RFE For Proof of Citizenship (Passport)

[mythlin 4]

Hi there everyone!

 

We got our RFE letter in the mail today and it's asking us to "submit a passport for proof of citizenship for you and your beneficiary".

 

Just to make sure we're gonna do everything right, this is just to provide a scan/picture of the information page of the passport, right? I was thinking just because of the wording that we could submit both our passports just be sure, even though it doesn't seem like the beneficiary's is required? Just to make sure we're not gonna get denied.

 

It's a little bit scary, especially since we sent in the petitioner's birth certificate but oh well, these things happen!

 

Thank you in advance for the help !

[OldUser 10,897]

Can you please post exact RFE wording, redacting any sensitive info?

 

What evidence of US citizenship was provided with I-129F submission?

[mythlin 4]

7 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Can you please post exact RFE wording, redacting any sensitive info?

 

What evidence of US citizenship was provided with I-129F submission?

 

The exact wording is as follows:

 

"Please submit a passport for proof of citizenship for you and your beneficiary."

 

And we submitted a photocopy (a photocopy of a certified copy) of the petitioner's birth certificate with the I-129F submission.

Edited 9 hours ago by mythlin

[OldUser 10,897]

10 minutes ago, mythlin said:

 

The exact wording is as follows:

 

"Please submit a passport for proof of citizenship for you and your beneficiary."

 

And we submitted a photocopy (a photocopy of a certified copy) of the petitioner's birth certificate with the I-129F submission.

This is still not helpful. There is probably more text preceding this sentence explaining why it wasn't enough?

 

Was the US citizen born in the US?

Edited 9 hours ago by OldUser

[mythlin 4]

8 minutes ago, OldUser said:

This is still not helpful. There is probably more text preceding this sentence explaining why it wasn't enough?

 

Was the US citizen born in the US?

 

That's all there is, unfortunately, and it has no explanation saying why it wasn't enough. For your convenience, however, here's the first page of the letter, which is the typical first page I've seen from others when they post their RFE:

 

And yes the US Citizen was born in the US.

[Sam Burns 219]

2 hours ago, mythlin said:

even though it doesn't seem like the beneficiary's is required?

It literally says in the RFE to send both passport information….

[mythlin 4]

1 minute ago, Sam Burns said:

It literally says in the RFE to send both passport information….

 

Yeah, that's what we thought, but the wording does feel vague, and I was under the impression that the beneficiary does not have to supply proof of citizenship at this stage, but rather at the embassy interview? Just feels strange to ask for both, but maybe something seemed weird and they just want clarification?

[TBoneTX 48,407]

"...for you and your beneficiary" sounds completely clear.  Your success throughout this process relies upon reading carefully, interpreting literally, and responding completely and accurately.

[rbv_shard 28]

1 minute ago, TBoneTX said:

"...for you and your beneficiary" sounds completely clear.  Your success throughout this process relies upon reading carefully, interpreting literally, and responding completely and accurately.

Being literal is usually a good thing, but in this case it says to submit the passport.  Literally, that would be both actual passports.

For my I-129F I sent a complete photocopy of my passport, all pages, in color.  And that was as the proof of citizenship (and proof of travel).  But wanting the actual passport is quite unusual.

[TBoneTX 48,407]

Now it's my turn not to have read carefully.   

 

I'd try what rbv_shard did -- photocopy all pages, in color.  Perhaps even take photos of each page and combine into one document, if feasible, using a program such as smallpdf.com to reduce the bulk.

[rbv_shard 28]

4 hours ago, mythlin said:

Hi there everyone!

 

We got our RFE letter in the mail today and it's asking us to "submit a passport for proof of citizenship for you and your beneficiary".

 

Just to make sure we're gonna do everything right, this is just to provide a scan/picture of the information page of the passport, right? I was thinking just because of the wording that we could submit both our passports just be sure, even though it doesn't seem like the beneficiary's is required? Just to make sure we're not gonna get denied.

 

It's a little bit scary, especially since we sent in the petitioner's birth certificate but oh well, these things happen!

 

Thank you in advance for the help !

It is definitely NOT a scan/picture/copy of just the information page, but the entire passport.  When they want just the biographical page, they say that.

VJ makes "ALL PAGES" quite clear, see bullet 8 at https://www.visajourney.com/guides/k1-fiance-visa/   But the official instructions also say "A copy of your unexpired U.S. passport", not just the biographical page, see "Required Initial Evidence" at https://www.uscis.gov/i-129f

However, you've been RFE'd, and the RFE doesn't say "copy".

The only way their request makes sense to me is if whatever you sent the first time doesn't match the official government records (for at least one of you), and they want to see and authenticate the actual physical passport book.

Edited 7 hours ago by rbv_shard

[Demise 1,479]

Send a copy of cover + all pages. There's 2 reasons for this:

1. There is such a thing as a non-citizen national, which are generally people born in American Samoa (though some other instances exist like child born to NCN abroad or possibly birth in US minor outlying islands). The passports they get look the same aside an annotation on one of the back pages. NCNs are treated as US permanent residents for purposes of sponsoring a relative. 

2. Record keeping in US honestly kinda sucks and if you gave up your citizenship then that'd be pretty much just evidenced by a stamp somewhere in the visa pages and possibly a hole punch through the whole booklet which may or may not show up on the photocopy. 

 

Alternatively you can sidestep this whole thing by giving them a different proof, like a copy of a birth certificate or naturalization certificate or certificate of citizenship.