About to file the I-129F but I am so confused

[JoannaWonders 0]

Hi everyone, i am sure this is not the first post you seen of this but I am really confused and it stresses me and this is why I made an account here. I am about to file my form but everytime I search what to send with it, I get different answers anywhere. I read the instructions for it but I just want to make sure what I am sending its correct. I am sending photocopies of movie tickets, drinks we bought, hotels, entrance tickets, my flight ticket, my passport and passport stamped, my birth certificate and some photos. For the proof of engagement, he took pictures of the rings we bought before and we are using that as a proof. I am not sure if that is enough? I am sorry if this is annoying but I really want to know if I am doing it correctly. Thank you in advance. 

 

Do I have to send proof messages and how many messages such as snapchat, facebook as well with this?

Edited January 11, 2020 by JoannaWonders

[Liam&Lizz 36]

Hi there! I can understand your confusion and apprehension as I was in the same boat no too long ago. I ended up using a service to put together my I-129F packet and aside from the 13 page application I included around 45 additional pages of proof. Now that may seem like an inordinate amount but do bear in mind everyone's situation is different.  I have been with my fiance for 4.5 years separated all but 2 in person visits.  I have loads (to the tune of around 10K mssg on whats app on average per month, skype logs that go for 12+ hours some days, customs forms for gifts exchanged, receipts for purchases for wedding things, photos with family and friends, tickets for travel on our visits, I kept everything knowing someday I would marry this man) of proof of relationship.  I did not include it all.  DID NOT. As a matter of fact I omitted huge swaths of it because it was simply too much. We didn't want to give the impression that we were overdoing to hide something. I had about 15 pages of photos (from our first meeting in 2016 and subsequent meeting in 2019). I only had 2 pictures per page and labeled them with time and place. i had about 6 pages of screen caps from whatsapp conversations (usually on birthdays and holidays) and around the same amount of skype conversations and call logs. I redacted the bits I didn't want an agent to read (which you are very much allowed to do) and included things that i felt really showcased us as a could. I put goofy pictures in there, I put loving couple pictures in there I made sure that if a layman picked up our application there would be no question of our relationship. My advice is to pick pertinent, timely proof to send and don't forget to put descriptions on pictures and chat logs. It may seem obvious to you what they are but not to the agent who knows nothing about you or your situation.  Hope this helps! good luck and Cheers!

[JFH 12,189]

Which embassy is this?

 

You don’t have to send “proof” of engagement. Engaged is not a legal status like married or divorced and no proof of that is required. For the I-129F to be approved you must demonstrate that you have met once in person at some point in the last two years. If you are dealing with a difficult embassy you may want to “front-load” with evidence of an ongoing relationship (not “proof” - you cannot prove that your feelings are genuine unless someone can read your mind). The best evidence you can send is evidence of time spent together. If you are dealing with a European embassy or Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc you can save yourself the trouble of sending things such as drinks receipts, etc. I’m not even sure what exactly drinks receipts will demonstrate to any embassy. 

Edited January 11, 2020 by JFH

[SmallTownPA 71]

On 1/11/2020 at 3:29 AM, JoannaWonders said:

I am sending photocopies of movie tickets, drinks we bought, hotels, entrance tickets,

This is useless and will not even be considered.  Its a scrap of paper with random numbers and letters on it.  Its not even secondary evidence, its just a waste of paper and ink

 

On 1/11/2020 at 3:29 AM, JoannaWonders said:

my flight ticket, my passport and passport stamped, my birth certificate and some photos

THIS IS ACTUAL PROOF THAT YOU MET!!!  If you are a UCS you can either send a birth cert or a copy of all the pages in your passport, you don't need both.

 

On 1/11/2020 at 3:29 AM, JoannaWonders said:

For the proof of engagement, he took pictures of the rings we bought before and we are using that as a proof. I am not sure if that is enough? I am sorry if this is annoying but I really want to know if I am doing it correctly.

The I-129F doesn't care if you are engaged.  Its there to do FOUR things:

 

Is the Beneficiary legally able to marry.

Is the Petitioner legally able to marry.

Will the Petitioner and Beneficiary agreed to marry within 90 days of entering the USA?

Have you met AT LEAST ONCE in the past 24 months.

 

A 'normal' (no waiver) I-129F should be about 30 pages (single sided).  Any more and you are just wasting USCIS's time.

[FreyandRyan 330]

Passport stamps and boarding passes are good evidence. 

 

Movie tickets are pointless to include. No way of connecting it to you being together. Hotel receipts and other receipts proving you were in your beneficiaries country are okay to include too. You don't need to go over the top with it though.

[payxibka 10,044]

1 hour ago, SmallTownPA said:

 

THIS IS ACTUAL PROOF THAT YOU MET!!!  If you are a UCS you can either send a birth cert or a copy of all the pages in your passport, you don't need both.

 

Sending all pages of your passport is a waste of paper, send the ID page and any page with entry stamps,  nothing more is needed 

[Lnvall 7]

4 hours ago, SmallTownPA said:

This is useless and will not even be considered. 

If they both ask the bank statements from these payments it can be useful.

[Maxheadspace 48]

11 hours ago, SmallTownPA said:

The I-129F doesn't care if you are engaged.  Its there to do FOUR things:

 

Is the Beneficiary legally able to marry.

Is the Petitioner legally able to marry.

Will the Petitioner and Beneficiary agreed to marry within 90 days of entering the USA?

Have you met AT LEAST ONCE in the past 24 months.

 

This is WRONG.  I proivided the information SmallTownPA describes and my application was held up.  In addition, they want photos, tickets, receipts, all things that show a pattern indicating that this is a legitimate relationship.  If you include all the material that you say you're including you should be fine.  Is it excess?  Possibly, but that doesn't matter.  If you don't put in enough evidence your application will be suspended and you will receive a request for evidence (RFE).  I know from experience.  Despite what SmallTownPA says, you will not be penalized for including too much information.  Pitch in the kitchen sink!  I included the basic things SmallTownPA says and my application was suspended pending additional evidence. 

[Hank_ 9,173]

42 minutes ago, Maxheadspace said:

This is WRONG.  I proivided the information SmallTownPA describes and my application was held up.  In addition, they want photos, tickets, receipts, all things that show a pattern indicating that this is a legitimate relationship.  If you include all the material that you say you're including you should be fine.  Is it excess?  Possibly, but that doesn't matter.  If you don't put in enough evidence your application will be suspended and you will receive a request for evidence (RFE).  I know from experience.  Despite what SmallTownPA says, you will not be penalized for including too much information.  Pitch in the kitchen sink!  I included the basic things SmallTownPA says and my application was suspended pending additional evidence. 

 

USCIS requires evidence of having met within the 2 years of filing the I-129F, along with Letters of Intent to marry and of course you both being free to marry at the time of filing.  If you did not include copies of your BIO page and passport stamps, boarding passes and such with your initial filing you of course will receive an RFE.

 

As for too much evidence .. truly not necessary to provide more then listed .. especially for the Philippines.  Front loading as some call it they say is needed for the difficult embassies .. which the Philippines is not.

 

Never DO-DO when DO will DO!

 

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by Hank_

[SmallTownPA 71]

49 minutes ago, Maxheadspace said:

This is WRONG.  I proivided the information SmallTownPA describes and my application was held up.  In addition, they want photos, tickets, receipts, all things that show a pattern indicating that this is a legitimate relationship.  If you include all the material that you say you're including you should be fine.  Is it excess?  Possibly, but that doesn't matter.  If you don't put in enough evidence your application will be suspended and you will receive a request for evidence (RFE).  I know from experience.  Despite what SmallTownPA says, you will not be penalized for including too much information.  Pitch in the kitchen sink!  I included the basic things SmallTownPA says and my application was suspended pending additional evidence. 

 

Then your initial evidence was poor.  Post your RFE so we can see exactly what they wanted.

 

Proof of relationship is NOT PART OF THE I-129F.

 

1. You and your fiancé(e):
A. Are legally free to marry and intend to marry within 90 days of your fiancé(e)’s admission to the United States;
and
B. Have met each other in person within the two years immediately before you filed this petition, unless you establish
that either:
(1) The requirement to meet your fiancé(e) in person would violate strict and long-established customs of your
fiancé(e)’s foreign culture or social practice, and that any and all aspects of the traditional arrangements have
been or will be met in accordance with the custom or practice; or
(2) The requirement to meet your fiancé(e) in person would result in extreme hardship to you; or
2. You have filed or are filing Form I-130 on behalf of your spouse and wish to have your spouse enter as a
nonimmigrant to await the immediate availability of an immigrant visa and to file for adjustment of status.

 

If you got an RFE then you didn't prove A or B  Chat transcripts don't prove meeting.

Bar tabs prove nothing

 

Wanna know how you prove a meeting?  With Primary evidence:  plane ticket to country.  Entry/Exit visa.  Photo together.  

 

Please post your RFE (block out personal info) and lets see what the problem was (let me guess.. you didn't prove IN PERSON MEETING is a good guess)/

Edited January 13, 2020 by SmallTownPA

[Greenbaum 12,258]

On 1/11/2020 at 3:29 AM, JoannaWonders said:

Hi everyone, i am sure this is not the first post you seen of this but I am really confused and it stresses me and this is why I made an account here. I am about to file my form but everytime I search what to send with it, I get different answers anywhere. I read the instructions for it but I just want to make sure what I am sending its correct. I am sending photocopies of movie tickets, drinks we bought, hotels, entrance tickets, my flight ticket, my passport and passport stamped, my birth certificate and some photos. For the proof of engagement, he took pictures of the rings we bought before and we are using that as a proof. I am not sure if that is enough? I am sorry if this is annoying but I really want to know if I am doing it correctly. Thank you in advance. 

 

Do I have to send proof messages and how many messages such as snapchat, facebook as well with this?

We need a little housekeeping on your end. Many of our answers are predicated on the information you supply in your profile. When we look at the left column and can't determine your timeline OR your Embassy it's hard for us to give you a factual answer. Our answers will sometimes be tailored to a specific Embassy hence the reason for you to complete your profile. If you look at the profile of others here, they have a flag for their country, so it makes it easy for us to reply as we can quickly determine their Embassy. The country that should be used is the country where the interview will take place.

 

So, if you could help yourself out and complete your profile that sure would help us out when we want to reply to your question with factual information.

 

Go to the top right of this page select your name (it's on the upper right-hand corner)>my profile>[below your picture on the right column] edit my profile. Scroll to the bottom and fill in "Immigration Info". There now we can better serve you.

 

Once you finish that then return and you will see a flag in your profile. Select it and see what wonderful information will open up for you.

 

Thanks