Hi Everyone

[Lisamarie 79]

Hi everyone,

I have been extremely busy trying to get all the documents, photos, letters etc. together for our RFE. I'm hoping and planning to get everything sent to the attorney on Monday, and my husband is going to scan and then mail everything as well.

My attorney has advised me to stay off the blogs, so I'm going to listen to her advice and do that for now. However, I do want to pass along some good information. If you are filing for the IR1/CR1 visa for your spouse, and especially if he is from a country that is considered a high fraud country (apparently Morocco is one, I guess you could google it to find out):

• MAKE SURE your packet is FULL of evidence and proof of your marriage. Don't only follow the guides as I did.
• Include your birth certificate AND all pages of your passport including front and back covers, for you AND him.
• Include proof of payment for your flight (credit card statement or bank statement, etc.) If someone else paid for it, include a letter from them (maybe notarized as well)
• Include VERY detailed letters from family and friends, stating details that they know how you met, where you met, when you met, how often they see you and talk to you, things you said to them throughout your relationship, details that they know how your relationship turned serious, details that they know about your wedding plans and travel arrangements, if they attended your wedding and if not, why
• Any receipts from hotels if you stayed in any, and credit card statement or bank statement showing proof of payment
• A personal statement from you and your husband with details about how you met, your courtship, how you came to the decision to marry, your wedding arrangement, your current situation (how often you speak, how often you travel there, etc)
• LOTS of photos of family (very important!) and the day of your marriage, wherever you celebrated (If most of you are like me, you had a civil wedding without a large ceremony and a small family gathering or dinner,etc) We had some, but most of our photos were of us. My attorney said we needed to submit a minimum of 40 up to 100 with the original petition, I submitted 27, now I have to submit 100
• Correspondence (If you chat, make sure it is a site where you can print out a log. We talked on MSN and it didn't say anywhere on my chats when I printed them out from my received files that they were from MSN-Windows Live, and I didn't notice that...and probably wouldn't have realized that it mattered.
• If you had a wedding announcement or had a honeymoon, include photos of them. If you didn't, write something about it in your personal statement

• Other things that I have to include are a letter from my employer stating the dates I was gone and my salary then and current salary, bank statements three months before and two months after my trip, if I traveled alone or with someone (if with someone include a notarized statement from them); US relatives, birth certificates of children born to either of us; but this is mainly RFE stuff.

Just trying to save anyone else from going through what we are going through now. I wish I would've had an attorney from the beginning. She said I followed the guides, but our packet was lacking sufficient detailed information, which is what I listed above. To everyone that has gotten approved recently, congratulations to you! And to anyone that is waiting, good luck to you. I hope the best for everyone here so we can all be with our loved ones. I miss my husband ALOT....this month is our 1-year wedding anniversary, and it has been 8 months since we filed our petition....and we are still at the beginning. Please pray for us. All I want to see now is the text message that says "Your I-130 petition has been approved" .....)

And Merry Christmas to everyone!

[LADYDARE 28]

Thanks for the info and good luck with the rest of your journey.

[rodceasar 34]

Great advice! I would add US passport showing trips to visit throughout relationship and any money transfers such as Western union receipts. Gifts help too. These items saved us. We came so prepared the CO asked my wife how she knew to bring all of these things. I knew from VJ! Also, although they may give you a difficult time at the consulate, the petitioner should come to the interview. I was able to get in. In tough cases where the petitioner is not let into the embassy, they sometimes tell the beneficiary to get the petitioner if present. My wife would not be with me today if i had not gone. Especially for high fraud countries as directed above.

Also, I know they said that credit reports don't matter but our case ws randomly selected to be reviewed by the Fraud Prevention Unit. They reviewed my credit report. The fraud investigation indicated that I have multiple tax liens several years ago. I wondered why I was asked about taxes and accused of not paying them which was ludicrous to me but apparently that was a red flag for fraud. Be prepared and careful.

[Lisamarie 79]

Good advice too, thanks:) I'm going to plan a trip after the beginning of the year. I was going to go this year after we got our NOA2 but that didn't happen so I am still here. I am stuck as to when to go because if we are approved I want to be here for the NVC stage, I don't want any more delays. How long is it usually between I-130 approval and when you turn all the documents in at NVC? I would love to be there for his interview, that's an idea too. But that depends on how far away that will be, as we are missing each other so much. It's so hard........

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Great advice! I would add US passport showing trips to visit throughout relationship and any money transfers such as Western union receipts. Gifts help too. These items saved us. We came so prepared the CO asked my wife how she knew to bring all of these things. I knew from VJ! Also, although they may give you a difficult time at the consulate, the petitioner should come to the interview. I was able to get in. In tough cases where the petitioner is not let into the embassy, they sometimes tell the beneficiary to get the petitioner if present. My wife would not be with me today if i had not gone. Especially for high fraud countries as directed above.

Also, I know they said that credit reports don't matter but our case ws randomly selected to be reviewed by the Fraud Prevention Unit. They reviewed my credit report. The fraud investigation indicated that I have multiple tax liens several years ago. I wondered why I was asked about taxes and accused of not paying them which was ludicrous to me but apparently that was a red flag for fraud. Be prepared and careful.

[Lisamarie 79]

Thank you and the best of luck to you both with the interview:)

Thanks for the info and good luck with the rest of your journey.

[Wayne and Claudia 40]

thank you and may it serve to all why VJ even exists and why most members exist on honesty. We are honest people searching for a way to bring our loved ones to be with us. I am lucky, I could move to Colombia since all I need is an airport for my job. It also serves why some applications take longer than others.