K1 Visa - Cuba Documents Questions

[TatiyPablo 32]

Reposting this here from the K-1 Section:

Hello! This is my first post on VisaJourney and as such, would like to briefly give thanks to all of the wonderful people who make up this community, graciously sharing their experiences, advice, and support on this website. The immigration process is daunting, particularly in matters where your loved ones are concerned, and it's incredible to have an online community like this to help wade through the waters!

I live in New York and am gearing up to apply for a K-1 Visa for my fiancé who lives in Havana, Cuba. We've gathered most of the pertinent documents but a few questions have sprung up along the way.

1. Statement of Intent to Marry: Both my fiancé and I have written short letters of intent to marry based off of templates we found online. My first question is, can these be relatively short statements? In my supplement for I-129F, sec. 34a. I've attached a lengthy, detailed description of how we met and how our relationship has evolved. Additionally, I was thinking about writing another summary text with a timeline of our relationship, to include with our evidence. So does a short letter stating intent to marry upon entry to the US suffice, or should this be longer and more descriptive? Finally, I will notarize my letter in New York but how and where can my fiancé notarize or legalize his statement in Havana? Is it necessary, and if so, can I have a lawyer in New York notarize his letter along with mine?

2. Affidavit of Bona Fide Relationship: To further support our case, we have asked friends in family in New York and Havana to write letters attesting to their knowledge of our relationship. My question is do these affidavits, or letters, need to be notarized? It is no problem for my friends and family in New York, we can get them notarized by a lawyer, but how can we get my fiancé's mother's, cousin's, and friend's letters notarized in Cuba? Is it possible to notarize these documents in Cuba? When I was in Havana last month, I met with a lawyer at Bufete Internacional, and he told me it was impossible to get these kinds of documents or personal statements notarized (or legalized?) in Cuba - but I would like to confirm. For those of you have applied for a K-1 or I-130, how did you notarize/legalize your partner's documents and letters from friends and family in Cuba? Additionally, I just used a template of third party affidavits found online and personalized them to give to friends and family - is this correct?

3. Cuban Birth Certificate and Single Certificate: I have a few official copies of my fiancé's birth certificate and single certificate that I plan to submit with my petition. Do I have to do anything aside from translating these with a certified translator?

4. Evidence: I have an excess of evidence for our case, thousands of pictures of us together and with his family and friends, thousands of emails, Whatsapp messages, IMO call logs, CubaMessenger and SMSHabana messages (we've tried it all). I have phone records from my carrier Verizon and from his carrier Etecsa showing that we've talked everyday since meeting, Rebtel and Boss Revolution receipts and call logs (some of you must know the $truggle of calling Cuba!!!) Letters from friends and family. And finally boarding passes/passport stamps from five trips I've taken over the past eight months. What's the best strategy for submitting evidence? Is it best to select a varied sampling stretching over the course of the relationship, or is a "more is more" approach aka an information dump, more preferable?

Thank you to anyone who has made it this far and taken the time to read through my questions - I would hug you if I could! Any help on this, on some or all of my questions, is so greatly appreciated. Thank you again. Love to all! x

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

Reposting this here from the K-1 Section:

Hello! This is my first post on VisaJourney and as such, would like to briefly give thanks to all of the wonderful people who make up this community, graciously sharing their experiences, advice, and support on this website. The immigration process is daunting, particularly in matters where your loved ones are concerned, and it's incredible to have an online community like this to help wade through the waters!

I live in New York and am gearing up to apply for a K-1 Visa for my fiancé who lives in Havana, Cuba. We've gathered most of the pertinent documents but a few questions have sprung up along the way.

1. Statement of Intent to Marry: Both my fiancé and I have written short letters of intent to marry based off of templates we found online. My first question is, can these be relatively short statements? In my supplement for I-129F, sec. 34a. I've attached a lengthy, detailed description of how we met and how our relationship has evolved. Additionally, I was thinking about writing another summary text with a timeline of our relationship, to include with our evidence. So does a short letter stating intent to marry upon entry to the US suffice, or should this be longer and more descriptive? Finally, I will notarize my letter in New York but how and where can my fiancé notarize or legalize his statement in Havana? Is it necessary, and if so, can I have a lawyer in New York notarize his letter along with mine?

No need to notarize. A brief statement is sufficient. Ours was a simple " I, __________, intend to marry __________ within 90 days of their arrival into the US.." ect....

2. Affidavit of Bona Fide Relationship: To further support our case, we have asked friends in family in New York and Havana to write letters attesting to their knowledge of our relationship. My question is do these affidavits, or letters, need to be notarized? It is no problem for my friends and family in New York, we can get them notarized by a lawyer, but how can we get my fiancé's mother's, cousin's, and friend's letters notarized in Cuba? Is it possible to notarize these documents in Cuba? When I was in Havana last month, I met with a lawyer at Bufete Internacional, and he told me it was impossible to get these kinds of documents or personal statements notarized (or legalized?) in Cuba - but I would like to confirm. For those of you have applied for a K-1 or I-130, how did you notarize/legalize your partner's documents and letters from friends and family in Cuba? Additionally, I just used a template of third party affidavits found online and personalized them to give to friends and family - is this correct?

Shouldn't need to notarize these either. They are not needed but just "bonus" documentation you can submit along with the petition.

3. Cuban Birth Certificate and Single Certificate: I have a few official copies of my fiancé's birth certificate and single certificate that I plan to submit with my petition. Do I have to do anything aside from translating these with a certified translator?

Not sure on the translation part (don't have to translate much from the Philippines); but you do not need these documents to submit the I-129F. These would be used later at the interview stage.

4. Evidence: I have an excess of evidence for our case, thousands of pictures of us together and with his family and friends, thousands of emails, Whatsapp messages, IMO call logs, CubaMessenger and SMSHabana messages (we've tried it all). I have phone records from my carrier Verizon and from his carrier Etecsa showing that we've talked everyday since meeting, Rebtel and Boss Revolution receipts and call logs (some of you must know the $truggle of calling Cuba!!!) Letters from friends and family. And finally boarding passes/passport stamps from five trips I've taken over the past eight months. What's the best strategy for submitting evidence? Is it best to select a varied sampling stretching over the course of the relationship, or is a "more is more" approach aka an information dump, more preferable?

Boarding passes, passport pages showing entry stamps, hotel receipts, receipts of purchases, credit card/bank statements showing activity at that country are primary evidence and the best to use. We supplied simply 5-6 photos of us together. I submitted about 15 pages of screen shots of Imessages showing dates to kind of show our timeline. That should be more than sufficient.

Thank you to anyone who has made it this far and taken the time to read through my questions - I would hug you if I could! Any help on this, on some or all of my questions, is so greatly appreciated. Thank you again. Love to all! x

Good luck on your VJ!

[Ivan2013 0]

34.a I put "We meet in person on Month/day/ year while I was visiting my family in City, Cuba. 10 travels since then. We got engaged on Month/day/year. We are in Love!

I USED SMALL LETTER SIZE 8 ON THIS SECTION. I DID NOT USE AN ATACHAMENT!

I-129F approved in 34 days. All the process will take almost 6months. Interview Jan/2017.