Proof of relationship - paper, digital?

[thewildeguys 3]

Hello I am still very early in my journey but wanted to do some planning. For Proof of relationship, do we need to print all chats, emails, etc? Or is digital format accepted?

 

Thanks!

[OldUser 9,861]

As far as I know, I-129F and I-485 can only be submitted by mail. So you need to print evidence at some point. I'd keep it in digital format until then.

[thewildeguys 3]

Thanks OldUser.  Will store on flash drive also....

 

She will be going to Bucharest in December to try for a tourist visa to USA.

Edited July 5 by thewildeguys

[JeanneAdil 7,078]

Store for yourself 

you can not submit it on digital devices (USB or CD) to USCIS

 

Not on all chats 

submit some from beginning of relationship and some recent (paper only)

Best to send proof of meetings in person (like photos of 2 of you and some family)

Time spent together is important

Provide copy of boarding pass is better than itinerary as itinerary does not show u actually traveled 

 

 

[smilingstone 587]

2 hours ago, thewildeguys said:

Thanks OldUser.  Will store on flash drive also....

 

She will be going to Bucharest in December to try for a tourist visa to USA.

 

Is this the first time you will be meeting?

 

Is she from a Russian/Ukrainian match making site as your post history suggests? If so, you'll need to frontload your application with more evidence than what is usually suggested.

[WeekendPizzaiolo 101]

7 hours ago, thewildeguys said:

Hello I am still very early in my journey but wanted to do some planning. For Proof of relationship, do we need to print all chats, emails, etc? Or is digital format accepted?

 

Thanks!

Digital is primarily for clerical convenience for applications that must be submitted by snail mail (AOS, I-751). By digitizing and storing docs in the cloud, I can more easily find documents when they're needed and forget about them otherwise. I hate paper so I have a high-speed wireless scanner to turn my mail into PDFs, but I keep anything important in paper form (official USCIS notices, titles, certificates) in a safe.

 

There is no one size fits all relationship -- some people get married sooner than others. Different relationships will need to weight evidence differently.

 

All chats seems excessive. We submitted zero chats. Some people submit a sample of chats that demonstrates continuity of the relationship over time. We submitted a video call log of date, time, duration, which we kept in Google Spreadsheets. We also kept a visit log in a different spreadsheet with another cloud storage folder of travel bookings. We submitted copies of all of our bookings (~150 pages). Some would say that's excessive.

 

We had about five years of relationship photos and showed one per month (~10 pages total) including with friends and family. You can use Google Presentations/Powerpoint/Keynote to arrange the photos on standard 8.5x11" paper and print using the highest quality color at your local copy shop or FedEx Office. Almost all other documents we submitted were black & white photocopies.

 

 

 

Edited July 5 by WeekendPizzaiolo

[S2N 294]

19 hours ago, smilingstone said:

Is she from a Russian/Ukrainian match making site as your post history suggests? If so, you'll need to frontload your application with more evidence than what is usually suggested.

It’s also Adam Walsh Act, which means a lawyer absolutely should be involved.

 

OP — the best advice you see going to get here is to find a competent lawyer with experience in these areas and do exactly what they say. Emphasis on competent.

 

Your post history also suggests multiple partners from Ukraine within the last year (posted about a female partner there on 9/6/24 and then asked for matchmaking references later that month) so I second the suggestion to front load as much as possible. If it smells fishy to people on an immigration forum that are generally pro-immigrant, it’ll also probably smell fishy to USCIS.

Edited July 6 by S2N

[Rhema1 377]

Wishing to everyone following this thread a blessed and speedy process 🙏 🙏 🙏 

[thewildeguys 3]

Quote

It’s also Adam Walsh Act, which means a lawyer absolutely should be involved.

 

OP — the best advice you see going to get here is to find a competent lawyer with experience in these areas and do exactly what they say. Emphasis on competent.

 

Your post history also suggests multiple partners from Ukraine within the last year (posted about a female partner there on 9/6/24 and then asked for matchmaking references later that month) so I second the suggestion to front load as much as possible. If it smells fishy to people on an immigration forum that are generally pro-immigrant, it’ll also probably smell fishy to USCIS.

Quote

We are at the beginning of our relationship. She will have interview in December for tourist visa (in Bucharest) so I was just curious about the history and how I should store it. I will keep chats, emails, etc.

Yes, unfortunately, when the time comes for K1 I will need a lawyer. I made a mistake in 2008 that still lingers. But I have made much progress.

Thanks all for the advice.

 

[S2N 294]

15 minutes ago, thewildeguys said:

We are at the beginning of our relationship. She will have interview in December for tourist visa (in Bucharest) so I was just curious about the history and how I should store it. I will keep chats, emails, etc.

Yes, unfortunately, when the time comes for K1 I will need a lawyer. I made a mistake in 2008 that still lingers. But I have made much progress.

Thanks all for the advice.

Got it; and best of luck.
 

To be clear, no judgement on my part, but I think you’re unfortunately in a lot harder place than most others so collecting as much evidence as you can in preparation for the eventuality that you’ll file either K-1 or CR-1 would be best. As others have said, for K-1, it’ll eventually have to be on paper.

[thewildeguys 3]

10 minutes ago, S2N said:

Got it; and best of luck.
 

To be clear, no judgement on my part, but I think you’re unfortunately in a lot harder place than most others so collecting as much evidence as you can in preparation for the eventuality 

Thank you S2N. I know it will be a huge challenge (having to submit waiver,etc) so your advice to get a lawyer will definitely be part of my journey.

Edited July 6 by thewildeguys