pre I-129F filing questions

[DaleMonique 0]

WOW, ok...new guy here. name is Dale, living in Texas. fiancee is Monique, living in Canada. this is all a bit overwhelming for me so bear with me...

i wish i had known what was involved in the I-129F prior to my trip to Canada. i paid cash for everything, we stayed in her brothers apartment, we walked everywhere (very small town), my airline flight only took me to the US border(i took a taxi into Canada and when leaving, i walked to the border), i only have 2 pictures of us in the apartment.

furthermore, when crossing into Canada, i was detained for 45 minutes to verify my fiancee was expecting me and i was also given a Canada Immigration paper stating i was staying with "my friend Monique." i had to carry that paper everywhere while i was there and returned it when i left. as much as i frowned on the holdup at the border, it just might be my saving grace. would the Canada Immigration paper be primary evidence ?

so basically, all i have for proof of meeting is a non-dated photo and a stamped passport. somehow, i feel this is not sufficient evidence.

moving on: Monique has 2 middle names, the form only has space for one. would she list her other middle name under Other Names Used ?

background check: Monique has a "theft by credit card" charge on her record from October of 1999. it was a family dispute which was dropped as long as she paid the family member back (less than $100 Canadian). the family member realized the grief she had caused and told Monique not to pay her back. will this simple charge be of any problem later ? regardless, we are going to resolve the issue so Monique can have a clean background.

Children: Monique has 3 children out of wedlock and does not have custody of them. without custody, do the kids need to be included on the I-129F ?

if you got this far, THANKS ! any and all help/input/comments would be appreciated. i have literally drowned myself in all of this since i got back from Canada 3 weeks ago.

Dale

[ladykelia 0]

About evidence: If possible you might want to take another trip to canada and collect more evidence that you have met. If this is not possible then you might have some trouble, because they might find your evidence to be inadequate. Not sure what to say about this one.

About the Background check: I'd like to tell you that it will be no problem whatsoever, but I'm not sure thats the reality, I don't really have any experience in this area. Most likely (based on what I've read) it will not be a huge problem and you probably will not have to file a waiver, but this incident might delay the process a little as they might do more background checks and such.

About the children: If they are not in her custody and do not plan to immigrate to the US with their mother, then they don't need to be included on the I-129F, I'm pretty sure. Please read the question carefully yourself, but I think it is just for children which will accompany her (which I'm assuming is none).

[payxibka 10,048]

Children: Monique has 3 children out of wedlock and does not have custody of them. without custody, do the kids need to be included on the I-129F ?

The form says list all your children... It does not say list all your children but only if you have custody....

Don't read anything more into these questions... Answer what they are asking for

[payxibka 10,048]

About the children: If they are not in her custody and do not plan to immigrate to the US with their mother, then they don't need to be included on the I-129F, I'm pretty sure. Please read the question carefully yourself, but I think it is just for children which will accompany her (which I'm assuming is none).

[ladykelia 0]

About the children: If they are not in her custody and do not plan to immigrate to the US with their mother, then they don't need to be included on the I-129F, I'm pretty sure. Please read the question carefully yourself, but I think it is just for children which will accompany her (which I'm assuming is none).

Nevermind, fwaguy is right. I just read the question. List all of the children. (I didn't have to worry about this when I filed so it didn't register)

[Detty2809 0]

About children and background check, I dunno what to say. Someone else like Capt. Ewok could prolly help you with those.

About evidences.

- The pictures, you can put some remarks behind the picture yourself. Put the place and date of where/when the pics were taken, and names of people on the pictures.

- And if you keep your boarding passes/itineraries, you will be cool.

- Get copies of your passport pages where you get the stamps of enerting and leaving Canada

Those 3, should be sufficient to proof that you have met your fiance in within 2 years. My fiance and I did not know about I-129F either so we only submitted 4 pictures of us (my fiance wrote the date and all by himself), some of our itineraries (not all, we lost them), and copies of stamped passport pages (mine only, cuz my fiance traveled with his military ID Card).

Other evidences : did you call her or chat with her? what about e-mails? Get your phone bills and records (highlighted every single phone calls you made for her - she should do the same thing), print out your and her e-mails and chat logs.

Good luck.

[DaleMonique 0]

ok, some additional info:

i do not have a bank account or any credit cards, therefore i gave the money to my mother and used her debit card to make the airline ticket purchase.

i have a prepaid cell phone, which does not give me a monthly statement. Monique was using calling cards to call me, so again, no monthly statement.

due to computer crashes, important internet chat logs are non-existant. our emails speak nothing of marriage but only of a countdown as to when i was to fly up to Canada.

about the Canada Immigration, the border patrol officer that did all of the paperwork is actually a relative of Monique's, would a notarized affidavit from her verifying i was there and Monique and i met be sufficient primary evidence ?

as i understand it, photos have to have dates printed on the front. handwritten dates on the back are unacceptable. am i wrong ?

Thanks again !

Dale

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I don't know about the date printed on the front . . . ours certainly didn't. We wrote it in pencil on the back. A notarized affidavit from the Canadian border patrol officer testifying that you did indeed cross the border on such and such a date to visit Monique would certainly be a good piece of evidence. The airline ticket or itinerary would have to have your name as the passenger who was flying, not your mother's, so even if she paid for the ticket, the ticket itself should list you as the passenger. Definitely include it and add the written explanation that you crossed the border into Canada via taxi. I used to pick my fiancee up at the Detroit Airport then we would drive back together into Canada. He never had his passport stamped or anything - just had his boarding passes and the flight itinerary to include with the I-129f petition. Good luck.

[misa 2]

i do not have a bank account or any credit cards, therefore i gave the money to my mother and used her debit card to make the airline ticket purchase.

I think this might pose a problem when it comes to filing an Affidavit of Support at the consulate level. I know it's a ways off since you haven't filed your petition yet, but it's something that you will need to also prepare for -- you'll need to show proof that you can provide sufficient financial support and sounds like you may need a co-sponsor that has traceable finances.

[Autumnchik 6]

One suggestion I have regarding the legal charge is that your fiance should get her fingerprints done. My fiance had a charge (DUI in 1983). We had been told different things by the consulate regarding needing fingerprints. In the end, we did not need them. However, it is always good to be prepared. In Canada right now, it takes a while to get fingerprints back. If you are doing the regular ink prints done at a RCMP office, we were told that it is taking over 5 months to get the results from Ottawa. There is also an agency called the Commissionaires that does digital prints. They say that you will receive results in 4 to 6 weeks. I don't know if there are any Commissionaires offices near your fiance, but it may be worth checking into.

Good luck

[Detty2809 0]

ok, some additional info:

i do not have a bank account or any credit cards, therefore i gave the money to my mother and used her debit card to make the airline ticket purchase.

--> Use your itineraries, showing your name as the passenger should be ok. And please DO get a bank account. Your fiance's embassy might ask for copies of your bank account to show your monthly deposits. If you can not provide, you might need a co-sponsor.

i have a prepaid cell phone, which does not give me a monthly statement. Monique was using calling cards to call me, so again, no monthly statement.

--> What's a prepaid call like in the US? In my country, you'd have to get some kind of vouchers everytime you wanna refill your credit. If you have to do the same thing, keep your vouchers, they can be used as evidences, and so are your fiance's calling cards. I have heard couples submitting these and they had no problem also.

due to computer crashes, important internet chat logs are non-existant. our emails speak nothing of marriage but only of a countdown as to when i was to fly up to Canada.

---> You still have time to chat and e-mail each other until the interview comes right? It won't be until several months from now. Just provide some proofs of having met in person in within 2 years and maybe a few of evidence of ongoing relationships with your I-129F. They actually would not need the latter one until the interview. So maybe you wanna start talkin about your marriage and all those lovey dovey things. But anyways, your e-mails do not have to talk about marriage, as long as it shows that you two are communicating, and in love.

about the Canada Immigration, the border patrol officer that did all of the paperwork is actually a relative of Monique's, would a notarized affidavit from her verifying i was there and Monique and i met be sufficient primary evidence ?

---> If she is willing to make the affidavit, I don't see any reason why you guys shouldn't get it!

as i understand it, photos have to have dates printed on the front. handwritten dates on the back are unacceptable. am i wrong ?

---> Yea you're wrong Lots of us wrote the dates and other remarks by pen behind the pics.

Thanks again !

Dale

Good luck, Dale!

Detty

[kitkat1 5]

our emails speak nothing of marriage but only of a countdown as to when i was to fly up to Canada.

At the petition stage, you are only required to proof that you have met in the prior two years. If you choose to include emails, use them. Nowhere does it say the content of the emails needs to be related to marriage.

as i understand it, photos have to have dates printed on the front. handwritten dates on the back are unacceptable. am i wrong ?

Photos can be used to prove that you have met in the previous two years. Obviously dated photos can help, but then again dates can easily be "doctored". Just write your names, location and date of the photo on the back with a permanent marker. There is not rule about dates being printed on the front.

[DaleMonique 0]

--> Use your itineraries, showing your name as the passenger should be ok. And please DO get a bank account. Your fiance's embassy might ask for copies of your bank account to show your monthly deposits. If you can not provide, you might need a co-sponsor.

--> What's a prepaid call like in the US? In my country, you'd have to get some kind of vouchers everytime you wanna refill your credit. If you have to do the same thing, keep your vouchers, they can be used as evidences, and so are your fiance's calling cards. I have heard couples submitting these and they had no problem also.

Good luck, Dale!

Detty

i HAD a bank account but a credit card company had a civil judgement against me and wiped out every dime i had saved in the account. i can provide a photocopy of the large sum of cash i have in my possession though. today, i bought a prepay credit card that i can add money to at any time i need. hopefully, thatll come in handy later. wouldnt the tax form from my employer be sufficient enough to show i can provide for my fiancee ?

if a co-sponsor is needed, i would use my parents. however, they are in the middle of a bankruptcy, would that be a problem ?

on my cell phone, whenever i need to buy time, i go down and buy a $15/30/50/75 card. but that doesnt prove that ive called her or she has called me.

Edited February 4, 2007 by DaleMonique

[kitkat1 5]

i can provide a photocopy of the large sum of cash i have in my possession though

HUH?

Start reading up on the affidavit of support requirements for your consulate. If they require proof of a bank account with a record of deposits and balances (which is a fairly normal requirement) you might want to know about that in advance, as well as to clearly understand what other documents they require i.e. tax returns, etc.

[ding 1]

I'd use some of that big lump of cash you have on hand and fly in, take pics in front of the airport sign and head on back. Done deal!