Bruce n Jen

Let's hurry up and wait together!

Congratulations on your NOA1. It's a great feeling to see something official isn't? Now the waiting begins.....

Thanks to ALL! yeah, the wait and the hope that CSC is picking up it's pace as of late.

We've been waiting and wondering since I couldn't track a check as I paid by cashier's check. On Weds my fiancee and I decided it should arrive on Friday - and today, there it was in my mailbox, the NOA1 from CSC.

What's the consensus for the timeline purposes: I submitted to TSC but it went to CSC as expected, so should I use CSC in the timeline? I've already changed it since it makes more sense that way.

(4) INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE BROKER.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘international marriage broker’’ means a corporation, partnership, business, individual, or other legal entity, whether or not organized under any law of the United States, that charges fees for providing dating, matrimonial, matchmaking services, or social referrals between United States citizens or nationals or aliens lawfully admitted to the United States as permanent residents and foreign national clients by providing personal contact information or otherwise facilitating communication between individuals.

EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not include—

(i) a traditional matchmaking organization of a cultural or religious nature that operates on a nonprofit

basis and otherwise operates in compliance with the laws of the countries in which it operates, including

the laws of the United States; or

(ii) an entity that provides dating services if its principal business is not to provide international dating

services between United States citizens or United States residents and foreign nationals and it charges

comparable rates and offers comparable services to all individuals it serves regardless of the individual’s

gender or country of citizenship

Bill - I had the same questions that I'm sure everyone has had on this. But until I found the legal wording above, I wasn'tn sure. Part B (ii) answered it for me. It specifically is excluding from IMB all freely accessible dating services. The target of IMB is those entities that solely target US residents and foreign nationals and charge based upon that target, ie the US male pays to find a foreign female and she paid nothing. There's a lopsided arrangement, not a free and open one. So your meeting place is covered by the exception.

A (belated) CONGRATULATIONS for REAL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know how you feel as I "patiently" wait for mine.

All that persistence paid off - CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!!!!!

Forget how we think, just the disappointment alone upon finding out the truth. Don't worry next email will be an approval, and we get to congratulate you again!

WELL DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you did good - CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and more to come

Have you tried to look it up online? Here we can go to the county records and do a search - once you find it then you can get a copy. I hope that works for you.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

brucejg,

It has nothing to do with when you filed. It has everything to do with having filled out the IMBRA questions. As has been revealed, there is no available option for "no or N/A".

Poorly designed form? Absolutely.

Gee, can't get a more unequivocal answer than that!

I think the two who answered leave it blank are recently filers, while the two who said not to leave it blank filed long ago. I too had the same question after mailing my package away a week ago. I've been wondering the past few days. But there is no place to answer in the negative, or if it does NA - it's just a check box if one applies. my 2 cents!

William - I guess we agree- when I said it had to do when you filed, I implied using a form that was pre IMBRA and thus those posters wouldn't know what the current IMBRA form questions look like. Definitely a poorly designed form from the standpoint of answering questions.

yes...leave it blank if u dont have any criminal history

correct!!!

If you read the instructions, I think that you will find that every questin requires a respose, even if that response is N/A or NONE. Leave it blank and you will most likely receive an RFE.

Gee, can't get a more unequivocal answer than that!

I think the two who answered leave it blank are recently filers, while the two who said not to leave it blank filed long ago. I too had the same question after mailing my package away a week ago. I've been wondering the past few days. But there is no place to answer in the negative, or if it does NA - it's just a check box if one applies. my 2 cents!

Funny, I posed this question last Sunday, as I was wrapping up my package to send out. I had made copies of half a dozen credit card statements, having blacked out account numbers and balance amounts, and putting post its over the bulk of my charges before copying.

I woke up that morning looked at these copies and began to wonder if it was too much of a red flag "hiding" all this stuff. During the day I downloaded my online account statements for most of the months and reprinted them.

After talking to my fiance I went with sending the non-blanked out statements - my viewpoint: who cares what they see. My account numbers were x'd out on the online statements anyhow. Besides, thay have my SSN!

well now we're in it. i just mailed off the I-129f. deep breath, deep breath.

now what ? all of the sudden i feel i have forgotten at least 10 items, but i checked and rechecked so many

times, i'm sure i put it all in there.

Me too! on Monday - but I refuse to look at my copies in case I see something I overlooked. It arrived today, but needs to be signed for, certified, return receipt.

Sadly, I agree. I also agree that you may well need a lawyer. But that can be expensive. Before you do that, find someone you know and respect. Someone who is intelligent, and is the most detail oriented person you know. Someone like a dentist, and engineer, an accountant. Ask them to go over your entire file - application, letters to and from USCIS. See what they have to say. It seems that you do not have a knack for detail, completeness and clear communication. That's OK. Many good people are like that. But if it your weakness, it puts you at a severe disadvantage in this process. Find someone who has it as a strength, and get their help.

Good luck in sorting out this mess.

Tom

Gee, thanks for the compliment, being a dentist

This thread is very puzzling and vague and questionable about the seriousness, and not to offend anyone could be just looking for reaction. my 2 cents

Regarding the notion of "photocopies of unaltered documents" and elsewhere the recommendation to black out personal details in letters and emails....

what have those who submitted copies of credit card statements done with protecting your account numbers, and details that have nothing to do with the petition documentation? That is, have you blacked out or covered up non-pertinent data?

Hi Bruce,

I asked this same question when we were organizing our package. What was recommended to me was this ... though this would make sense to you and me and most other people here, you have to assume that the person examining your petition needs to be spoon fed, and as such, will not see multiple pictures printed on letter size paper as fitting their criteria. Wanting to play it safe as much as possible, I simply got prints made from K-mart (honestly though - they would have looked better had I printed them at home ). Part of the 'evidence' portion of our petition was a list of every photo included. The list was numbered, dated and included brief descriptions which tied in to our answer for Q.18. Then we numbered, dated and titled the back of each photo, put all the photos into a labelled ziplock bag and, of course, attached the bag to a blank page. It was the last page of the entire packet.

Just walk the person /reader through your packet and evidence, and as Andy said, make sure to include some primary evidence which ideally, should tie in to your photos.

Good luck!

Mo

Hi Mo,

Yeah I agree about thinking through their eyes, grrr. So after printing all - I also have a backup of CVS printed prints for individual pictures. Now how did you list them, where? Oh, a separate sheet listing them out? I like the numbering idea!

Bruce

Thanks much everyone !

Mine were digital also, I had them reprinted at Longs for 19 cents a print and just wrote on the back who where when. You should look at the USCIS website under "general guide to assembling package" I believe they address how they like things labeled and assembled. Good luck.

Thanks, but they don't mention photos on that page.

I have exclusively digital photos with no dates (can't stand them messing up a picture) - in various recommendations I've seen most mention of having the photos printed and putting the info on the back. Sure I've done that. However, what's wrong with color laser printing them, say 2 to a sheet, captioning each photo with who, when and where? On my color laser it looks like a color copy you get at the local office supply store. That way the pics are not loose, but organized and part of the package fastened together.

thoughts?

Hi - So I've read an enormous amount of material here, and I'm down to assemblying my package, fine tuning the question 18 details, and finishing the cover letter.

We've been together 3 times, twice here in the US and once in South Africa. With all 3 I have plenty of overwhelming evidence, but I'm concerned that our first meeting evidence could be "thin" perhaps. We stayed at my home, didn't document much together during the 10 day stay. I do have her visa coming here, plane ticket to Florida, visa application listing me as the destination, and one trip to St Augustine FL with pictures of us there and a credit card statement showing charges I made there. As I said the other visits have much more documentation, including my travel to South Africa.

As another related question, how do you all feel about including documenting how you met online, such as online profiles, and the website home page?

Thanks much!

and congratulations to all who received their NOA2 during the past week - great to see!

Bruce

Hi Bruce and welcome to VJ!

I just looked at my own G-325A (I am the beneficiary) and I put the month that we filed, so for your finacee, if you are filing this month, I would put 09/2006.

As for your question about the second part of the employment area. I put "same as above" as my answer because, of course, all my employment was 'abroad' if you will.

Not sure if you have seen the sample forms, but they are really helpful. That being said, a wonderful VJ member double checked my forms for me as I was paranoid as hell.

Good luck to you!

Mo

Thanks! I have looked at the examples, and I still question it. For my question 2 the example is blank. And while 09/2006 could be put where you say, what happens when the petition is worked on and/or the interview occurs and it says 09/2006 in that field? "Present" seems more appropriate I think.

Hi ! I've been "lurking" last few weeks and have learned a great deal. Thanks first of all! Only about a week away from sending the I-129F package in!!!!

Two questions about the G-325A which I can't recall seeing answered specifically: (this for my fiancee, the beneficiary)

1. In the residence area: "Applicant's last address outside the United States of more than one year." My fiancee answered with her current address just as in the section above, but it's not possible to type in "present time" in the TO field as is printed in the section above, Present Time.

2. In the employment area: "Show below last occupation abroad if not shown above. (Include all information requested above.)" Her only employment for the past 20 years is at one location, should this be blank or "none"?

Thanks in advance!