Question - Should I mention I met my fiancee on eHarmony? and this is not considered an IMB, correct?

[Cathi 5,609]

Hi, like my title question asks - Should I mention in my I-129f packet that I met my fiancee on eharmony.com? I am not sure if they want to know how everyone initially met. As I understand, eharmony is not considered an IMBRA - is this correct? thanks

People are making this far more difficult than it really is. Simply tell them you met online and leave it at that. Period. If further on down the road they ask where you met online, tell them. They may ask, they may not. I met my husband online and when I attended the interview with him the CO asked where online, we told him and that was the end of it. EHarmony is not an IMBRA

[Sunnyland 639]

We met with my now husband on a dating site many years ago and we mentioned it on our explanatory letter and we never got any problem. As long as you met on a dating site you should be fine. We even included the first message we exchanged on that site, on the evidence documents. You will be fine.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Sunnyland

[ed-j 1]

We met on eHarmony, and I did state exactly that on the I-129f. Also included the half page letter of how we subsequently met in person and the cliff notes view of our relationship. We received no questions about it. Saying or not saying eHarmony specifically probably won't have much effect on your application either way, so make it what you are comfortable with and what you can easily remember if asked. The real key is making it clear that you have met your fiance in person. Good luck with your journey!

[Loki_Go 126]

An RFE is not that big of a deal. We mentioned that we met on OKCupid and if we receive an RFE, great, it means we're close! Print out the TOS, highlight the appropriate verbiage, send it off. A slight delay, sure, but nothing to completely stress out about.

Just assume you're going to get an RFE for something and if you don't, surprise! I prefer to be upfront instead of looking like I'm trying to be intentionally vague.

[Loki_Go 126]

We met on eHarmony, and I did state exactly that on the I-129f. Also included the half page letter of how we subsequently met in person and the cliff notes view of our relationship. We received no questions about it. Saying or not saying eHarmony specifically probably won't have much effect on your application either way, so make it what you are comfortable with and what you can easily remember if asked. The real key is making it clear that you have met your fiance in person. Good luck with your journey!

Right. Mentioning it or not probably won't have much effect; the same guy that would ask if a dating site is an IMB will be the same guy that will ask how specifically you met online and whether it was through an IMB. If he wants to know, he's gunna ask.

[Unidentified 2,930]

An RFE is not that big of a deal. We mentioned that we met on OKCupid and if we receive an RFE, great, it means we're close! Print out the TOS, highlight the appropriate verbiage, send it off. A slight delay, sure, but nothing to completely stress out about.

Just assume you're going to get an RFE for something and if you don't, surprise! I prefer to be upfront instead of looking like I'm trying to be intentionally vague.

Well at least I can give you reassurance that if you get an RFE it won't be because you said you met on OKCupid

And yes, you're right. If you get an RFE you at least now someone picked your file up and started working on it and you know that not long after you send in the right stuff you will be approved. So in a way, an RFE is good news.

[Tony and Daisy 22]

Aren't we talking about the letter where you write down how you met etc? Our letter is about a page long.

There is no requirement to detail hot you initially met. The only requirement is to describe when you met face to face within the last two years.

[Unidentified 2,930]

There is no requirement to detail hot you initially met. The only requirement is to describe when you met face to face within the last two years.

Well our way of doing it worked out just fine and that's what counts

[Tony and Daisy 22]

Well our way of doing it worked out just fine and that's what counts

Agreed, what works for you is the right thing to do

[feli114 65]

You do not want an rfe! it can take from 2wks to 6 mo. Less is more. We met online. period.

[Ms Hogan 295]

Hi, like my title question asks - Should I mention in my I-129f packet that I met my fiancee on eharmony.com? I am not sure if they want to know how everyone initially met. As I understand, eharmony is not considered an IMBRA - is this correct? thanks

To be completely fair and honest about this... I think that the country you come from matters. Please don't be offended by this because that is not my intent at all. And I guess I'm really asking a question here but if you live in Iran... and you are trying to meet up with someone in America... what is the expectation here in terms of building a relationship? You would have to already be thinking about the need to move to one or another country right from the start if the relationship goes anywhere.

I remember being nervous about expanding my dating radius on eHarmony to 500 miles because that crossed the border for me from Canada to America very easily and quite far in.

For the MOST part people on eHarmony are looking for people within a certain radius. A few hundred miles maybe. Not from Iran to America. eHarmony is not an IMBRA but someone like myself in the Toronto area meeting someone on eHarmony who happened to live in America is a more reasonable expectation than someone on the other side of the world meeting someone in America without stretching your dating distance radius to the maximum. Tell if I'm wrong because it has been many years since I was on there but how do you even get connected to someone that far away without reaching for it intentionally?

Again, I am NOT trying to be pushy about this, I am very curious about it. And my curiosity is probably not much different than someone adjudicating a case based on eHarmoney and the people being connected when they are so very far apart. Unless they met locally because they were both in the same place at the same time. It could seem like an intentional effort to meet someone to bring another to the U.S. Based solely on distance and the fact the eHarmony would not typically connect people from such a great distance from each other.

I'd love to hear thoughts on this. I think eHarmony could be perceived in different ways depending on the location of the people meeting in the first place.

[TBoneTX 43,019]

As has been stated, there's no need to get wrapped up in our own underwear about this. If, during the visa interview, the consul wishes to ask how the couple first connected, say "on-line." If the consul probes after that, go into detail.

As has been stated several times, USCIS (now, at the petition phase) doesn't care about this beyond a verified face-to-face meeting within 2 years of the petition's filing.

The OP's question was answered in the first reply. If participants want to discuss the matter further, an idea is to start a new thread in General Immigration Discussion, the IMBRA subforum, or the Embassy/Consulate forum, depending on the emphasis of the query.