Original signature?

[ITMFA 241]

Quick question - on the official instructions for the i-129 it says that original documents are not required unless specified. Does this mean that I can scan my signed letter of intent to marry and my fiance can print that out to submit? i.e. I don't have to mail him a letter with my signature on it? 

Thanks  

[Marzena & Stephen 544]

11 minutes ago, Canadianmusician said:

Quick question - on the official instructions for the i-129 it says that original documents are not required unless specified. Does this mean that I can scan my signed letter of intent to marry and my fiance can print that out to submit? i.e. I don't have to mail him a letter with my signature on it? 

Thanks  

I wouldn't risk getting an rfe for copied signatures. From my understanding signatures should be wet ink.

[ITMFA 241]

Thanks! Another question I have is about the passport photos date. We took ours on November 30th so we are trying to get the packet in the mail by the end of this month. Are they very strict about having a date on the back of the photos? Will it make a difference if it's 31 or 32 days after they were taken? 

(paranoid newbie here...)

[Marzena & Stephen 544]

3 minutes ago, Canadianmusician said:

Thanks! Another question I have is about the passport photos date. We took ours on November 30th so we are trying to get the packet in the mail by the end of this month. Are they very strict about having a date on the back of the photos? Will it make a difference if it's 31 or 32 days after they were taken? 

(paranoid newbie here...)

Honestly If you have a date on the back just make sure to send the documents out before the 30 day window and have everything dated within that same 30 days. I wouldn't push any of their guidelines to risk additional months of extra time if you get an rfe like I said above ..It really depends on the uscis administrator you get though.if you have to retake photos because you need more time to go over your application than do it ..costco is super cheap for passport photos!  Id suggest dont rush your application..Take your time.  

Edited December 20, 2017 by Marzena & Stephen

[Marzena & Stephen 544]

7 minutes ago, Canadianmusician said:

 

(paranoid newbie here...)

Let me know if you have any other questions regarding the process no question is a stupid question.

[YecaCruz 386]

Some people have successfully filed a K-1 with a scanned copy of the intent to marry. I myself sucked it up and had my then-fiancé send me 3 copies of each document that had his original signature via good 'ole fedex. I did it for the reason that Marzena & Stephen said; to not risk an RFE should my packet land on the desk of someone having a bad day looking for reasons to send RFEs.

 

Like I said though, people have successfully gotten the K1 visa with scanned copies of that. I concur with the above commenter that you may as well get it and leave no room for an RFE but at the end of the day, do what you think will work

 

Good luck to you!

 

 

Edited December 20, 2017 by YecaCruz

[TNJ17 1,329]

The beneficiary needs to sign it and snail mail it to the petitioner to send out to USCIS. You cannot scan signatures. 

[ITMFA 241]

2 hours ago, Marzena & Stephen said:

Let me know if you have any other questions regarding the process no question is a stupid question.

Thanks so much! I do have another question regarding employers and physical addresses. I'm a professional musician, and over the past two years I've worked in various places including on a cruise ship in Alaska, as a self-employed musician at home in Canada, and on OPT working in Sarasota, Florida. Should I add all my physical addresses to correspond with each gig/job, or can I just say that I've been living in Canada since May 2016 when I left my "real job" in Oregon?

[Marzena & Stephen 544]

15 minutes ago, Canadianmusician said:

Thanks so much! I do have another question regarding employers and physical addresses. I'm a professional musician, and over the past two years I've worked in various places including on a cruise ship in Alaska, as a self-employed musician at home in Canada, and on OPT working in Sarasota, Florida. Should I add all my physical addresses to correspond with each gig/job, or can I just say that I've been living in Canada since May 2016 when I left my "real job" in Oregon?

Sorry im not sure about that one! 

[geowrian 22,338]

A wet signature for the letter of intent to marry from the beneficiary hasn't been required for a couple years now. You cannot use a digital signature, but a scanned version should be fine.

The letter of intent to marry is considered supporting evidence.

 

In the past, it might result in an RFE, but they aren't doing this anymore. Even the I-130 no longer requires the beneficiary's signature anymore (if outside the US).

Edited December 21, 2017 by geowrian

[payxibka 10,047]

The only wet signature required is on the petition itself

[ITMFA 241]

4 hours ago, geowrian said:

A wet signature for the letter of intent to marry from the beneficiary hasn't been required for a couple years now. You cannot use a digital signature, but a scanned version should be fine.

The letter of intent to marry is considered supporting evidence.

 

In the past, it might result in an RFE, but they aren't doing this anymore. Even the I-130 no longer requires the beneficiary's signature anymore (if outside the US).

 

3 hours ago, payxibka said:

The only wet signature required is on the petition itself

This is great news! So both of you have experience submitting an i-129f with a letter of intent that is scanned from the beneficiary? I'm just so paranoid about getting it all perfect!

Edited December 21, 2017 by Canadianmusician

[payxibka 10,047]

Instructions are clear....  

 

Petition (I-129F form itself) signatures must me original.  That includes the signature of the petitioner, translator or preparer.

 

All evidence included to support the petition consist of legible photocopies unless an original is SPECIFICALLY requested.

In the instructions for the statement of intent it does NOT specifically request original signed documents by either party just that the statements be signed

If by default evidentiary signatures were required to be original,  then this would also include original signatures by the translators for translated documents as well.

[geowrian 22,338]

6 hours ago, Canadianmusician said:

This is great news! So both of you have experience submitting an i-129f with a letter of intent that is scanned from the beneficiary? I'm just so paranoid about getting it all perfect!

Yes, I did so without issue. I would caution that no single experience is definitive in this process...some people do get RFEs due to sending/not sending a particular item while other people don't.

 

But this is something regularly brought up and there's no reports of anybody getting an RFE for this in a long time. Well, that is the case barring one individual...but they didn't provide the requested, actual RFE wording to confirm it. I personally think they got an RFE for something else and was asked to provide an updated letter of intent to marry as well (this wording is included in many RFEs now due to the long period of time between filing and when they finally look at the case, not because the original signed/scanned letter was incorrect).

[TNJ17 1,329]

Hey everyone, sorry for bringing an old thread back, but I didn’t want to start a new one just to say something quick. Anyways, we had our interview last week and while waiting to be called in, we could hear what was going on with everyone ahead of us. And one of the people who also waiting was at the window with the embassy employee going through the papers to make sure they had everything before seeing the consul. The embassy employee was telling the applicant she could not accept one of his forms because it was a scanned copy and it did not have a wet signature. The applicant kept arguing that it was a real wet signature and she kept insisting it wasn’t and they would not accept that form. So, I just wanted to mention here what I heard so that people can be prepared. It might cost your interview if you don’t have real signatures. I don’t know what the outcome of this applicant was because I heard his interview and the consul didn’t approve him on the spot. He gave him a list of more stuff he had to send the consulate. So... Better to pay for an overnight fedex than to risk not getting an approval at the interview. Just food for thought.