Best type of evidence of time spent together? [merged threads]

[ilikepotatoes 57]

Hello everyone! I’m currently staying with my fiancé. We are getting married tomorrow, which is beyond exciting. 
I am wondering what specific types of evidence, other than photos together, we should be collecting? I have the stamp on my passport, and I’ve saved my boarding pass. I’ve also extended my stay here for an additional month, so I can show proof of that. But is there anything else I should be doing? Any advice? Thanks! 

[Dashinka 24,579]

If you are staying in a hotel together, or using any type of transportation that require you to buy tickets,  I would keep copies of the receipts showing your names, etc.

[ilikepotatoes 57]

2 hours ago, Dashinka said:

If you are staying in a hotel together, or using any type of transportation that require you to buy tickets,  I would keep copies of the receipts showing your names, etc.

The problem is that the hotel would only book it in my name. How do I make it so that they’ll put both of our names? 

[JKLSemicolon 414]

8 hours ago, ilikepotatoes said:

The problem is that the hotel would only book it in my name. How do I make it so that they’ll put both of our names? 

Some hotels allow you to enter the name of your guests, some allow you to add an additional person who can check into the room. If you have already asked the hotel about options to write someone else's name on the reservation paperwork and they couldn't help you, then you might just need to use other evidence instead.

 

But if you want to get creative, back when I sent a K-1 petition, part of the evidence of our meeting in person was a combination of:

• A hotel booking confirmation email
• Copy of the handwritten payment receipt for the hotel (payment was at checkout)
• A copy of my credit card statement with the charge for that hotel highlighted
• A photo of the two of us standing next to the sign for the hotel

This was a small hotel in Ecuador with no web presence other than Booking.com, which is why I went that route.

[pushbrk 12,966]

USCIS and Consulates understand and accept evidence the petitioner was in the beneficiary's home country as evidence of being together.  Passport stamps or boarding passes are primary evidence.  Photos are important but are secondary.  Hotel receipts need not be in both names.

[ilikepotatoes 57]

On 5/11/2021 at 4:45 AM, pushbrk said:

USCIS and Consulates understand and accept evidence the petitioner was in the beneficiary's home country as evidence of being together.  Passport stamps or boarding passes are primary evidence.  Photos are important but are secondary.  Hotel receipts need not be in both names.

Great, thank you for your response. Also, In addition to that when it comes to proving a bonafide relationship, I know that screenshots of conversations over the years is helpful. What about screenshots of Facebook posts announcing the marriage? My husband has gotten over 200 reactions on one post alone. Might that also be good evidence to submit along with the other more substantial evidence?

[pushbrk 12,966]

13 hours ago, ilikepotatoes said:

Great, thank you for your response. Also, In addition to that when it comes to proving a bonafide relationship, I know that screenshots of conversations over the years is helpful. What about screenshots of Facebook posts announcing the marriage? My husband has gotten over 200 reactions on one post alone. Might that also be good evidence to submit along with the other more substantial evidence?

Yes, but all that is secondary.  Don't overdo it.  Keep the "evidence" to less than 20 pages.

[ilikepotatoes 57]

Hello all. I know I have made a similar post regarding this matter, but the more time I’ve spent here visiting with my husband, the more I’m trying to figure out what paperwork I need to collect that will be the best evidence. We got married in May via Zoom. It’s our first visit, but we had been speaking consistently for three years prior to our meeting. 

 

So far, I have my boarding passes that I’m saving. I was initially planning to stay about 30 days, but I’ve extended my trip twice, and will leave just before the 90 day limit of my visa free stay in Ukraine. To document that, I have receipts from hotels we’ve stayed at. I was wondering if an Airbnb receipt would suffice? Because we’ve been staying in those apartments on and off as well as a few hotels while we travel around to different locations. A couple hotels even reserved the rooms in both our names. 
We also have many pictures we’ve taken with his friends, pictures together at his graduation from med school; we also hired a professional wedding photographer. 
 

Is there anything else I should be saving? Any other advice? Thanks!!

[TBoneTX 45,451]

Continuation thread is merged into existing thread.

Edited June 29, 2021 by TBoneTX

[pushbrk 12,966]

4 hours ago, ilikepotatoes said:

Hello all. I know I have made a similar post regarding this matter, but the more time I’ve spent here visiting with my husband, the more I’m trying to figure out what paperwork I need to collect that will be the best evidence. We got married in May via Zoom. It’s our first visit, but we had been speaking consistently for three years prior to our meeting. 

 

So far, I have my boarding passes that I’m saving. I was initially planning to stay about 30 days, but I’ve extended my trip twice, and will leave just before the 90 day limit of my visa free stay in Ukraine. To document that, I have receipts from hotels we’ve stayed at. I was wondering if an Airbnb receipt would suffice? Because we’ve been staying in those apartments on and off as well as a few hotels while we travel around to different locations. A couple hotels even reserved the rooms in both our names. 
We also have many pictures we’ve taken with his friends, pictures together at his graduation from med school; we also hired a professional wedding photographer. 
 

Is there anything else I should be saving? Any other advice? Thanks!!

If you are filing while you are still there, then the hotel receipts are good primary evidence of the length of your stay.  If you file after you return to the US, those are less important, as your US entry stamp will be all the evidence you need for length of stay.  Some photos spread over the visit are good for secondary evidence.

[P0907 127]

If it helps at all, we never submitted phone records, chat records, screenshots from social media or affidavits of support - so not having those isn't a deal breaker, but I understand that if evidence is scarce, they would help pad a light case.

 

Focus on the important stuff that can't be faked (easily). Receipts, boarding passes, passport stamps that chronologically line up with the trips you went on, business cards from that hotel you stayed in, letters you sent each other in the post. 

 

Photos are great if they show the passage of time. Photos in front of visibly different landmarks (not 20 photos in front of different colored doors) which line up to the travel you claim to have gone on is great. As an example, we submitted photos with my extended family including my grandparents who unfortunately passed away a few years ago, but we were able to provide proof of that and therefore we had to have been together for X amount of time.