"Frontloading" Your I-129F/K-1 Petition. Opinions/experiences?

[dwheels76 5,466]

I didn't frontload the petition and when I last spoke with a tier 2 officer, I asked her about it and she said it isn't necessary. If you have quality basic information that they ask for you should be good.

I was just going to respond when Harpa just said it so well. Please don't confuse Front-loading with USCIS. Because true to them it isn't necessary. They don't read your text and IM's and emails to see if there is a bona fide relationship. But Oh that CO at embassy will read line by line maybe checkout your email, facebook, google you. So front-loading quality evidence is very key.

And as Ebunoluwa so very well stated (listen to her she knows about this very well) it is very embassy specific. You will read time and time again folks who basically had nothing but we meet 2 years ago and get approved at interview. Than you have others who sent in 5 years worth and 21 lbs of evidence with 5 visits and get denied.

So as someone stated study your counties forums read those interview reviews back and forth. When you walk into that embassy it should feel like you been there and know every CO if not by name by how they look.

[Lux44 15]

I am very familiar with the concept but it depends case by case. If you met your fiance 6 months ago and are getting married now, you better give all the information in the world because they're going to be looking long and hard at your application.

I get my information from USCIS tier 2 officers and the IV department at the embassy I am applying at. I try not to rely on what people have written here via their experiences because it is always completely different.

[lizzyduckluv 3]

I front loaded and time from NOA1 to NOA2 was 11 weeks. Good luck to you!

[Cathi 5,694]

LOL@ the adjudicator injuring his back

[joshandgigi 8]

Honestly I just submitted 10 photos copies of boarding passes. a couple extra photos of us on the plane before it took off photos with family. I submited my boarding passes and my visa stamp.

Approved without problems.

Josh

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I am very familiar with the concept but it depends case by case. If you met your fiance 6 months ago and are getting married now, you better give all the information in the world because they're going to be looking long and hard at your application.

I get my information from USCIS tier 2 officers and the IV department at the embassy I am applying at. I try not to rely on what people have written here via their experiences because it is always completely different.

Then you understand that the advice given was to you specifically, for Italy. That same advice is not applicable to all consulates.

Then you also understand that Tier 2 officers are with USCIS, not the respective embassies. So they give advice to get an approved petition, which is the smallest part of the battle in seeking a visa.

[Heather&Ramy 22]

Thanks.

So far, we have 1 Frontloader approved at 193 days and 1 non-loader approved at 117 days.

Another non-loader from the topic that spawned this one was approved at 84 days.

Keep 'em coming, need more data...

It's simply unwise to base your views on frontloading on how fast they were approved. It can be amply proved that the wait for the visa has nothing to do with your file... it doesn't take DAYS to view the average file, just 15-20 minutes. See the interview by former USCIS adjudicator.

The wait for approval is caused by the volume of applications and the funding and organization of the particular USCIS office. Notice that your 2 non-loaders were from CSC.

(Talking about the average file, obviously if you have a ridiculously "front-loaded" file that is missing key info and gets an RFE, that makes your wait longer. Talking about the wait without RFE)

Edited July 17, 2013 by Heather&Ramy

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Im asking to find a general consensus or a trend, not for my own case. My case is happily on the way.

I want to know about VJ folks experience and factual knowledge about various embassies/consulates regarding frontloading. This is information which can help others.

As for mailing Jerusalem, that was response to a specific commenter who said embassies/consulates dont accept mail. His/her comment refered to "package". The Jerusalem consulate lists a mailing address in addition to a physical address. If you follow the link I provided, you will see that it is a post office box, for mail. Im asking about frontloading, not how many stamps to put on a letter.

Thanks for your input. Can you tell us whether you frontloaded? How many days between NOA1 and NOA2? Did you have RFEs?

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That comment about you insinuating I thought you want to know how many stamps to put on a letter is condescending and uncalled for.

I stand by my comment that just because an embassy somewhere lists their contact info does not mean you can send in evidence. Period.

Your "IF YOU FOLLOWED" assumption is silly as I did follow everything and knew who you directed your comment at.

Don't cop an attitude with me and others trying to advice you. Am done here. Good luck on your journey.

[Possiblymaybe 371]

My fiance is Moroccan and was going through the Casablanca embassy. I did not front-load my I-129F petition initially. I provided all of the required documents, about 5 pics of us together, flight iteneraries, and a copy of my passport stamps. I received an RFE for my divorce decree. By the time I had received the RFE, I had read multiple times that the Casablanca embassy rarely looks at the evidence brought to interview and that they seem to have made a decision before the beneficiary is even questioned. So when I returned the divorce decree, I took the opportunity to front-loaded the petition. I simply stated on the cover letter "Please add the enclosed relationship evidence into my file"

In this way I was able to sneak in one or two photo collages (each containing 8-10 photos) of each of our trips together (even the trips we took after we filed the petition), along with boarding passes, hotel receipts and receipts of attractions we had visited accompanied by a photo of us at these attractions. I focused only on our face time. No emails, chats, skypes, cards, letters, or anything like that. My fiance complied all of those to bring along with him to the interview. When my fiance went to the interview, he watched the CO look through the file for about 20 minutes before calling him up. His interview lasted only 5 minutes, and the CO did not ask for any of the evidence he brought with him. I will never know if the additional front-loading helped sway the CO in our favor. But I know for sure that it didn't hurt our case.

For an I-129F, there is no opportunity to send additional evidence in at the NVC stage. I have been reading this website for about 9 months, and I have not yet seen of a case where someone mailed additional evidence to the Consulate prior to the interview.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

I didn't frontload the petition and when I last spoke with a tier 2 officer, I asked her about it and she said it isn't necessary. If you have quality basic information that they ask for you should be good.

The information you get from the the USCIS immigration officer about the I-129F petition is only about what is required by the USCIS for the petition to be approved. Of course the extra documentation added for front-loading is not necessary for the I-129F to be approved. The purpose of front-loading is not to get your petition approved. It is so the documentation will be in your file and the CO at the consulate will have access to it. Its purpose is for the actual K-1 visa approval. The USCIS IO is not going to provide information about that aspect. Advising everyone that front-loading is not necessary because the USCIS IO said so is not helpful to those that indeed do need to provide the extras that will help get them approved at the DoS level.

When you receive information from your consulate, it is specific to your consulate only. All of them have different procedures and requirements, and not all of them are as easy to get an approval out of as perhaps the one you would interview at.

As with most things immigration-related, one size does not fit all.

[Redicent 14]

I am finding all the replies to be interesting and informative. And I thank all for those comments.

One consensus that is forming is the different consulates have diffierent rules about accepting additional information, before the interview. Some do, some dont.

One commentor pointed out the the embassy in Mongolia actually has a day set aside each week to do just that, with personel to help.

I personally found that the embassy in Manila has a process to send at least some updates before the interview. This knowledge would have helped at least a few VJers avoid AP, if they had sent in name changes and updated police clearance before their interviews.

Also, USCIS maintains offices in selected countries, for submission of a limited list of forms.

[TBoneTX 44,658]

[...] the extra documentation added for front-loading is not necessary for the I-129F to be approved. The purpose of front-loading is not to get your petition approved. It is so the documentation will be in your file and the CO at the consulate will have access to it. Its purpose is for the actual K-1 visa approval.

This is but the most recent of several outstanding answers. All that I can add is this: In general, the consul will have made up his mind in a "Refuse visa / Issue 221g / Grant visa" before the beneficiary walks in to the interview.

USCIS will not care about evidence of bona fide relationship, in the petition package, that goes beyond its own requirements. However, the consulate is not supposed to be able to deny the existence of material that it knows that USCIS has seen. Consulates have, of course, refused to accept evidence brought by the beneficiary to the interview and simultaneously claimed that there was insufficient evidence of a bona fide relationship.

Had I known in advance what I learned the hard way about the ####### Guayaquil consulate, I would have waited to file the I-129F petition until after my second visit to Mrs. T-B.-to-be, and front-loaded the holy hell out of the petition with the additional accumulated evidence.

The petitioner's presence on the consular premises (or just outside) will score points.

Two things have become clear to me during my time on VJ: (1) New members focus so hard on the initial petition (I-129F, in this discussion) that they fail to look ahead and consider the broader picture. (2) The broader picture is the consular phase, which is all-important and incredibly hard to straighten out if it's screwed up or if one gets hosed.

See some additional thoughts here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/410945-k-1-journey-completed/

[Pitaya 2,577]

This is but the most recent of several outstanding answers. All that I can add is this: In general, the consul will have made up his mind in a "Refuse visa / Issue 221g / Grant visa" before the beneficiary walks in to the interview.

USCIS will not care about evidence of bona fide relationship, in the petition package, that goes beyond its own requirements. However, the consulate is not supposed to be able to deny the existence of material that it knows that USCIS has seen. Consulates have, of course, refused to accept evidence brought by the beneficiary to the interview and simultaneously claimed that there was insufficient evidence of a bona fide relationship.

Had I known in advance what I learned the hard way about the ####### Guayaquil consulate, I would have waited to file the I-129F petition until after my second visit to Mrs. T-B.-to-be, and front-loaded the holy hell out of the petition with the additional accumulated evidence.

The petitioner's presence on the consular premises (or just outside) will score points.

Two things have become clear to me during my time on VJ: (1) New members focus so hard on the initial petition (I-129F, in this discussion) that they fail to look ahead and consider the broader picture. (2) The broader picture is the consular phase, which is all-important and incredibly hard to straighten out if it's screwed up or if one gets hosed.

See some additional thoughts here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/410945-k-1-journey-completed/

Si, man.

[BeanCamp 28]

Frontloading helps! Before your interview the CO will review your I-129F packet sent by NVC. This along with all immigrant visa application forms is what the CO uses to determine eligiblity. If you want to paint the best picture of a bonefide relationship, frontloading is your best approach. Although it does not speed up the process, it does help clear up any questions about the authenticity of your relationship. It is suggested at time CO use what you sumbit prior to the interview as a partial basis for determining your visa eligibility. You don't have to go over board. I included about 5 pictures from previous visits before submitting I-129F, phone records, boarding passes, and photo copy of my passport. I used the guide here on VJ.