I-129F: I lack the usual proof of physical meeting

[Aelius 7]

Hi! My American girlfriend and I (Canadian) are considering US immigration via the K1 fiance visa route. My understanding is the I-129F form requires evidence that we have physically been together within the last 2 years. The problem is, despite meeting each other dozens of times over the last two years, I'm not sure we have any evidence of it. For years, our routine has been that she drives across the border from Buffalo to visit me on her days off from work. We just never really do anything special when she's here in Canada; we just hang out at my home. And besides, we've barely even seen each other in person since March 2020 for obvious reasons.

 

Most of the usual suggestions for proof that I see on these forums are not something I have:

 

• There are no visa stamps, since Canadians and Americans do not require them to cross the border.
• I did fly to Buffalo to visit her last year, but I did not keep the boarding pass.
• We have never paid for anything simultaneously (one of us covers the whole bill whenever we buy something, for simplicity.)
• We have pictures together, but nothing that proves any dates (how often do you take pictures standing next to today's newspaper?)
• We have 84,000 messages exchanged on Discord (instant messaging platform), but that doesn't prove we've been together physically, or even that her Discord account is actually her.

 

Now that the border is open again, we're fine with purposely seeking out some sort of activity that could constitute proof of physically meeting. But doing so feels sort of fake and staged and I don't want to give that impression to US officials looking at my application. At the same time, I do need proof somehow. What can I do?

 

Thanks for the help!

[Ed&Midori1031 330]

1 hour ago, Aelius said:

Hi! My American girlfriend and I (Canadian) are considering US immigration via the K1 fiance visa route. My understanding is the I-129F form requires evidence that we have physically been together within the last 2 years. The problem is, despite meeting each other dozens of times over the last two years, I'm not sure we have any evidence of it. For years, our routine has been that she drives across the border from Buffalo to visit me on her days off from work. We just never really do anything special when she's here in Canada; we just hang out at my home. And besides, we've barely even seen each other in person since March 2020 for obvious reasons.

 

Most of the usual suggestions for proof that I see on these forums are not something I have:

 

• There are no visa stamps, since Canadians and Americans do not require them to cross the border.
• I did fly to Buffalo to visit her last year, but I did not keep the boarding pass.
• We have never paid for anything simultaneously (one of us covers the whole bill whenever we buy something, for simplicity.)
• We have pictures together, but nothing that proves any dates (how often do you take pictures standing next to today's newspaper?)
• We have 84,000 messages exchanged on Discord (instant messaging platform), but that doesn't prove we've been together physically, or even that her Discord account is actually her.

 

Now that the border is open again, we're fine with purposely seeking out some sort of activity that could constitute proof of physically meeting. But doing so feels sort of fake and staged and I don't want to give that impression to US officials looking at my application. At the same time, I do need proof somehow. What can I do?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

1 hour ago, Aelius said:

Hi! My American girlfriend and I (Canadian) are considering US immigration via the K1 fiance visa route. My understanding is the I-129F form requires evidence that we have physically been together within the last 2 years. The problem is, despite meeting each other dozens of times over the last two years, I'm not sure we have any evidence of it. For years, our routine has been that she drives across the border from Buffalo to visit me on her days off from work. We just never really do anything special when she's here in Canada; we just hang out at my home. And besides, we've barely even seen each other in person since March 2020 for obvious reasons.

 

Most of the usual suggestions for proof that I see on these forums are not something I have:

 

• There are no visa stamps, since Canadians and Americans do not require them to cross the border.
• I did fly to Buffalo to visit her last year, but I did not keep the boarding pass.
• We have never paid for anything simultaneously (one of us covers the whole bill whenever we buy something, for simplicity.)
• We have pictures together, but nothing that proves any dates (how often do you take pictures standing next to today's newspaper?)
• We have 84,000 messages exchanged on Discord (instant messaging platform), but that doesn't prove we've been together physically, or even that her Discord account is actually her.

 

Now that the border is open again, we're fine with purposely seeking out some sort of activity that could constitute proof of physically meeting. But doing so feels sort of fake and staged and I don't want to give that impression to US officials looking at my application. At the same time, I do need proof somehow. What can I do?

 

Thanks for the help!

As long as you met at least once within 2 years, then you have met the meeting requirement.  

 

Since you did fly into Buffalo, I'm guessing your passport was stamped, so that's proof right there.  Also, can you print a copy of your itinerary?

 

Date for the pictures.  Pictures don't need to be "time stamped".  You can always write the date, and a description on the back of the pictures, or I'd you decide to paste them on a word document, you can type the info below.  

 

Even though the message don't prove being physically together, it does provide you've both been in continuous contact, which is important. 

[Aelius 7]

Hi, thanks for your response.

 

Quote

As long as you met at least once within 2 years, then you have met the meeting requirement.  

Of course, but as always the problem is proving it.

 

Quote

Since you did fly into Buffalo, I'm guessing your passport was stamped, so that's proof right there. 

Like I said in my post, passports aren't stamped between Canada and the US.

 

Quote

Date for the pictures.  Pictures don't need to be "time stamped".  You can always write the date, and a description on the back of the pictures, or I'd you decide to paste them on a word document, you can type the info below.  

But how do they know that's not a picture older than 2 years ago that you simply wrote a more recent date on?

[Chancy 6,233]

1 hour ago, Aelius said:

I did fly to Buffalo to visit her last year, but I did not keep the boarding pass.

 

Search for your I-94 entry/exit records here -- https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/history-search

 

[SalishSea 16,770]

7 hours ago, Aelius said:

Hi! My American girlfriend and I (Canadian) are considering US immigration via the K1 fiance visa route. My understanding is the I-129F form requires evidence that we have physically been together within the last 2 years. The problem is, despite meeting each other dozens of times over the last two years, I'm not sure we have any evidence of it. For years, our routine has been that she drives across the border from Buffalo to visit me on her days off from work. We just never really do anything special when she's here in Canada; we just hang out at my home. And besides, we've barely even seen each other in person since March 2020 for obvious reasons.

 

Most of the usual suggestions for proof that I see on these forums are not something I have:

 

• There are no visa stamps, since Canadians and Americans do not require them to cross the border.
• I did fly to Buffalo to visit her last year, but I did not keep the boarding pass.
• We have never paid for anything simultaneously (one of us covers the whole bill whenever we buy something, for simplicity.)
• We have pictures together, but nothing that proves any dates (how often do you take pictures standing next to today's newspaper?)
• We have 84,000 messages exchanged on Discord (instant messaging platform), but that doesn't prove we've been together physically, or even that her Discord account is actually her.

 

Now that the border is open again, we're fine with purposely seeking out some sort of activity that could constitute proof of physically meeting. But doing so feels sort of fake and staged and I don't want to give that impression to US officials looking at my application. At the same time, I do need proof somehow. What can I do?

 

Thanks for the help!

Pictures are not good evidence.  Messages are not evidence of meeting.

 

I-94 is best evidence of having met.  

 

And, is the border actually open?  I live in a border state, and I don't believe non-essential border crossings are allowed yet.

[HRQX 4,145]

10 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

And, is the border actually open?

Starting Monday, but only going into Canada if the US citizen or US LPR is "fully vaccinated." https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/news/2021/08/travel-advisory-reminder--on-august-9th-new-public-health-measures-will-come-into-force-affecting-travel-to-canada.html

 

The Canadian citizen would still need to fly into the US.

Edited August 8, 2021 by HRQX

[SalishSea 16,770]

Just now, HRQX said:

Starting Monday, but only going into Canada if the US citizen or US LPR is "fully vaccinated." https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/news/2021/08/travel-advisory-reminder--on-august-9th-new-public-health-measures-will-come-into-force-affecting-travel-to-canada.html

My husband and I are so missing Vancouver.....I wonder if we can get a quick trip in before the restrictions are put back into place, if that happens.

[Wouter 141]

Hi,

I have also been looking into what may constitute 'proof' to a consular officer during the interview.

My impression is that this is not like in a court-of-law where everything you present is challenged and scrutinized and has to meet an absolute standard.

The officer assessing your case will look at the full package that you present:

- if you live within driving distance from each other across the US-CAN border then it's likely that you did indeed see each other regularly as you claim, especially before March 2020.

- if you have many pictures of the two of you together, even without holding up a newspaper, why would you have a bunch of pictures of the both of you from 3 years ago and then stop seeing each other for 2 years and make false claims about those old pictures. It's theoretically possible but doesn't make much sense.

- if you have a few printouts of flight bookings that you can dig out of your email archive, yes you can have fabricated those with Photoshop but that is a lot of trouble and risk for two people who could just have easily visited each other for real as part of a fake K-1 immigration plot. (Of course, passport stamps and boarding passes would have been stronger, but they know you don't get a stamp for US-CAN border crossings and people throw away boarding passes all the time.)

- the same for the chat messages. Would you manufacture thousands of chat messages for this? Or do all this chatting in 2018 and then suddenly stop but still go ahead with a K-1?

I am no expert but from what I have been reading it seems to me that they actually look more at the overall impression and reasonability of what you state on your application and the supporting documents you submit.

(One thought: do you have a picture with the two of you wearing masks, or holding a mask in your hand, or someone else in the background wearing a mask? That would be a pretty good indicator that the picture is from 2020/2021, unless the picture was taken in a hospital operating room 🙂 )

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Wouter

[SalishSea 16,770]

3 hours ago, Wouter said:

Hi,

I have also been looking into what may constitute 'proof' to a consular officer during the interview.

My impression is that this is not like in a court-of-law where everything you present is challenged and scrutinized and has to meet an absolute standard.

The officer assessing your case will look at the full package that you present:

- if you live within driving distance from each other across the US-CAN border then it's likely that you did indeed see each other regularly as you claim, especially before March 2020.

- if you have many pictures of the two of you together, even without holding up a newspaper, why would you have a bunch of pictures of the both of you from 3 years ago and then stop seeing each other for 2 years and make false claims about those old pictures. It's theoretically possible but doesn't make much sense.

- if you have a few printouts of flight bookings that you can dig out of your email archive, yes you can have fabricated those with Photoshop but that is a lot of trouble and risk for two people who could just have easily visited each other for real as part of a fake K-1 immigration plot. (Of course, passport stamps and boarding passes would have been stronger, but they know you don't get a stamp for US-CAN border crossings and people throw away boarding passes all the time.)

- the same for the chat messages. Would you manufacture thousands of chat messages for this? Or do all this chatting in 2018 and then suddenly stop but still go ahead with a K-1?

I am no expert but from what I have been reading it seems to me that they actually look more at the overall impression and reasonability of what you state on your application and the supporting documents you submit.

(One thought: do you have a picture with the two of you wearing masks, or holding a mask in your hand, or someone else in the background wearing a mask? That would be a pretty good indicator that the picture is from 2020/2021, unless the picture was taken in a hospital operating room 🙂 )

 

No consular officer will be looking for evidence of the meeting requirement prior to an interview.  This will be done by USCIS when adjudicating the I129-F petition.

[JonSeattle 201]

If you can have past credit card or ATM statements that shows you were in close proximity then that should be fine.

 

But I think you should take a close look at the visajourney threads that discuss the relative merits of K-1 and CR-1. I think CR-1 would make much more sense for you.

[Wouter 141]

1 minute ago, Jorgedig said:

No consular officer will be looking for evidence of the meeting requirement prior to an interview.  This will be done by USCIS when adjudicating the I129-F petition.

OK, thank you for that correction, nonetheless I believe my point still applies to the USCIS officer adjudicating the case.

[SalishSea 16,770]

19 minutes ago, Wouter said:

OK, thank you for that correction, nonetheless I believe my point still applies to the USCIS officer adjudicating the case.

Photos, flight itineraries and chats are not evidence of having met within the required two years prior to filing.  Passport stamps and I-94s are the best evidence.

[Aelius 7]

17 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Pictures are not good evidence.  Messages are not evidence of meeting.

 

I-94 is best evidence of having met.  

 

And, is the border actually open?  I live in a border state, and I don't believe non-essential border crossings are allowed yet.

 

1 hour ago, Jorgedig said:

Photos, flight itineraries and chats are not evidence of having met within the required two years prior to filing.  Passport stamps and I-94s are the best evidence.

 

Hey, thanks for your responses. I was hoping you could clarify something for me, though. Don't I-94 entry records only establish that you entered the country? How do they know you physically met the other person? In other words, just because I crossed the border doesn't mean I went to go see my partner. Or am I misunderstanding something?

[debbiedoo 2,339]

Her i-94 will prove she crossed the border however many times.

 

if your passport was stamped (i know, they dont USUALLY unless you ASK them to, but they MAY have)

 

then you have the anecdotal, corroborating evidence that, on its OWN does not prove anything, but with the i94, helps. the photos, plane tickets, event tickets, things like that.

 

were not even on a border state. no where near, and he drove down every 3rd week for 3 years. no one ever questioned our relationship at any point. thought we were insane, maybe, but never questioned it. LOL

3 minutes ago, Aelius said:

 

 

Hey, thanks for your responses. I was hoping you could clarify something for me, though. Don't I-94 entry records only establish that you entered the country? How do they know you physically met the other person? In other words, just because I crossed the border doesn't mean I went to go see my partner. Or am I misunderstanding something?

they just dont look into THAT close. do the i94. some picture. send what you have. itll be fine.

[Aelius 7]

3 minutes ago, debbiedoo said:

Her i-94 will prove she crossed the border however many times.

As far as I can tell, I-94 records are only for foreigners. There is no dropdown entry for the United States under Passport Country of Issuance.