RFE: Meeting in Person Within Two Years

[ELW 5]

Friday 2 PM: Well I finally got the RFE I have been awaiting since Jan. 16. They sent it to my OLD address! Thus the delay. Geeze, I had received a letter from DHS to my NEW address confirming the change in early November! What do you make of that?!

In my initial I-129F I had only send 4 photos of us together and copies of my passport, showing arrival in Chennai in May 1989 and exit in Aug 2005.

Now I will search my apartment for further proof that I was in India, I guess. I have copies of the airline ticket and boarding pass stubs, I have Exit Permit issued by the Indian govt as well as visa renewals for every year I was there. I’ll only submit the ones from 2004 & 2005, I suppose. I never had credit cards there so… that’s out. Too bad I never got printouts of my bank statements, accounts which I closed when I left. I might have dollar to rupee exchange certificates with my name & address within the two years, which I can send.

Any other suggestions? For your info, please find the letter below.

LAST MEETING: the petitioner and the beneficiary must have met in person between October 17, 2004 and October 16, 2006. Submit evidence of meeting the beneficiary in person within the two-year period preceding the filing of the petition. The primary evidence may include copies of passport pages that show the identification page and admission stamps, military orders, letters from Commanding Officer, or any evidence that will help the Service to determine that the petitioner has met the beneficiary within the two years. The secondary evidence may be airline ticket stubs and receipts (that indicate month, day and year), ATM and credit card transactions, flight itinerary on airline/travel agency letterhead, etc. NOTE: secondary evidence is used to support any primary evidence that has been submitted. The following DOES NOT constitute evidence of meeting: disc, videos, emails, letters, phone bills, and greeting cards.

The petitioner may also submit bank statements and/or credit card statements and receipts showing that a withdrawal/purchase was made in INDIA. Please ensure that any documentation that is submitted has the petitioner’s name, location, and the full date (month, day and year).

[safitu 0]

Friday 2 PM: Well I finally got the RFE I have been awaiting since Jan. 16. They sent it to my OLD address! Thus the delay. Geeze, I had received a letter from DHS to my NEW address confirming the change in early November! What do you make of that?!

In my initial I-129F I had only send 4 photos of us together and copies of my passport, showing arrival in Chennai in May 1989 and exit in Aug 2005.

Now I will search my apartment for further proof that I was in India, I guess. I have copies of the airline ticket and boarding pass stubs, I have Exit Permit issued by the Indian govt as well as visa renewals for every year I was there. I’ll only submit the ones from 2004 & 2005, I suppose. I never had credit cards there so… that’s out. Too bad I never got printouts of my bank statements, accounts which I closed when I left. I might have dollar to rupee exchange certificates with my name & address within the two years, which I can send.

Any other suggestions? For your info, please find the letter below.

LAST MEETING: the petitioner and the beneficiary must have met in person between October 17, 2004 and October 16, 2006. Submit evidence of meeting the beneficiary in person within the two-year period preceding the filing of the petition. The primary evidence may include copies of passport pages that show the identification page and admission stamps, military orders, letters from Commanding Officer, or any evidence that will help the Service to determine that the petitioner has met the beneficiary within the two years. The secondary evidence may be airline ticket stubs and receipts (that indicate month, day and year), ATM and credit card transactions, flight itinerary on airline/travel agency letterhead, etc. NOTE: secondary evidence is used to support any primary evidence that has been submitted. The following DOES NOT constitute evidence of meeting: disc, videos, emails, letters, phone bills, and greeting cards.

The petitioner may also submit bank statements and/or credit card statements and receipts showing that a withdrawal/purchase was made in INDIA. Please ensure that any documentation that is submitted has the petitioner’s name, location, and the full date (month, day and year).

AWWWW man, thats too bad. you will find what you need. Just keep trying!

thanks for including the letter. its helps others preparing.

[safitu 0]

Also - you should post this in the Pinned RFE thread

[ELW 5]

Also - you should post this in the Pinned RFE thread

Thanks - I will do that now.

[patiently_waiting 0]

I have faith that you will find what you need to show proof.

[ELW 5]

I have faith that you will find what you need to show proof.

Ahhh that's nice, thank you! i'm getting my stacks of proof ready.

[TimsDaisy 0]

I'm frustrated on your behalf now.

Don't you think if they included that information about what is good primary and secondary evidence IN the instructions for the I-129F they could save literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on processing and mailing RFEs? I think I sent the right stuff the first time, but frankly, since I hadn't found VJ yet, it was almost accidently - or at least lucky - that I did. (I may have just condemned myself to an RFE, we'll see.) I thought I pretty thoroughly investigated relevant corners of the USCIS (and State Dept) websites for information and details about what *kind* of evidence they wanted.

There are still column inches left on those I-129F instructions - even in the new version - they should use that space to cut down on EVERYONE's frustration and workload.

[David-and-Mae 15]

On the lighter side, I'm sure once you've submitted what they're asking for, and once they received it, you'll get the NOA2 in no time. Good luck on your journey!

Mae

[ELW 5]

Don't you think if they included that information about what is good primary and secondary evidence IN the instructions for the I-129F they could save literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on processing and mailing RFEs?

I agree with you completely! Unfortunately I only discovered VJ a day after I received my NOA1. Certainly, if I had the info they just sent me now in the RFE, I would have sent in more evidence before! I thought that sending in ALL the pages of my THREE passports (the last two renewed in Chennai cuz I hadn't left India!) would be enough to prove I was in India!

Yah, they could be saving TONS of money by including more detailed instructions.... grrr...

Thanks Mae, I do feel a tremendous sense of relief now that I know I have gathered (& will soon send) all the evidence I have, and feel hopeful for the future...