Worried About What We Included in Our K-1 Package – Need Advice!

[Lwdmiuk42025 0]

Hello, dear members. I hope you're all doing well.

My fiancé and I are currently putting together our K-1 visa package, and so far, this is what we’ve included. I’d really appreciate any feedback, especially from those who have experience with this process.

I wanted to explain that we’re unable to take screenshots of all our conversations from the beginning of our relationship because both of us changed phones. However, we do have the backup of our chats, and I’ve already included a written statement explaining this in our cover letter. Do you think including a screenshot of the WhatsApp backup could be helpful, or would it be seen negatively?

We also included the invitation letter my fiancé wrote when I applied for a tourist visa in January 2025, as well as proof of the reimbursement he sent me for the visa expenses, even though that visa was denied.

Do you think any of these things could hurt our case? I really hope not — I’m feeling very anxious about all of this.

Thank you so much in advance for any insights or advice.

 

Edited May 13 by Ban Hammer

[Ban Hammer 14,085]

the attachment was removed as it had real names listed in it.  please edit out the names and repost if you wish.

[TBoneTX 47,122]

Welcome to the forum!

A post in (?) Portuguese has been removed -- please use English-only outside the regional forums.   

2 hours ago, Lwdmiuk42025 said:

I’m feeling very anxious about all of this.

At which consulate will you eventually interview for the visa?  This is crucial to know.

Atop every VJ page is a dropdown for "Office Reviews & Info" so you can research and gain insights.

You can read recent reviews by, and send messages to, others who have recently gone through the consulate.

 

USCIS has its specific requirements for adjudicating the I-129F petition.

Each consulate then applies country-specific standards for the K-1 visa interview.

For tough consulates (in high-fraud countries), we recommend "front-loading" the petition package.

This includes extra "evidence of a bona fide relationship" such as the items that you suggest.

Including ALL chats is overkill; supply a few meaningful examples over time, if you can.

Because you apparently can't, a sample of the chat backup list can suffice, if you need it.

Your letter of explanation should be enough, for now.

(Avoid including anything where you playfully call each other "husband/wife" or "hubby/wifey"!)

The documents about the denied tourist visa probably won't help.  The consulate will know about it anyway.

 

It's utterly natural to be nervous about this part of the process!  For perspective, see here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/410945-k-1-journey-completed/

 

All the best to you, and create your VJ timeline!   

[carmel34 3,703]

9 hours ago, Lwdmiuk42025 said:

Hello, dear members. I hope you're all doing well.

My fiancé and I are currently putting together our K-1 visa package, and so far, this is what we’ve included. I’d really appreciate any feedback, especially from those who have experience with this process.

I wanted to explain that we’re unable to take screenshots of all our conversations from the beginning of our relationship because both of us changed phones. However, we do have the backup of our chats, and I’ve already included a written statement explaining this in our cover letter. Do you think including a screenshot of the WhatsApp backup could be helpful, or would it be seen negatively?

We also included the invitation letter my fiancé wrote when I applied for a tourist visa in January 2025, as well as proof of the reimbursement he sent me for the visa expenses, even though that visa was denied.

Do you think any of these things could hurt our case? I really hope not — I’m feeling very anxious about all of this.

Thank you so much in advance for any insights or advice.

 

Screenshots of conversations are secondary evidence and are not required for an I-129F petition, and are only recommended for high-fraud consulates.  Are you including documents to show that you have been together physically at least once during the last two years (original boarding passes, passport stamps, hotel receipts, a few photos together, etc.)?

[Lwdmiuk42025 0]

1 hour ago, carmel34 said:

Screenshots of conversations are secondary evidence and are not required for an I-129F petition, and are only recommended for high-fraud consulates.  Are you including documents to show that you have been together physically at least once during the last two years (original boarding passes, passport stamps, hotel receipts, a few photos together, etc.)?

Hello, thank you for replying.

Yes, we have photos of the two trips we made together in less than a year. He came to Brazil to visit me.

What's worrying me is that I'm going to include WhatsApp backup messages in txt format, which they might think has been edited, but it hasn't been. I've also included the invitation letter and the amount he paid for my tourist visa in January. We tried this visa before the k1, because we wanted to meet each other's families before trying the k1, which we didn't do.

Do you think this is a bad thing? I mentioned my boyfriend at the tourist visa interview, I even said that he would be my sponsor.

[tomgndallas1 10]

we just included photos of each other, we had many, i included about 4 screenhsots of conversations from Messenger, two letters of intent to Marry within 90 days that were both original signed, passport stamps from our passports showing entry into the country and when we took trips to Laos and Vietnam. I included a short narrative of how we met. Our application was accepted

[smilingstone 406]

2 hours ago, Lwdmiuk42025 said:

Do you think this is a bad thing? I mentioned my boyfriend at the tourist visa interview, I even said that he would be my sponsor.

 

I'm guessing that you didn't have strong ties to your home country, so the mention of a USC partner was perhaps reason for denial.

 

2 hours ago, Lwdmiuk42025 said:

I'm going to include WhatsApp backup messages in txt format

 

How will you present this? Just pasted text on a Word doc? Like you said, I'd be worried about it being perceived as edited too. In theory, you could just type anything, any dates, any times. But as others have said, this is secondary and isn't that important. Personally, as Brazil is relatively high fraud, I would skip this entirely and focus on the messages you can actually screenshot.

 

1 hour ago, tomgndallas1 said:

we just included photos of each other, we had many, i included about 4 screenhsots of conversations from Messenger, two letters of intent to Marry within 90 days that were both original signed, passport stamps from our passports showing entry into the country and when we took trips to Laos and Vietnam. I included a short narrative of how we met. Our application was accepted

 

Similarly, we included only 1 photo together, with approx. 12 screenshots of messages, 2 letters of intent and a 2-page doc explaining how we met and that we want to start a life together in the US. But the main evidence was boarding passes, itineraries, Airbnb booking, etc that showed we had met. We had an RFE but it was because we missed a question on the I-129F, nothing evidence based.

 

3 hours ago, Lwdmiuk42025 said:

I've also included the invitation letter

 

What is this?

[Crazy Cat 43,876]

***Several non-English posts removed.  Please use only English in the upper forums.  Other languages are permitted in regional forums*** @Lwdmiuk42025 Please adhere to these instructions***

Edited May 13 by Crazy Cat

[WeekendPizzaiolo 75]

14 hours ago, Lwdmiuk42025 said:

Hello, thank you for replying.

Yes, we have photos of the two trips we made together in less than a year. He came to Brazil to visit me.

What's worrying me is that I'm going to include WhatsApp backup messages in txt format, which they might think has been edited, but it hasn't been. I've also included the invitation letter and the amount he paid for my tourist visa in January. We tried this visa before the k1, because we wanted to meet each other's families before trying the k1, which we didn't do.

Do you think this is a bad thing? I mentioned my boyfriend at the tourist visa interview, I even said that he would be my sponsor.

 

AFAIK, a tourist visa (B2) cannot be sponsored. If you say your boyfriend is sponsoring you, the CO immediately has significant doubt that you can support yourself for the trip on your own merits. If your passport is blank, the burden of proof is raised even further. I think you basically communicated during your interview that you couldn't do the trip on your own finances and you did not sufficiently demonstrate your ties to show that you will return.

 

The criteria for a tourist visa (B2) and a K-1 fiance visa are very different. A B2 visa applicant must show non-immigrant intent and ties to their home country on their own merits without the help of a sponsor. A K-1 visa holder will adjust status (apply for permanent residence) upon entry & marriage so obviously they do not need to prove non-immigrant intent. Since a K-1 holder would be marrying a US citizen, they don't need to show financial responsibility but the US citizen does! (unless they get a joint sponsor)

 

Regarding your worries, as long as you don't edit chats, you are fine. It's ok if there are timestamps generated by WhatsApp backup. Showing the full chat history is definitely overkill! We did not submit any chats. We kept a call log in a Google Spreadsheet (3-5 video calls per week) and showed that. We compiled a trip packet of bookings for every trip including a cover page for each trip showing activities for that trip. We had a photo album (8-10 photos per year including photos with family & friends). We also kept a Google spreadsheet of total days spent together over all trips. The K-1 at minimum requires you to have met once prior to filing I-129F.

 

The first step of the process is the I-129F filed by your US citizen fiance (see guide here). Once the I-129F is approved, it moves onto the NVC stage, and once it is sent to the embassy, then the K-1 can be applied for.

 

You still have a long time for the next stages, but at the consular stage, you can start assembling the documents required for consular interview (e.g. federal police certificate and police certificates for every Brazilian state you lived in over 6 months for the past 5 years). The DoS maintains a list of documents required for Brazilian K-1 applicants here. If you lived in any other country, you may need to show documents for those countries as well at the consular stage. Don't worry about that too much for now. Focus on a solid I-129F application.

 

If you want to save yourself from extra bureaucracy, consider getting married in Brazil and filing a IR1/CR1. Then, you don't need to adjust status upon arriving in the US. If the CR1 process takes longer than 2 years, then you will likely receive a 10 year green card instead of a 2 year conditional green card, saving you yet another step in the whole process.

 

 

 

[Lwdmiuk42025 0]

Thank you very much for your tips. I think I will organize my package the way you are suggesting. This way I think it will be easier for the agent to analyze our proof of in-person meeting. I had included the photos of the first and second meetings together, I had also included the proof of purchase of tickets and Airbnb reservations from the second and first trips together, which could be bad. Thank you very much! I'm still not sure whether to add to the process the invitation letter he wrote to me when I tried to get a tourist visa, just to prove the continuity of our relationship.

Edited May 15 by Ontarkie
removed the quote as it was edited

[Ontarkie 14,891]

~~One post has been edited to remove the quote. The quoted portion was edited and no longer English. It is a TOS Violation to edit the quote of another member. Any further editing of quotes or non English posts will result in admin action~~

[WeekendPizzaiolo 75]

On 5/14/2025 at 5:15 PM, Lwdmiuk42025 said:

Thank you very much for your tips. I think I will organize my package the way you are suggesting. This way I think it will be easier for the agent to analyze our proof of in-person meeting. I had included the photos of the first and second meetings together, I had also included the proof of purchase of tickets and Airbnb reservations from the second and first trips together, which could be bad. Thank you very much! I'm still not sure whether to add to the process the invitation letter he wrote to me when I tried to get a tourist visa, just to prove the continuity of our relationship.

 

It's up to you whether to include it, but an invitation letter for sponsorship for a visa that does not allow sponsorship is non-standard and will raise eyebrows (CO will use System 2 thinking). They will already have a copy of the non-standard letter in your file from your B1/B2 application. However, two letters of intent to marry will be needed (see Step 4 of the guide) for I-129F - one for you, one for your fiance. Show continuity of your relationship by having regular video calls when you are apart and continuing visits in Brasil to the extent PTO and finances allow.