Can I use money transfer receipt as evidence in K1 visa?

[Negrito Landrau 2]

Hi everyone! My fiance in Dominican Republic has her interview date for the 29 of this month. I will be traveling to DR to be with her on the interview. I am a little worry because I do not have a lot of evidence of relationship. I met her on Facebook on November of last year and on May of this year (6 months later) I traveled to the DR to meet her. We talk and see each other every day through Skipe, so we do not have phone bills as evidence. I am going to print out some of our conversation. I traveled again to DR last month and we spent five days together in a hotel. My mother also traveled with me to meet her. I will take pictures, boarding passes and a copy of my passport stamped along with the hotel voucher as evidence. Besides that the only other evidence I have is receipts of money transfer that I have sent her like gifts and the last one to cover some of the expenses related to the visa. Is this a good evidence to present or could be harmful? I have read in other threads that you should not mentioned anything about money in the interview. My question is, are these money transfer receipt a good evidence of relationship or I should not use them? Do you thing my case have a good chance to be aproved? Your advise will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Read this thread to print skype call history: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/119996-how-to-print-skype-call-and-chat-history/ in case you didn't know.

Do you have evidence of your mother coming to visit as well? Perhaps flight itinerary for her? Hotel receipts for her? Photos of her and your fiancee?

I showed no evidence of sending gifts. Take the evidence but don't show it unless it's specifically requested.

Also, actually TELL her stuff about you. A person was denied recently because she didn't know what uni/college he went to and what he studied, where he worked and who his boss/colleagues were.. stuff that regular couples would know. Also look into the marriage requirements for your state, that was a qn the girl that was denied didn't know so the IO assumed she didn't expect to get married otherwise she WOULD know that stuff. As well as marriage plans (religious or civil) and wedding size etc. Does she have proof of guest lists or wedding preparations? That'd be good too.

[Maliajannah 0]

I had been assuming money transfers would be good evidence, but after reading Vanessa&Tony's reply I'm not so sure...

Why shouldn't I use them? Would it harm our interview?

We have plenty of other evidence- itineraries, passport stamps, tickets together, letters, emails, google voice call logs, skype, contact with our partner's parents, evidence of sharing friends, and many many photos in different places spanning over 2 years.

In addition, I have 13 money transfer receipts since June (when I started keeping the receipts). They are not in large increments, in total less than $1000.

Is this a good or bad thing in the eyes of the consulate?

[canadian_wife 1,791]

Money transfers can be used against you. They can be seen as buying a spouse. Don't use them unless they are specifically asked for. They are not primary evidence anyway. All they show is you giving your beneficiary money, it does not attest to the virtue of your relationship. Focus on Primary evidence and consistent records of contact

Good luck

[Aztec&Taino 144]

Hi everyone! My fiance in Dominican Republic has her interview date for the 29 of this month. I will be traveling to DR to be with her on the interview. I am a little worry because I do not have a lot of evidence of relationship. I met her on Facebook on November of last year and on May of this year (6 months later) I traveled to the DR to meet her. We talk and see each other every day through Skipe, so we do not have phone bills as evidence. I am going to print out some of our conversation. I traveled again to DR last month and we spent five days together in a hotel. My mother also traveled with me to meet her. I will take pictures, boarding passes and a copy of my passport stamped along with the hotel voucher as evidence. Besides that the only other evidence I have is receipts of money transfer that I have sent her like gifts and the last one to cover some of the expenses related to the visa. Is this a good evidence to present or could be harmful? I have read in other threads that you should not mentioned anything about money in the interview. My question is, are these money transfer receipt a good evidence of relationship or I should not use them? Do you thing my case have a good chance to be aproved? Your advise will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hello,

I would take the receipts of money transfers. Actually, previous posters have said they have used them in the interview. Just take ALL and ANY possible evidence of relationship that you have. It is always better to have more than enough (even if it turns out you did not need it all), rather than be denied for missing some crucial information that you overlooked! I suggest that you make copies of your mom's passport showing the DR stamps to prove that she went with you to meet her, print some of your chat history on Skype showing time progression, and a picture album with captions (I am writing captions in the back of my pictures showing date, time, place and names of people pictured). I hope everything goes well and I look forward to reading your interview review!

Best wishes!

[Negrito Landrau 2]

I appreciate your imput, but now with the difference in opinion I am more confused

[Nik+Heather 121]

Money orders are proof of a financial transaction. Transactions should NOT be confused with romantic relationships.

In fact, the exchanging of money is what happens in fraud cases. Do you want your evidence of relationship to have anything in common with a fraudulent case? I don't mean that any exchange of money has to immediately mean fraud is occurring, but it is at best open to speculation.

Focus on the less ambiguous relationship evidence like frequent/long duration communication & correspondence, things that you have in common and planning for the future.

[Aztec&Taino 144]

I appreciate your imput, but now with the difference in opinion I am more confused

Take it with you and do not show it or volunteer it unless specifically asked. Also, were the transactions large? If they were, what was the purpose or objective? (maybe to consolidate a debt, student loans, or to cover passport and medical exam expenses?) Or were they smaller for gifts? It depends. Also, if you have a particular reason to have sent the money (around her birthday or something like that) I think it shows more of a relationship rather than a fraudulent business dealing.

Best wishes!

[Speedytax 3]

I told my Fiance to mention that I sent her money and show the receipts. That is because the money was used for specific things for our relationship. I sent her money to buy a computer and webcam, because she couldn't get to internet cafes at the right time to talk to me. I also sent her money to go to English School. She has now attended 3 different levels of school in the last 10 months. I also sent her a little money for living expenses, because she couldn't go to school twice a day and still work as many hours as she did before.But all of these expenses help inprove our relationship. If she cann't speak English , we cann't talk. and if she isn't on Skype, I cann't see her daily. I also sent her money because she had a black tooth that needed to be removed. But in China it only cost 50 yuan to get it removed, where in america, it would have been hndreds of dollars.It depends on what the money was for.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Speedytax

[SweetHome_Alabama 5]

I had sent in my I-130 petion long before I discovered or became a member of VJ so I had not read the differences in opinion about money grams etc sending to a spouse or Fiance. When I sent in my petion I DID include a few money grams but the amounts were low and I had sent him money to have for my trip there for rental car etc and housing and it was better for him to help me save cause he is the saver and I am the spender,lol.....and since we have been married I have sent him like $200-300 a month to help with cost of apartment rental. The way I feel about it is, if I can't help my spouse/fiance and he makes a mere $400 a month to my $2400-3.000 a month, I would think it is inconsiderate to let one struggle and barely make ends meet. Wouldn't they do the same for us? My husband already feels bad about accepting money from me and it's like i have to almost beg him to let me send anything! I think it is showing love and support....you can always send in to USCIS a conversation record talking about the money grams and reasons for sending it....If they read all our chats they could see why money was sent.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I agree with it looks like fraud UNLESS as someone else suggested, it's around her birthday. I would never show money transfers of proof of a relationships because they're not. They CAN be, but they can also be proof that someone is being paid for something, or someone is being taken for a ride.

There actually was a thread recently where a guy was sending his fiancee money for more than 6 months. We told him not to mention it. As it turns out she was using him for the money and never planned to leave her country. Most scams involve money, whether to buy a wife/cleaner/baby-sitter (which is apparently something the Philippines consulate looks for given what I've read), or whether the US citizen is being scammed for money.

Proof of sending gifts, PHYSICAL gifts rather than monetary gifts are better. If you have an email around her bday saying what she wants for her bday and you suggesting money to buy it, then the receipt would look good TOGETHER with the email proof.

In either event TAKE it with you but do not show it unless you think you need to, or unless you're asked. I would also take any emails pertaining to the sent money in case showing the money looks bad, then you have email proof of what the money was for... it means they're less likely to accuse you (or her) of fraud due to sending money. It's risky but all the other proof, of her meeting your mother, of your visits, of spending time together THOSE are what are important. The fact that you're going to the interview also will look good.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I had been assuming money transfers would be good evidence, but after reading Vanessa&Tony's reply I'm not so sure...

Why shouldn't I use them? Would it harm our interview?

We have plenty of other evidence- itineraries, passport stamps, tickets together, letters, emails, google voice call logs, skype, contact with our partner's parents, evidence of sharing friends, and many many photos in different places spanning over 2 years.

In addition, I have 13 money transfer receipts since June (when I started keeping the receipts). They are not in large increments, in total less than $1000.

Is this a good or bad thing in the eyes of the consulate?

Money transfers can be POISON in some consulates. Being naive, I also brought money transfer recipts to our interview in Kiev. They really were a non-issue, neither good nor bad and made up a TINY portion of a very big box full of evidence. I think they had -0- affect. So in the best case, they are nothing without a lot of other evidence. If you have a lot of other evidence, you don;t need them.

Some consulates look at it as a sign you are "buying" your foreign fiancee or the relationship is not genuine. Since I don't know which ones are which, I would say to stack up on something else for evidence