wlmurray

I was wondering if a cover letter for the proof of meeting was necessary... to explain each document?

Thanks!

A precise, factual and accurate details will do... We wrote it in an extra sheet of paper (as supplement page) since the space provided on the form is not sufficient to cover for my fiance's two visits.

Mae

I don't meant the response to question 18 (which I did do on a supplemental page) but for the actual proof (such as pictures, copy of visa, etc..)

Do I need to explain each picture, why i'm including school transcripts, copy of her student visa... ?

I was wondering if a cover letter for the proof of meeting was necessary... to explain each document?

Thanks!

I have another quick question regarding "originals" The guide states that we should hang onto all originals... does that include signed documents? Such as the G-325A, Should I send in the photo copied version, or the one that has her actual signature on it?

Original documents that are required to be filed are I-129F, G-325a's, Statement of Intent. The reason is that they want ORIGINAL signatures. All other documents filed with the petition can be copies.

That's what I thought. Thank you

I have another quick question regarding "originals" The guide states that we should hang onto all originals... does that include signed documents? Such as the G-325A, Should I send in the photo copied version, or the one that has her actual signature on it?

Thanks for the help!

I'm too scared to make any holes, so i'll just clip everything together, and make sure it's organized according to the cover letter, then let them do what they will with it.

Just look at the examples and get photos that look like those. Wal-Mart does do 2x2 Pasport style photos. Print our the Guideline if you want to and tell the photographer that this is exactly what you want.

I just got back from walgreens to get my passport photos... it was super easy. I just told them I needed 1 set (2 photos) of passport photos. They pulled down a white screen, took my picture with a digital camera, and printed out the pictures for me in less than 10 minutes. it costed $8.00 for the pictures. Very easy, I reccomend doing it that way.

Wow that was cheap! They charged me $12.95 @ Kinko's!

wow! You could probably get them done for 30 cents if you knew how to work the photo machine. The lady working there just took the camera memory card in the machine (the one where you go in and submit your pictures on ) then she chose some passport setting, then had them printed.

I imagine the $7.00 is for the service charge mainly.

Perhaps if you went in there with your own photo, and asked them how to print passport style photos, you could get a couple prints for .20 cents each.

Just look at the examples and get photos that look like those. Wal-Mart does do 2x2 Pasport style photos. Print our the Guideline if you want to and tell the photographer that this is exactly what you want.

I just got back from walgreens to get my passport photos... it was super easy. I just told them I needed 1 set (2 photos) of passport photos. They pulled down a white screen, took my picture with a digital camera, and printed out the pictures for me in less than 10 minutes. it costed $8.00 for the pictures. Very easy, I reccomend doing it that way.

Again here you will get different opinions, for myself i punched holes in the top and used the slide fasteners not the clip style. Then i put tabs marking the sections at the bottom. No binders.

Can you explain what slide fasteners are?

Thanks!

Acco binder clips are your friends

great. i'll go pick some of those up.

I checked out the guide page, but it wasnt too much help...

I have a plastic spiral folder book, that has about 6 folders inside.

Would it work if I used Acco binder clips on each individual section (I-129F, G-325A, Letters of intent, etc) and then put it in it's own folder in the spiral bound folder book?

Or would it be better to get a three ring binder? The guide page suggested punching holes at the top of each page, but I don't understand how that would go into the binder.

Can anyone give specifics about what they did for theirs?

Thanks!

I'm getting ready to mail in my I-129F forms tomorrow for the first step. How would you reccomend I put it all together? Do I need a binder? Can I punch holes in the papers? What if I just put them all in spiral bound folders, with tabs marking where everything is?

What is the best idea for this?

Thanks!

It says it is a passport style photograph- color. white background, glossy, and unretouched.

I am unsure about this photo also, so I am going down to walgreens in about 5 minutes to see if they can do the photo for me... i'll let you know what I find out.

I just asked my fiance if she came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa (she came as a student) and she siad she actually came on a F-1 visa.

any idea if that applies to the same restrictions?

thanks!

very interesting...

Can anyone confirm this or give more details? It sounds very very important.

thanks!

Home-country physical presence requirement means the requirement that an exchange visitor who is within the purview of section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (substantially quoted in Sec. 514.44) must reside and be physically present in the country of nationality or last legal permanent residence for an aggregate of at least two years following departure from the United States before the exchange visitor is eligible to apply for an immigrant visa or permanent residence...

Sometimes attached to a J visa I think...

Whoa! That could be pretty darn sad for some in that situation. I wonder what the reasoning is behind that rule?

uh oh. this is really really bad for me.

I never saw anything like this listed on the I-129F forms

Do you have a link for the source?

I don't want to tell my fiance now, since it's valentines day in Japan... that would make it a really crappy valentines day...

any way to get around this? She was in the United States for less than 12 months (11 months 28 days or something).

any more information on this?

I would really really appreciate it.

it looks like I may be looking at getting married in Japan if this is true...

Don't quote me on this since I'm not in the same situation. But from what I gathered in going over the forms and requirements for a K-1 visa. I do remember a 2 year foreign residency requirement for those who have been to the US on a student visa. If that is the case, you may have a timing issue and will have to meet each other again before you can file. I'm not sure what the specifics are on the student visa requirement, maybe someone else can give more information.

very interesting...

Can anyone confirm this or give more details? It sounds very very important.

thanks!

The USCIS is very particular about the use of N/A. Which field exactly are you thinking about using it in?

on G-325A, under the section "Applicant's residence last 5 years" the slots "from" "year" are the ones giving me the trouble and auto-inputted "0000"

Why do you want to use N/A there... is not an input of a year applicable?

sorry, I edited my other post too late...

i want to put "n/a" because myself (and her) have not lived in 6 different places in the last 5 years.

I called the USCIS and they said I should not leave any slots blank, which is why I put N/A in those spots.

Oh... I did... Once I covered the 5 year period then I stopped.... I wonder if the USCIS was referring to "gaps" in residence and not actual blanks....

here is what the section of the forms looks like:

Applicant's residence last five years. List present address first...........................................................................

..................from........................ to

Street and Number..................... City............................ Province or State.............................Country................... Month Year............. Month Year

<my street number>..................<my city>...................... Illinois.........................................United States.............. February 1984.............. Present Time

N/A..................................... ..... N/A............................... N/A................................................. N/A............................N/A 0000..............N/A 0000

N/A........................................... N/A............................... N/A................................................. N/A............................N/A 0000..............N/A 0000

And so on...

it does the same thing for the employment section... it puts those 0000's in there when I type "N/A"

The USCIS is very particular about the use of N/A. Which field exactly are you thinking about using it in?

on G-325A, under the section "Applicant's residence last 5 years" the slots "from" "year" are the ones giving me the trouble and auto-inputted "0000"

Why do you want to use N/A there... is not an input of a year applicable?

sorry, I edited my other post too late...

i want to put "n/a" because myself (and her) have not lived in 6 different places in the last 5 years.

I called the USCIS and they said I should not leave any slots blank, which is why I put N/A in those spots.

The USCIS is very particular about the use of N/A. Which field exactly are you thinking about using it in?

on G-325A, under the section "Applicant's residence last 5 years" the slots "from" "year" are the ones giving me the trouble and auto-inputted "0000"

edit: i want to put "n/a" because myself (and her) have not lived in 6 different places in the last 5 years.

I would suggest avoiding the white out. I would draw a line through the 0000, initial it and then write in the N/A

I'll try that out. Thanks for the tips everyone!

This is a long and arduous process... patience will be required!!!!

I do not know a definitive answer on white out but others have done it.

Thanks fwaguy, I'm trying to tell her that patience is needed right now, but I don't think she's taking it too well.

Good proof is in her passport... in the form of entrance/exit stamps

any other suggestions for proof, if copies of the passport are not available?

thanks!

If you don't mind me asking the obvious question.... but why not?

Because my fiance is being very impatient, and she wants me to turn in these forms as soon as possible...

I'm talking to her right now, and trying to convince her to scan me copies of her passport, which she finally agreed to do... but it's a hassle for her because she has to take a train to the nearest city.

do you know if white out is ok to use on the G-125A forms?

thanks!

Good proof is in her passport... in the form of entrance/exit stamps

any other suggestions for proof, if copies of the passport are not available?

thanks!

Thanks for the tips, a couple of other things...

We have met in person, but it was not through several trips to one anothers country, we attended the same school (until she finished and moved back to Japan) So she only took one trip to the United States, and there isn't a whole lot of "Proof" like ticket stubs that we met. We have transcripts proving we were at the same school at teh same time, and photographs of us together too... however we have very few ticket stubs (if any) that were saved. She did make me a scrapbook before she went back to Japan, and I photocopies a few of the pages from it. Do you think that would be good evidence that we were together? (the scrapbook has pictures of us, and a few tickets).

Also about the G-125A forms, i'm starting to stress out about a bit... for the "year" fields it automatically put "0000" do you know if it's ok if I use white out on those spots, and then use a pen to block print "N/A" in those spots?

Thank sooo much for your help.

I find these forums very useful, I wish I would have found them sooner.

Hello, I have a few questions about the I-129F, that I hope you can help me with.

I am gathering the necessary items to include in my I-129F forms, and I have found many websites that state that a copy of the foreign fiance's passport and airplane ticket stubs should be included. How necessary are these two items? I would like to have these forms turned in as soon as possible, and I may not be able to get these items from my fiance before I turn them in. Are they necessary? Which other things should I include as proof of the relationship/that we have met? Do you think a "history" of my skype calls would work? (we use skype mainly to communicate)

My other question is about the G-325A forms. Many of the fields were not large enough (I filled them out on the computer) and for the Country on some fields (I put "United States of America") would not fit, and there is a tiny "+" sign at the end...

Also, when I enter "N/A" for the "year" fields, "0000" shows up instead. The computer does this automatically. Will this be a problem when I submit my forms? They appear on my fiance's forms also, and it will be difficult to have new forms completed and signed by her.

Will these issues pose a major problem for my forms? Any suggestions?

Thanks!