Skype conversations, which have taken up the bulk of the binder. We could fill several books with them if we wanted to, since, for the most part of our relationship, we used to talk on Skype every day for several hours.

We have included about one Skype call/chat a day, but it's still so much.

My question is: How does USCIS look at these kinds of things? Is there such a thing as too much evidence?

Is there a way to lessen the load without the person reviewing this to think "Why did they only Skype once a month?"

Thank you for your help!

We just want to make it easier on everybody.

[dwheels76 5,486]

Hey you guys,

It's me again. As stated in my previous message, we are currently in our initial application process for the K-1.

To document our entire 7 year relationship, we have accumulated a lot of photos, emails, postcards, facebook messages, skype records, copies of flight records, receipts, movie tickets, train tickets, etc.

It's all so much, in fact, that we've just had to upgrade our application to a 5" binder in order to fit everything.

A few months ago, we were able to briefly talk to an immigration attorney for free (we can't really afford one, though) and she kept mentioning to put in "everything but the kitchen sink". On the other hand, it's the records of our Skype conversations, which have taken up the bulk of the binder. We could fill several books with them if we wanted to, since, for the most part of our relationship, we used to talk on Skype every day for several hours.

We have included about one Skype call/chat a day, but it's still so much.

My question is: How does USCIS look at these kinds of things? Is there such a thing as too much evidence?

Is there a way to lessen the load without the person reviewing this to think "Why did they only Skype once a month?"

Thank you for your help!

We just want to make it easier on everybody.

Well to answer your question USCIS could really careless. All that evidence really is for the CO at embassy. Everything but the kitchen sink is more for those at hgh fraud embassies, difficult embassies and people with read flags to over come.

When it comes to communication shoing shoing a log of calls, or when messages were sent with a brief sampling of what was sent is good.

I did a summary by the month I selected 3 conversations and at top of each page summarized what was that month about that was significant.

They really are lookig for normal regular communications. Most of us have the IM, Text, SMS, Skype, EMAIL, letters cards showing we talk usually daily thats what they want to see not nescessarily every word.

When there were gaps for us (phone lost, disconnected, network bad) I noted it. I left nothing to their imagination.

And yes you can do too much because it can also be looked at as hidingsomething. So quality is so muc better than quality.

For someone like you guys that have years together a Relationship timeline that pulls out the hiigh points and they can see on no more thane 2 pages your journey.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

RELATIONSHIP TIMELINE

Minnie Mouse– Petitioner Mickey Mouse - Beneficiary

• May, 2008 – Meet (put in names here) on the telephone via an introduction by my close friend, Goofy,
• August, 2008 – Started e-mailing, chatting on Yahoo Messenger and talking on the telephone.
• November, 2008 – Relationship progressing to a serious level. Made trip #1 to Osaka, Japan. Met his family and friends.
• January, 2009 – Mickey proposed marriage over the phone. I accepted. We are officially engaged!
• February, 2009 – I file an I-129F fiancé petition for Mickey in the U.S. on a K1 Visa. I have kids from my first marriage and we thought it would be considerate to have them meet Mickey prior to marriage and be present at their mother’s wedding, therefore, petitioning for the K1 and not the K3 or CR-1.
• February, 2009 – Trip #2 to Osaka, Japan. Our engagement party!
• May 2009 – I-129F petition approved by the USCIS.
• July 2009 – Mickey’s interview at the U.S. Consulate in Osaka, Japan. Request made by CO for more photos and e-mails.
• August, 2009 – 2^nd interview at the U.S. Consulate in Osaka, Japan. Present many more e-mails phone records and photos documenting our relationship. Mickey’s visa application placed in Administrative Processing status.
• September, 2009 – Trip #3 to Osaka, Japan. Sweet reunion.
• November, 2009 – Request assistance from my Congresswoman – Carolyn McCarthy - to make inquiries on my behalf to the U.S. Consulate in Osaka, Japan regarding Mickey’s lengthy AP.
• December, 2009 – Case remains under Administrative Processing status.
• January, 2010 – I make a request of the U.S. Consulate in Osaka, Japan to meet with the investigator handling our case in hopes of expediting the lengthy AP period. Request granted.
• February 8, 2010 – Fraud investigators from the U.S. Consulate in Osaka, Japan pay a visit to Mickey’s parents house. His parents confirm that our relationship is genuine and that they support it.
• February 16, 2010 – Trip #4 to Osaka, Japan. Meet with fraud investigators at U.S. Consulate in Osaka, Japan. We are both interviewed separately and asked many questions pertaining to the details of our relationship. We believe all went well.
• March 2, 2010 – Mickey called to return to the U.S. Consulate in Osaka, Japan on March 23^rd (after almost 8 months of Administrative Processing).
• March 23, 2010 – Mickey’s visa application is denied. Reason for denial: Investigator did not believe I was committed to marrying Mickey within 90 days of his arrival in the States on the K1 visa. Why? Because at the Feb. 16^th interview with the investigator, I stated that I filed a fiancé petition instead of a marriage petition so that my kids could meet him first before we get married and be in attendance at our wedding. Investigator interpreted my words to mean that I needed to “understudy” my fiancé and that I wasn’t sure about marrying my fiancé.
• April, 2010 – Attempt to overturn denial while case still at the Consulate: Letter sent from my attorney – Marc Ellis – to the U.S. Consulate in Osaka, Japan along with affidavits from friends and family attesting to the fact that my intention was always to marry Mickey as soon as he arrived here on the K1. Attorney letter and affidavits never acknowledged by Consulate.
• April/May, 2010 – Plan our wedding.
• May 29, 2010 – Trip #5 to Osaka, Japan.
• June 1, 2010 - Get married!!!!!
• June, 2010 – Upon my return to the U.S., file an I-130 petition for my husband to come join me in the U.S. on a CR-1 visa.

I, Minnie Mouse, declare under penalty of perjury that the above facts and the above timeline between my husband and me are true and correct.

_____________________________

Minnie Mouse

ADDRESS

CITY, STATE ZIP

Executed on this _______ day of _______, 2010

[Jon York 156]

My fiance and I had over 100,000 various messages, text messages, skype, viber, etc. I pulled together some excerpts and put together about an 80-page document. My lawyer said I should cut it down to about 50 pages. Then give the rest of it to my fiance for her interview. If they needed more, then she could give it to them at the time of their interview.

If I printed them all out it would probably come to 300-400 pages. So, my lawyer said just print out about 200 more pages and send that to her for her interview. If they ask for more, then she can smother them in it!

Edited January 16, 2014 by Jon York

[mirrortraveler 1]

Hmm...putting together a couple of pages for each month is a good idea. I like that!

Way less hassle. This is just for the initial application. I understand that they might need to see more during the actual interview.

I've also blacked out a couple of lines here and there when the conversation got too private. Is that okay, or should I leave out those pages altogether?

When you did a description of the highlights of each month, how did you do that? Did you attach a separate sheet?

I have to admit, when it comes to Skype, a lot of it is just "call started" and "call ended". The conversations seem disjointed since we would only type if we couldn't talk for some reason.

Did you include the emails with the Skype calls and facebook messages for one particular month, or did you separate them?

Thanks a lot!

[baron555 934]

My question is: How does USCIS look at these kinds of things? Is there such a thing as too much evidence?

Is there a way to lessen the load without the person reviewing this to think "Why did they only Skype once a month?"

You won't be lessening the load for USCIS, you'll be lessening the load for your poor fiance who would have to carry all that to the interview!

Evidence of relationship is only required at the interview, not for the petition filing....you only need the proof of meeting once in person for that.

Draft of summary of your relationship and refer to specific evidences that you'll attach for your proof of relationship.

[agnesb 47]

Hey you guys,

It's me again. As stated in my previous message, we are currently in our initial application process for the K-1.

To document our entire 7 year relationship, we have accumulated a lot of photos, emails, postcards, facebook messages, skype records, copies of flight records, receipts, movie tickets, train tickets, etc.

It's all so much, in fact, that we've just had to upgrade our application to a 5" binder in order to fit everything.

A few months ago, we were able to briefly talk to an immigration attorney for free (we can't really afford one, though) and she kept mentioning to put in "everything but the kitchen sink". On the other hand, it's the records of our Skype conversations, which have taken up the bulk of the binder. We could fill several books with them if we wanted to, since, for the most part of our relationship, we used to talk on Skype every day for several hours.

We have included about one Skype call/chat a day, but it's still so much.

My question is: How does USCIS look at these kinds of things? Is there such a thing as too much evidence?

Is there a way to lessen the load without the person reviewing this to think "Why did they only Skype once a month?"

Thank you for your help!

We just want to make it easier on everybody.

Do you expect any issues with your petition, do you have any red flags? If not save yourself a lot of hassle and postage money. Front-loading is required/recommended in high fraud and countries with worse economic situation which Germany is far from that.

Normally you only need to write down a simple statement when filling I-129f about how you met in the last 2 years and support it with evidence like boarding passes, copies of all passport pages showing entry stamps, few pictures.

A lot of vj users statement is short enough that it fits in the space provided on the form and go smoothly through the process.

Good luck and hope your fiance will enjoy Florida, I do :-)

Edited January 16, 2014 by agnesb

[mirrortraveler 1]

Wait...how could we have gotten that wrong all these years?

So absolutely no evidence of a previous relationship beyond the 2 years in the application whatsoever?! I'm sorry, I'm just very surprised since I read the opposite a lot beforehand.

I don't think we have any red flags. Except for the fact that we were both in unpaid jobs and/or temporary unemployed for many years (in my case that had something to do with my F-1 visa and being a full-time student without much spare time). However, with my fiance's new job, we can cover the financial requirements just fine.

I was once held back and questioned at an airport in Atlanta, GA when I wanted to visit him, but after they had grilled me for an hour for reasons that had nothing to do with me, they finally let me go and I could enter the country. I'm not sure if that ordeal is on my record anywhere or if it would be counted as a red flag, even though I did nothing wrong.

[mirrortraveler 1]

Here: This is what the main K-1 visa guide here on VJ states:

Use as many of these items are possible. There is no minimum, but the more you can provide the less likely you are that you will receive an RFE. Additionally, please note that providing proof of your ongoing and genuine relationship in this package may benefit you by allowing the consulate to have access to this information prior to them formally contacting the non US Citizen fiance.

We just want to be sure that we've got everything the way it's supposed to be, since Immigrations doesn't bother with giving anyone hard-and-fast rules to go by.

Currently included in our application are:

- Cover Letter, Forms I-129F, G-325A, and G-1145 as well as all letters and documents belonging to them.

- Cheque over $340

- My fiance's proof of citizenship (copy of all passport pages, birth certificate)

- All proof of having met within the past 2 years: Plane tickets, other tickets and receipts, postcards, emails, skype logs, facebook messages

- Proof photos of having met within the past 2 years

- All proof on an ongoing relationship: Plane tickets, other tickets and receipts, postcards, emails, skype logs, facebook messages

- By suggestion of this forum, testimonial letters from friends and family about our relationship

- Proof photos of an ongoing relationship, covering the years between 2007 and 2011

[dwheels76 5,486]

Wait...how could we have gotten that wrong all these years?

So absolutely no evidence of a previous relationship beyond the 2 years in the application whatsoever?! I'm sorry, I'm just very surprised since I read the opposite a lot beforehand.

I don't think we have any red flags. Except for the fact that we were both in unpaid jobs and/or temporary unemployed for many years (in my case that had something to do with my F-1 visa and being a full-time student without much spare time). However, with my fiance's new job, we can cover the financial requirements just fine.

I was once held back and questioned at an airport in Atlanta, GA when I wanted to visit him, but after they had grilled me for an hour for reasons that had nothing to do with me, they finally let me go and I could enter the country. I'm not sure if that ordeal is on my record anywhere or if it would be counted as a red flag, even though I did nothing wrong.

No you didn't have it wrong. As each of us find out every embassy is not created equally. But Germany I see no issue. Just show what you need to.

And trust me I had a summary or explanation for every piece of evidebce (I 28 diffent items and 291 pages). Every page I told a story.

See for like a Nigerian interview a K1 is really treated like a CR1/IR1 couple. You have to show bonafides of relationship. Visits matter in frequency and longevity.

Some countries like yours, Canda, UK minus any Red flags, all a couple needs really is a marriage certificate or a letter of intent.

So no red flags you should be fine. But a Relationship timeline I would advise just for the sake of the CO. To see 7 years of a relationship all in one or two pages. They see when you met, when you said I love you, when you meet the families, engaged. Instead of pouring through a mountain of data and maybe missing on april 11, 2007 you said would you marry me. hehe

You will be fine.

[mirrortraveler 1]

Relationship timeline?! Oh dear, another thing I'd never heard of before.

Just simply as a list? But where to put it? With the letter of how we met?

Thanks a bunch for all your help!

[dwheels76 5,486]

Relationship timeline?! Oh dear, another thing I'd never heard of before.

Just simply as a list? But where to put it? With the letter of how we met?

Thanks a bunch for all your help!

hmmm scroll up look at the #2 post I pasted a example there.

[agnesb 47]

Agree with dwheels76.

I literally put "We met in xxxx, UK in 20xx. We have been dating since and our relationship is progressing really well. We travelled together to Paris on mm/dd/yyyy. " We didn't even mention falling in love (not their business) or engagement as in fact we didn't get engaged until a month after sending the paperwork :-)

We attached 2 photos of us (1 in front of eiffel tower) and a print out of an email confirmation of our tickets to Paris so in theory i only had secondary evidence. No RFE.

Of course thats me, put as much evidence as you want but just to prove you have been physically meeting in the last 2 years, you may have a chance proving your 7year relationship on your interview but for example in London they NEVER ask for any relationship proofs, just ask few standard questions :-)

[agnesb 47]

These reviews should give you an idea how easy interview at Consulate in Germany is

http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cnty=Germany&cty=&dfilter=5

Edited January 16, 2014 by agnesb

[HK12 273]

Just from a German perspective: I agree with those saying you don't have to provide more than you need to. For the initial I-129F I only sent evidence that we had met within the last two years (boarding passes, passport stamps, hotel receipts, a few photos). As for the letter of intent, same here as Agnesb.

For the consulate stage, I sent the actual relationship evidence, such as e-mails, letters, Skype logs, photos, etc. - but the CO just merely flipped through it during my interview and then handed it back to me (I was kind of insulted that he wasn't paying more attention to it after I had spent so many hours assembling it ).

Germany is a low-fraud country, and you really don't have to provide more than they ask for.

Edited January 16, 2014 by HK12

[mirrortraveler 1]

Whew! Thank you guys SO much! This is such a relief! You have no idea how much I've been obsessing over this.

Then again, maybe you do.

After all, we're all kind of in the same boat, here.

Alright, so I finally have an idea of how to shorten it and make it more quality, way less quantity.

One more question, though, if it's okay. Does anyone know if blacking out parts of conversations for privacy reasons is okay?

Thanks a lot in advance!