How to Establish Travel Dates in RFE Response? Passport Stamps? Airfare Receipts? Air B&B Receipts? All of the Above?

[NMinLasVegas 0]

I haven't gotten anything in the mail yet just a message in my progress tab.

 

"We sent a request for initial evidence for your Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. The request for evidence explains what we need from you. We will not take action on your case until we receive the evidence or the deadline to submit it expires."

 

I am feeling stressed and anxious because I already submitted what initial evidence I could come up with. Affidavits from family, a few pictures together, and bank statements / paypal statements showing monthly financial support from me to her. She's a Filipina and I am living in America although I have been spending a lot of time in the Philippines with her in Airbnbs. 

 

So I don't know what else I can provide and to see after 13 months that I am only at the stage where they are again requesting initial evidence feels very discouraging. Any insight is much appreciated. 

[TBoneTX 48,337]

Try to hang on* and wait for the letter.  It might be something ridiculously simple.

     *violent physical exercise helps with this

[NMinLasVegas 0]

Why is my receipt notice (which I don't even care about) available as a pdf in my document tab on the site but not this RFE? Just venting. Waiting sucks.  

[W199 514]

1 hour ago, NMinLasVegas said:

I haven't gotten anything in the mail yet just a message in my progress tab.

 

"We sent a request for initial evidence for your Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. The request for evidence explains what we need from you. We will not take action on your case until we receive the evidence or the deadline to submit it expires."

 

I am feeling stressed and anxious because I already submitted what initial evidence I could come up with. Affidavits from family, a few pictures together, and bank statements / paypal statements showing monthly financial support from me to her. She's a Filipina and I am living in America although I have been spending a lot of time in the Philippines with her in Airbnbs. 

 

So I don't know what else I can provide and to see after 13 months that I am only at the stage where they are again requesting initial evidence feels very discouraging. Any insight is much appreciated. 

 

That is good news. They are actively working on your case now.

 

The initial evidence isn't just "whatever you could come up with".  Initial evidence are required document.  For example, did you include all final divorce degrees, and many other things in the correct format as required? You'll just have to wait to find out what you missed. Or perhaps they want additional evidence as well, and not just initial evidence. 

[igoyougoduke 1,733]

3 hours ago, NMinLasVegas said:

Why is my receipt notice (which I don't even care about) available as a pdf in my document tab on the site but not this RFE? Just venting. Waiting sucks.  

cause they still use pigeon mail technology from 1990s at USCIS 

[SalishSea 18,612]

Also, USCIS has been known to lose things and send RFEs for documents sent initially.  Or sometimes it's just a date or a signature.

 

Hopefully you have a copy of your entire packet, and you can easily respond to whatever they're questioning.

[Edward and Jaycel 2,289]

4 hours ago, NMinLasVegas said:

Why is my receipt notice (which I don't even care about) available as a pdf in my document tab on the site but not this RFE? Just venting. Waiting sucks.  

Our friends got an RFE and the notice in the online account lagged behind the email notification by 2 or 3 days.

Edited October 21 by Edward and Jaycel

[NMinLasVegas 0]

Hello. I am working on responding to an RFE that wants further initial evidence of Bona Fide marriage. 

 

I am just trying to take it one piece at a time. I want to include the right information to establish the time I have spent in the Philippines so far. I have spent a substantial amount of time there, around a year and a half of the last three years. 

 

I have stamps on my passport. I have the airfare receipts in my email. I might still have my actual boarding passes. I have Air B&B receipts, and could take screen shots of conversations with hosts where we supply pictures of our passports to get registered with the buildings. I suppose I could also include credit card statements that show restaraunt receipts.

 

What is appropriate to include, where do I draw the line? I assume passport stamps are the strongest evidence. But how do I establish they are my passport stamps? A picture of the passport stamp will not include my name or anything. I just need some guidelines on how to put this together and what has worked for others.

 

Thanks very much in advance. 

[appleblossom 5,226]

Personally I would send them all of the above. You don't want to skimp on a RFE, this is your one chance to prove the marriage is Bona Fide. 

 

You should also include photos of the two of you together on those trips. 

Edited 16 hours ago by appleblossom

[NMinLasVegas 0]

Hello. I am working on responding to an RFE that wants further initial evidence of Bona Fide marriage. 

 

I only included a few pictures in the initial application, having read somewhere it was not appropriate to include many at that stage. 

 

I have put all the pictures I think are good evidence in a folder but there are over a hundred. I don't have my head wrapped around how to properly submit them in my RFE response because I believe the number of pages is limited. I know they need to be labeled with dates and locations and names of the people in the photograph. But how do I handle a large number of pictures?

 

About 20% of them are me with my wife and her brother and sister and mother and some with my mother. And the rest are a lot of selfies of my wife and I at different places, or pictures the waiter took of us out to dinner. Is it appropriate to do collages? If not, how many pictures to a page? How do you go about including a large number of pictures in a limited number of pages and tick the boxes that the USCIS people need to check off?

 

What other considerations need to me on my radar in terms of using all these pictures as proper evidence of bona fide marriage?

 

Thanks very much to anyone who can take the time to offer helpful advice. 

[Crazy Cat 45,645]

***Similar topics by OP merged***

[pushbrk 14,036]

Note that receipts for buying tickets, and itineraries are not evidence of travel.  Passport stamps and boarding passes are primary evidence of time spent together in person.  Airbnb receipts are good too.  Photos are secondary evidence of time spent together in person, but you sent those already. If you did not send primary evidence like passport stamps and/or boarding passes, concentrate on that.  How many trips?  How many days each trip and total days in country?

[OldUser 10,813]

On 10/20/2025 at 5:03 PM, igoyougoduke said:

cause they still use pigeon mail technology from 1990s at USCIS 

Rather 1900s the least. Maybe even early 1800s tech, cause telegraph was available in 1840s!

[OldUser 10,813]

25 minutes ago, NMinLasVegas said:

 

 

About 20% of them are me with my wife and her brother and sister and mother and some with my mother. And the rest are a lot of selfies of my wife and I at different places, or pictures the waiter took of us out to dinner.

So those 20% are of the value, the 80% not so much. You want photos with other people, not just two of you. Pictures with family, friends etc show your marriage is known in your circles.

 

27 minutes ago, NMinLasVegas said:

how many pictures to a page?

3-4 images per page.

[NMinLasVegas 0]

15 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

How many trips?  How many days each trip and total days in country?

Trip 1 Summer of 2023 - 106 days total, got engaged. Trip 2 Beginning of 2024, 152 days. Did an online Utah marriage before I left. Trip 3, Beginning of 2025, 152 days total. So 378 days across three trips, grand total.

 

I haven't taken her out of the Philippines, I have been paranoid of offloading.