Too much evidence a bad thing in initial filing?

[APA 44]

There seems to be 2 schools of thought on this, with some posters giving answers supporting the VJ Petition Guide and some answers contradicting it. Some of you say to provide as much evidence as possible to avoid RFEs or adjudicator doubt and some say to only provide what is asked for and hope for the best. Personally, I’d tend to err on the side of caution and provide overwhelming evidence initially. 

 

I’m a USC and my fiancé is Cambodian. We have been living together for 8 months in Cambodia and by the time I return to the US in April it will be 1 year. We’ve taken several trips within Cambodia and have traveled to 3 other countries together within the last year. I have a certificate of residence, 1 year visa(with entry/exit stamps showing a long presence here), work permit, driver’s license, receipts and certificate from a language school I attended, a couple’s gym membership, lots of photos of us in Cambodia and abroad, and receipts from our trips(tickets, accommodations, visa stamps, etc.). From my perspective, I have overwhelming evidence that we exceed the meeting requirements. The rest of it is just proof of a normal relationship. I’m a bit ocd with organization so I plan to organize all of this into an easy to read and comprehensive file. I don’t want any RFEs and I want the IO to be satisfied that this is legit before we get to the interview. However, I’ve seen a few posts that say too much info is a bad thing. What’s the best way to do this - more info or less info? 

Edited January 2, 2020 by APA

[Lebanese23 303]

sufficient info, not too much and not too little, like if you have whatsapp messages, dont send 100 pages worth of chats, they arent going to be reading it all, i sent 1 screenshot from beginning and 1 toward the end of month for a whole year. it shows that we are talking all month, all year long. and i made sure i included chats where we were talking about engagement or wedding plans, etc.  as far as photos, sending about 20 photos should be more than enough, you can send more, but I dont think it's necessary. just make sure you include families/friends, not just you and her, it helps prove your family has your blessings.  I sent like 20 max.  RFE are usually geared toward missing important documents like Affidavit and tax info, meeting the poverty line, etc.  also make sure you include all itinerary of trips taken together, the passport will have that already in there for sure.

 

hope that helped.

[Rose711 35]

Living together for a year is different than what most people have as evidence. You should be fine with the evidence you mention because it’s real. 

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

1 hour ago, APA said:

There seems to be 2 schools of thought on this, with some posters giving answers supporting the VJ Petition Guide and some answers contradicting it

Well, that is because some people planned to submit literally a thousand pages of their Facebook messages and nothing else. They think that is all that is needed. "Hey, we talk and chat with each other all the time". I've seen people had on their earplugs literally 24/7 for months on ends, just take it off when showering (some don't even). 

 

In the world of marriage/fiance(e) immigration, the strongest evidence are evidence of co-habitation and financial commingling. All they want to know is that you live like a normal couple, you do the things a normal couple would do. Quality always trumps quantities. 

 

And no one cares or wants to read 1000 pages of love notes. If I were an USCIS adjudicator and my job is to adjudicate at least 300 I-129fs a month, and there is a file with 1000 pages of Facebook chat coming, that file is going to the bottle of the pile. I'd grab all the files that have like 20-30 pages, because I can get that done in 20 minutes. 

Edited January 2, 2020 by USS_Voyager

[Unlockable 7,306]

Quality > Quantity

[SalishSea 16,774]

Why even do a K1?  Since you’re there, you could marry now and file for a spousal visa.

[Fogi 91]

6 hours ago, APA said:

There seems to be 2 schools of thought on this, with some posters giving answers supporting the VJ Petition Guide and some answers contradicting it. Some of you say to provide as much evidence as possible to avoid RFEs or adjudicator doubt and some say to only provide what is asked for and hope for the best. Personally, I’d tend to err on the side of caution and provide overwhelming evidence initially. 

 

I’m a USC and my fiancé is Cambodian. We have been living together for 8 months in Cambodia and by the time I return to the US in April it will be 1 year. We’ve taken several trips within Cambodia and have traveled to 3 other countries together within the last year. I have a certificate of residence, 1 year visa(with entry/exit stamps showing a long presence here), work permit, driver’s license, receipts and certificate from a language school I attended, a couple’s gym membership, lots of photos of us in Cambodia and abroad, and receipts from our trips(tickets, accommodations, visa stamps, etc.). From my perspective, I have overwhelming evidence that we exceed the meeting requirements. The rest of it is just proof of a normal relationship. I’m a bit ocd with organization so I plan to organize all of this into an easy to read and comprehensive file. I don’t want any RFEs and I want the IO to be satisfied that this is legit before we get to the interview. However, I’ve seen a few posts that say too much info is a bad thing. What’s the best way to do this - more info or less info? 

Someone has to look at everything you send. Don't waste their time with chat logs and a million pictures. Your passport is your best piece of evidence. Add some pictures and anything with both your names on it (receipts, leases, etc.). My $0.02 on the evidence. 

[APA 44]

6 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Why even do a K1?  Since you’re there, you could marry now and file for a spousal visa.

Cambodia doesn’t allow same-sex marriage. Taiwan does but they will not marry someone unless it’s legal for that person in their own country (legal for me, not legal for my fiancé). 

 

The other countries that allow it are either prohibitively expensive to travel to or nearly impossible for him to get a visa to. K1 is our only feasible option. 

[SalishSea 16,774]

6 minutes ago, APA said:

Cambodia doesn’t allow same-sex marriage. Taiwan does but they will not marry someone unless it’s legal for that person in their own country (legal for me, not legal for my fiancé). 

 

The other countries that allow it are either prohibitively expensive to travel to or nearly impossible for him to get a visa to. K1 is our only feasible option. 

Ah, got it.  Is it allowed in any other nearby country?  S. Korea?  Japan?

[APA 44]

Thank you all for your feedback, this makes things a little clearer. I will focus on quality, which I’m sure I have based on our situation. We’ve done everything right thus far, should be easy to prove. 

[APA 44]

1 hour ago, Jorgedig said:

Ah, got it.  Is it allowed in any other nearby country?  S. Korea?  Japan?

Nope. The other countries that do allow it are either very expensive to travel to, difficult for a Cambodian to get a visa, or both. He can get a visa for Taiwan easily and it’s cheap to go but they won’t do it because it’s not legal in Cambodia. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage

[SalishSea 16,774]

31 minutes ago, APA said:

Nope. The other countries that do allow it are either very expensive to travel to, difficult for a Cambodian to get a visa, or both. He can get a visa for Taiwan easily and it’s cheap to go but they won’t do it because it’s not legal in Cambodia. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage

Yikes.  So sorry to hear.  Best wishes for smooth sailing with the K-1.

[APA 44]

1 hour ago, Jorgedig said:

Yikes.  So sorry to hear.  Best wishes for smooth sailing with the K-1.

Thank you

[The_Empyrean 733]

 

21 hours ago, APA said:

There seems to be 2 schools of thought on this, with some posters giving answers supporting the VJ Petition Guide and some answers contradicting it. Some of you say to provide as much evidence as possible to avoid RFEs or adjudicator doubt and some say to only provide what is asked for and hope for the best. Personally, I’d tend to err on the side of caution and provide overwhelming evidence initially. 

 

I’m a USC and my fiancé is Cambodian. We have been living together for 8 months in Cambodia and by the time I return to the US in April it will be 1 year. We’ve taken several trips within Cambodia and have traveled to 3 other countries together within the last year. I have a certificate of residence, 1 year visa(with entry/exit stamps showing a long presence here), work permit, driver’s license, receipts and certificate from a language school I attended, a couple’s gym membership, lots of photos of us in Cambodia and abroad, and receipts from our trips(tickets, accommodations, visa stamps, etc.). From my perspective, I have overwhelming evidence that we exceed the meeting requirements. The rest of it is just proof of a normal relationship. I’m a bit ocd with organization so I plan to organize all of this into an easy to read and comprehensive file. I don’t want any RFEs and I want the IO to be satisfied that this is legit before we get to the interview. However, I’ve seen a few posts that say too much info is a bad thing. What’s the best way to do this - more info or less info? 

Hey!

Soooo.. With regards to pictures, don't overdo it. Have like 5-10 tops from different locations and times. On the back write (pencil) dates, people in the picture, location. Don't overdo it.

Then chats, have 5-10 pages scattered across the time you've known each other. It's secondary proof that they don't care about much.

Have boarding passes + entry stamp scans, the more the better. Scan the main page of the passport, then the pages where it shows your entries to the country. Do the same with your soon-to-be fiance's, including the trips you took together. The clearer the view of you two traveling and staying together - the better.

Hotel receipts for two are a good proof as well. 

Then you mention that you stayed in Cambodia together for a while, do you have anything official with your and your S/O's showing same address? Bill, drivers licence, insurance, rent, deeds, lease, anything. Have these sent in.

Both have letters on intent, and have them with "wet" signatures. Meaning, original copy signed by the person, not the scan. Some people say scans are good enough, but to send a letter costs no more than $5. 

 

As i mentioned, do not overload the case. Just have strong evidence of your relationship.

I also included a whole page of "how we met", and briefly explained each time we've been together. Went there, done that. I fit 5 years of visiting, in 1 page, that's how much i narrowed it down. Just straight to the main points.

 

Don't staple stuff together, i used paperclips.

Also, have a "content" page so the officer would know whats included in the packet.

Other than that, follow the guide here and you'll be golden.

 

Good Luck

[Limey 550]

With the evidence you have you'll be fine. The fact that you've spent so much time together puts you in a great position. You just need to provide sufficient documentation to prove that, and it sounds like you've got that.

 

In our case we documented each trip on a separate sheet or two of paper, with dates of the trip, who was traveling to see who, with passport stamps, boarding passes, any tickets for travel we did during the trip, plus a couple of photos. Its good to be OCD about the presentation of it if it makes things easier for the USCIS employee who reviews it.

 

When people warn about overloading it, they are talking about sending 1000 pages of whatsapp chats, photo albums etc. People tend to do that when they've spent very little real time together, so it can look negative. If you've got 999 pages of whatsapp, does another page really help? We tried to ensure that every bit of evidence added something new, or backed up another.

Edited January 3, 2020 by Limey