Send documents before RFE??

[Cara&Jack 7]

Hello All,

 

Thanks for being a great resource for people seeing information about various Visas.

 

I have filed 129f on Dec 4th, 2018 for my fiancee Cara.  I received a text and then NOA1 with the date of Dec 7th.  I did not receive any case transfer text or email but the NOA1 letter was sent from Laguna Niguel, CA, and I don't know if the case has been transferred to California or not.  Regardless, while reading this forum and RFE master list, I noticed that there has been lot of RFE for sending the complete Divorce judgement/decree.  I have only sent the first couple of pages and not the signature pages.  Why would they want the complete judgement which consists of financial information and other information which might have nothing to do with the visa process?  DO you think I can send in the complete judgement before receiving the RFE?  I will appreciate your thoughts on this.

 

Thanks,

Jack&Cara

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

Most, if not all I-129f petitions go to the California Service Center regardless of where you live.

I would wait and see if an RFE comes or not. You might not get one.

It really depends on who reviews your petition and if they are "picky" or not.

 

If you chose to send it in with your case number and all, there's no guarantee it would ever make it to the original file.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hi,

 

Do not send anything without being asked for it.

Your job is not to ask why.  Your job is to follow the exact requirements.  Asking why is an exercise in futility.  Compliance is what is required.

 

Wait to see if you get an RFE.  You may not get one.  If you do, then submit exactly what is asked for.

 

Best of luck.

[Crazy Cat 41,979]

3 minutes ago, Cara&Jack said:

Hello All,

 

Thanks for being a great resource for people seeing information about various Visas.

 

I have filed 129f on Dec 4th, 2018 for my fiancee Cara.  I received a text and then NOA1 with the date of Dec 7th.  I did not receive any case transfer text or email but the NOA1 letter was sent from Laguna Niguel, CA, and I don't know if the case has been transferred to California or not.  Regardless, while reading this forum and RFE master list, I noticed that there has been lot of RFE for sending the complete Divorce judgement/decree.  I have only sent the first couple of pages and not the signature pages.  Why would they want the complete judgement which consists of financial information and other information which might have nothing to do with the visa process?  DO you think I can send in the complete judgement before receiving the RFE?  I will appreciate your thoughts on this.

 

Thanks,

Jack&Cara

You didn't send the signature pages?  I don't think you can really do anything now.......but wait to see what happens......you could try to send additional docs, but I'm not sure it would catch up.

[EnglishLove 112]

1 hour ago, Cara&Jack said:

Hello All,

 

Thanks for being a great resource for people seeing information about various Visas.

 

I have filed 129f on Dec 4th, 2018 for my fiancee Cara.  I received a text and then NOA1 with the date of Dec 7th.  I did not receive any case transfer text or email but the NOA1 letter was sent from Laguna Niguel, CA, and I don't know if the case has been transferred to California or not.  Regardless, while reading this forum and RFE master list, I noticed that there has been lot of RFE for sending the complete Divorce judgement/decree.  I have only sent the first couple of pages and not the signature pages.  Why would they want the complete judgement which consists of financial information and other information which might have nothing to do with the visa process?  DO you think I can send in the complete judgement before receiving the RFE?  I will appreciate your thoughts on this.

 

Thanks,

Jack&Cara

I was just about to ask this myself. I only attached the first page that stated this was the Judgment of Divorce and has the Court stamp on it along with my Certificate of Divorce. I didn't feel they needed all of my private information and who got the stuff in the house.. I wish they would have specified they wanted the entire thing or must have a signature on it. 

[aaron2020 11,651]

To play devil's advocate, the I-129f doesn't say to send in only a few pages.  It says to send in the divorce decree which is the entire thing.  Just like a tax return is not only the 1040.  A tax return is the 1040, W-2, and everything else sent in to the IRS.

Edited January 24, 2019 by aaron2020

[beloved_dingo 1,979]

Unfortunately sending the first few pages does not give them what they need. USCIS needs proof that the divorce is legally finalized which either means sending them the complete Divorce Decree/Final Judgment of Divorce (signed by the judge) or a certified Certificate of Divorce. I'd say the signature page is the most important part. 

I can't speak for every state, but in Alabama (where I work in a Family Law/Divorce law office) either document is proof that a marriage has been terminated. If you choose to send the Divorce Decree/Final Judgment of Divorce, you have to send all of the pages (no matter how many there are) because it has to be unaltered, and given in its entirety. 

It is very likely you will get an RFE for this. As others have said, I would not send anything until you get an official notice to do so. Also, try not to stress about it - it's not the end of the world. Just have it ready to send to them ASAP to minimize any delay it might cause.

Edited January 24, 2019 by beloved_dingo

[beloved_dingo 1,979]

55 minutes ago, Pooley said:

I was just about to ask this myself. I only attached the first page that stated this was the Judgment of Divorce and has the Court stamp on it along with my Certificate of Divorce. I didn't feel they needed all of my private information and who got the stuff in the house.. I wish they would have specified they wanted the entire thing or must have a signature on it. 

Since you sent the certificate of divorce, that may be sufficient. But, it is very possible that they will request the entire divorce decree since you sent only a portion.

 

They don't care who got what in the divorce, but they do care about receiving a legal document in its entirety. Honestly, I would throw worrying about your privacy out the window. Throughout this process you (and your fiance) have to share a lot of information you wouldn't volunteer to just anyone. 

[EnglishLove 112]

2 minutes ago, beloved_dingo said:

Since you sent the certificate of divorce, that may be sufficient. But, it is very possible that they will request the entire divorce decree since you sent only a portion.

 

They don't care who got what in the divorce, but they do care about receiving a legal document in its entirety. Honestly, I would throw worrying about your privacy out the window. Throughout this process you (and your fiance) have to share a lot of information you wouldn't volunteer to just anyone. 

Yes, I'm beginning to see that. It's not like it's not public information so they could easily just look it up but oh well.

[beloved_dingo 1,979]

1 minute ago, Pooley said:

Yes, I'm beginning to see that. It's not like it's not public information so they could easily just look it up but oh well.

As a fellow divorcee, I completely understand. I was just lucky that my divorce was simple and only required sending 2 pages. 

 

At the beginning of all this an RFE feels like a terrible thing to happen, but in all honesty, as long as it is for something simple and you reply quickly it doesn't necessarily cause much of a delay.

 

The downside is you may not know if you're getting an RFE or not until 6+ months down the road. VJ a good place to help keep yourself from doing crazy during the wait though

[EnglishLove 112]

1 minute ago, beloved_dingo said:

As a fellow divorcee, I completely understand. I was just lucky that my divorce was simple and only required sending 2 pages. 

 

At the beginning of all this an RFE feels like a terrible thing to happen, but in all honesty, as long as it is for something simple and you reply quickly it doesn't necessarily cause much of a delay.

 

The downside is you may not know if you're getting an RFE or not until 6+ months down the road. VJ a good place to help keep yourself from doing crazy during the wait though

Yes, my divorce was very simple and I did it myself so it lists everything down to who gets the trash can🙄 But if they want to go through all that then not much I can do. But I was gonna ask how much of a delay will that cause but you answered that so thank you lol.

[Cara&Jack 7]

Thank you very much for all your replies.  I will just stay put and wait for an RFE.  All the other documents and proofs are quite solid. Nevertheless, I will keep the packet ready to be sent if and when I receive the RFE.

[Cara&Jack 7]

Pooley, I've seen that the NOA2 typically is 2-3 weeks after you send the RFE docs.  Worse come worse it delays the process by that much time.  Since we're going to wait for 6 months, couple of weeks won't make much of a difference in the long run.

[Scandi 4,168]

Unlike others in this thread, if it was me, I would send in the full divorce decree even if I hadn't received an RFE yet. To each his own, of course, just saying what I would have done. I have done something similar in the past for my AOS application and that document found its way to my file at USCIS and saved me an extra headache down the road. I obviously sent the document together with an explanation as to what it was, and why, and added ALL information (ie full name, date of birth, phone number, receipt number, A-number etc) so they could easily locate my file and add it. It worked for me.

[geowrian 22,337]

19 hours ago, Pooley said:

Yes, I'm beginning to see that. It's not like it's not public information so they could easily just look it up but oh well.

It's not their job to look anything up that is required to be submitted. The onus is always on the one seeking the benefit to show that they qualify for it.

 

10 hours ago, Scandi said:

Unlike others in this thread, if it was me, I would send in the full divorce decree even if I hadn't received an RFE yet. To each his own, of course, just saying what I would have done. I have done something similar in the past for my AOS application and that document found its way to my file at USCIS and saved me an extra headache down the road. I obviously sent the document together with an explanation as to what it was, and why, and added ALL information (ie full name, date of birth, phone number, receipt number, A-number etc) so they could easily locate my file and add it. It worked for me.

There's no harm in sending something before an RFE. But myself and numerous others have been unsuccessful for an I-129F to do so. Unlike AOS where you are dealing with NBC and field offices, service centers tend to be a different beast in matching up documents.