Responding to an RFE

[azuki 1]

First, thank you to everyone on this forum who helped me get this far. I only joined last night, but I've been reading since I started the process. 

 

I got our NOA1 back in Jan 2018, but at the the end of August I ultimately received an RFE. 

 

It said that the photos provided were not dated and the one that was fell outside of the 2 year mark. As frustrating as an RFE is, I can see that I should have been more thoughtful when compiling evidence. 

 

I currently live in Japan and have been living here for just under 8 years. There aren't any particular passport stamps for me that are relevant because my fiancé and I have never gone on an international trip together. Here is the proof I'm thinking to send in:

 

-  Photos, probably same ones, along with screenshots from my iPhone's photo app in which the photo and date taken are visible. I will also add a written account of the photo

- Copies of my residence cards showing I was living in the country in 2016 and 2017 (although my address is in Japan so I don't know if they doubt I'm living there...)

- Screenshots of chats (Facebook, LINE, Etc) that mention seeing my fiancé

 

Things I've been mulling over:

- Movie ticket receipts, but there's obviously no name and no proof that we were the ones who used the two tickets. 

 

Would enjoy any advice or comments you have about this situation! Thank you!

 

EDIT: My sister is giving birth in December and it would really be amazing to be back in the country by then, or at least by Dec 31. Do you think that if the application is accepted theres any possibility the we'll be able to get a visa to fly back by then? 

Edited September 11, 2018 by azuki

[geowrian 22,337]

Photos are secondary evidence. Putting a verifiable date to a photo is quite difficult (and jut a timestamp on one can be very easily forged). They are best used with other evidence to nail down the time.

The residence cards would be good to include to show that you were living in the same country as her within the past 2 years.

The screenshots are fine to include, but again aren't verifiable evidence. Anybody can say they met even if they didn't actually do so. Remember that USCIS IOs are looking for fraud.

 

Credit card receipts (I know...credit cards aren't as common in Japan vs the US!), hotel and other receipts, the movie tickets, etc. are good to include since they should show a date and location, which I'm assuming would be fairly near where she lives.

Did you use a JR pass? Hmm..probably not since I think you can't if you're a resident there, but it's worth asking. Any other train/shinkansen tickets?

[azuki 1]

5 hours ago, geowrian said:

Photos are secondary evidence. Putting a verifiable date to a photo is quite difficult (and jut a timestamp on one can be very easily forged). They are best used with other evidence to nail down the time.

The residence cards would be good to include to show that you were living in the same country as her within the past 2 years.

The screenshots are fine to include, but again aren't verifiable evidence. Anybody can say they met even if they didn't actually do so. Remember that USCIS IOs are looking for fraud.

 

Credit card receipts (I know...credit cards aren't as common in Japan vs the US!), hotel and other receipts, the movie tickets, etc. are good to include since they should show a date and location, which I'm assuming would be fairly near where she lives.

Did you use a JR pass? Hmm..probably not since I think you can't if you're a resident there, but it's worth asking. Any other train/shinkansen tickets?

Thanks for your reply!

 

The receipts we have are mostly from email so they'll be printed out and I don't feel like that is going to look overly professional. I do have a credit card and I will check if there is anything I bought that could be used to back up our claims. 

[azuki 1]

If I have a ticket from museum trip dues that even make a difference? One stub? 

[LeesaMarie 206]

3 minutes ago, azuki said:

If I have a ticket from museum trip dues that even make a difference? One stub? 

If someone gave that to you without anything else surrounding it to prove they met someone, would you accept it?

 

I'm not trying to be difficult, but there isn't a "checklist" as such of what they deem proof. Only suggestions of what could be submitted, and I feel like people forget that this is the point of submitting evidence. A lone ticket stub proves you have a ticket stub for that event on that day; nothing more.

 

When I submitted ticket stubs, I put that together with location tags (includes date and time) from Facebook, and photo's from that point in time. 3 items, all with matching date and times with a photo backing it up that it was indeed us.

 

You need to put something together that proves were in the same place, at the same time, however you are able to.