A Quantity of Quandaries

[Background Pony 0]

Got some questions I guess. Seems to me the first step can be the most important in deciding how long you're left waiting before they approve it, so I wanna get it right. I'll number them to make it easier to respond by question. Didn't wanna clutter up the forum. To clarify, this is for the I-130, with both of us living outside the states in a shared address. Been married for a few years. Check my post history if you want the full story I guess. Anyways, onwards.

1. I've seen a lot of posts and guides advising the inclusion of chatlogs. I've got a couple book's worth of pages of skype logs (This is not hyperbole, it's easily 250+ pages), as well as endless emails. Am I supposed to print these out physically and include them, or what?

2. I don't have the boarding passes for all my airplane trips. I do have the emails for purchasing them, and my passport is filled with stamps for the 5 or so borders I've been across with him. I plan to include a full photocopy of my passport, but should I include printed off records of the purchased tickets, or will they be unacceptable as not being original?

3. I have a video of our marriage ceremony. Is there any way to include this? USB stick or something?

4. I have a couple leases we've shared over the last couple years. Do I copy them in their entirety, or just the pages that show we signed a lease together at a certain address? This application is going to be a couple pounds of paper at this rate.

5. I don't have a US bank or account to pay the processing fee. My current plan is to mail them to my mother stateside after sending her the money, and she can include a money order from her account. I guess I'm wondering if the fee being drawn off someone else's account besides the petitioner will cause an issue.

6. I'm listing the address we plan to live at as my grandmother's, as being out of the country for two years means I don't have a house or somesuch. I plan to move out very shortly from her house if approved though. Also wondering if that's a problem.

7. The photocopies of documents I have are in black and white. Do they need to be in color?

Thanks for your help.

[Ortolan 381]

1. I would print a few out of each that span a period of time. You want to show an abridged history of your relationship, not the whole thing. Too much paper looks like you're trying too hard for some reason! Maybe 3-4 dated convos or emails for each year.

2. Make a list of all the times you've been to the U.S., if that's what you want to show. You'll be asked later in your DS-260 online form about visits to the U.S., and you might as well get that information together now so you'll have it. They don't want a full copy of your passport. They just want the biometrics page with your photo on it.

3. Nope, they don't accept electronic media. You could print off a screen shot of the ceremony; that might be something you could include. All you need is a couple of photos of that.

4. Having copies of the shared leases is a good thing.

5. I think it doesn't matter who pays the fees as long as they're drawn from a U.S. bank, but maybe another member can weigh in here with better advice on fees.

6. Unknown (to me)

7. Black and white is fine.

On all your submissions here: put a cover sheet on each explaining in a short sentence what it is they're going to be looking at, i.e., "Leases from 2010 and 2012"...."Photo of our wedding and honeymoon"...."Random Sample of Chats 2010 - 2012" Anything you can do to help the reviewer understand quickly what they're seeing will help.

Wish I could help on the domicile and fees questions but it's not in my experience, so... Good luck!

[RobbieG 94]

Background Pony,

This is what we sent. I'm the USC and live in the States so it is a bit different than your situation, but there may be something here to help.

Contents include:

• Personal Check for Application Filing Fee in the amount of $420.00
• I-130, Petition for Alien Relative original submission
• G-1145, E-notification of Application/Petition Acceptance
• G-325A for Petitioner xx
• Photos (2) of Petitioner xx
• G-325A for Beneficiary yy and signed attachment for addresses
• Photos (2) of Beneficiary yy
• Copy of United States Birth Certificate for Petitioner xx (front and back)
• Copy of Marriage Certificate and English Translation for Petitioner xx and Beneficiary yy
• Documentation of Marriage including Newspaper Announcement, Invitations, Photos, Reception and Photos, Congratulatory Cards from friends and coworkers, Travel Documents for Petitioner and Invited Guests, Best Men Reception and Gift, Wedding Gift Registry, Gifts and Photos of Gifts
• Copies of documentation showing our shared finances including money transfers, shared credit cards and bank accounts listing the payable upon death (POD) as Beneficiary yy, Credit Card receipts
• Life Insurance and 401K of Petitioner showing Beneficiary as the beneficiary of those policies and 401K
• Affidavits from third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marriage and relationship:

1. xx, Petitioner
2. aa, brother of Petitioner
3. bb, niece of Petitioner
4. cc, Work Supervisor of Petitioner
5. dd, Friend of Petitioner and Beneficiary
6. ee, Friend of Petitioner and Beneficiary
7. ff, Friend of Petitioner and Beneficiary

• Tax Statement showing property tax owed on property owned by xx, the Petitioner, and yy, the Beneficiary
• Homestead Exemption Application showing xx and yy as the property owners
• Travel documentation for 20 trips by Petitioner xx to visit yy, Beneficiary in his country and home and vacations taken together
• Travel documentation for 10 trips for Beneficiary yy to visit xx, the Petitioner in his country and home and vacations taken together

• Photos of the relationship of xx, the Petitioner and yy, the Beneficiary from 2011-2014
• Photos of xx, the Petitioner, with the family of yy, the Beneficiary
• Photos or yy, the Beneficiary, with the family of xx, the Petitioner
• Photos of gifts to xx, the Petitioner from yy, the Beneficiary
• Documentation of shipping packages from xx, the Petitioner, to yy, the Beneficiary
• Chat records from Facebook, iMessage and WhatsApp between xx, the Petitioner and yy, the Beneficiary from 2012-2014

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.

RobbieG

Dallas, TX

[Kaylara 814]

I would also include your foreign residency permit to show that you've been living there legally.

[Abby&Mario 100]

Got some questions I guess.

1. I searched my husband's e-mail address in Gmail so a list showed up with every e-mail/chat we've ever had with the dates running down the right side. I printed one page from each year, four printed page in total. Didn't print any actual full e-mail or chat. I could have included Skype and a couple other things, but chose not to, and it was not an issue.

2. E-mail flight confirmation plus copy of page in passport with corresponding stamp should be fine. But if you do have any boarding passes, include them (copies, not originals of course).

3. Stick to photos. You can't send a USB. I stuck them in a Word document and printed them in color on regular white printer paper three to a page.

4. I don't believe you have to include the entire lease agreement if the signature page has all the relevant info (dates and stuff), but I do not know for sure.

5. My parents FedExed us a check to include with our package, and it was accepted. They just want the money.

6. We put my parents' house for this since we both live abroad. Not a problem.

7. Most of our copies were in black and white. But if something is easier to read or see in color, copy it in color. The documents we copied in color were: marriage certificate, husband's U.S. entry stamps (dates still weren't clear so I also wrote them on the side), my Colombian foreign resident I.D. card and the page of my passport where I have my spouse visa. Boarding passes, financial stuff, Gmail logs, all that was black and white. I would definitely print the photos in color.

[Ryan H 3,812]

***Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.***

**Moderator hat off**

Answers in bold and red

Got some questions I guess. Seems to me the first step can be the most important in deciding how long you're left waiting before they approve it, so I wanna get it right. I'll number them to make it easier to respond by question. Didn't wanna clutter up the forum. To clarify, this is for the I-130, with both of us living outside the states in a shared address. Been married for a few years. Check my post history if you want the full story I guess. Anyways, onwards.

1. I've seen a lot of posts and guides advising the inclusion of chatlogs. I've got a couple book's worth of pages of skype logs (This is not hyperbole, it's easily 250+ pages), as well as endless emails. Am I supposed to print these out physically and include them, or what?

You don't have to print all of it, select samples over the course of your relationship

2. I don't have the boarding passes for all my airplane trips. I do have the emails for purchasing them, and my passport is filled with stamps for the 5 or so borders I've been across with him. I plan to include a full photocopy of my passport, but should I include printed off records of the purchased tickets, or will they be unacceptable as not being original?

The entry stamps show you actually went to a place and that carries more weight than records of purchased tickets. If you choose to include the records of purchased tickets, photocopies are perfectly acceptable and that is what would be expected.

3. I have a video of our marriage ceremony. Is there any way to include this? USB stick or something?

No, electronic media will not be viewed.

4. I have a couple leases we've shared over the last couple years. Do I copy them in their entirety, or just the pages that show we signed a lease together at a certain address? This application is going to be a couple pounds of paper at this rate.

The pages showing that you actually signed at a specific address should be sufficient (and you are submitting a petition, not an application).

5. I don't have a US bank or account to pay the processing fee. My current plan is to mail them to my mother stateside after sending her the money, and she can include a money order from her account. I guess I'm wondering if the fee being drawn off someone else's account besides the petitioner will cause an issue.

Not an issue

6. I'm listing the address we plan to live at as my grandmother's, as being out of the country for two years means I don't have a house or somesuch. I plan to move out very shortly from her house if approved though. Also wondering if that's a problem.

Not a problem

7. The photocopies of documents I have are in black and white. Do they need to be in color?

Doesn't matter

Thanks for your help.