I-129F Questions

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

Ok, thank you for your opinion SonoranSongBird.

[kimandfred 0]

About the picture you're talking about, I don't think it's necessary at this stage. Just have the boarding passes, and you can make copies of your passport stamps showing you visited if you don't have the flight info. If you have pics together, send those too and make sure you name who is in the picture and give a date. I hadn't even been to France when we sent our package so not having pictures yet with his family wasn't an issue at all. It wouldn't hurt to add translations if you want. I translated a few notes Fred wrote to me just to show proof of a relationship, but I really don't think USCIS is concerned with this at this point. They just want proof you met in the last 2 years, are free to marry, and the proper required documentation.

It's very easy to get really nervous and stress out over small details, believe me. I think we check and rechecked our package at least 10 times before we sealed the envelope and mailed it, but we had everything done correctly. Feel free to post the a list of your contents for a second opinion when you're ready to send it off, but if you're like us, two never married people who've know each other for several years before this process who've never committed any crimes or have had any immigration issues, I'm sure everything will be fine.

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

Yes that's very easy to stress out for almost nothing. I, as the foreign one, am about to send everything I printed to my US fiancé. Here are the absolutely necessary things that I am going to send him. Can someone check if I didn't forget anything?

1- my G-325A, signed

2- my letter of intent, signed

3- a passport-style photo (with my name on the back)

4- copy of my passport: the page with my name, and the two stamps (& visa) of my stays in the USA

5- copy of my boarding passes from my two stays in the USA (though there is one boarding pass missing )

and then maybe things like the train tickets I was talking about

for the other evidences such as photos of us together, he is in charge.

Does it sound right to you?

[kimandfred 0]

I believe that you have everything that you need on your end. I just pulled up the cover sheet that I used when we sent our things in. Here's what we had in our entire package, which we pulled directly from the guides.

Contents include:

- Payment in the amount of $170.00. (I know it's a lot more now!!!)

- I-129F (Your fiancé will fill out and sign, but make sure he has your info correct.)

- I-129F Supplement: Part B, Question 18, explanation of meeting in person (Another thing your fiancé should type up, sign and date.)

- G-325A and passport style photo (Petitioner)

- G-325A and passport style photo (Beneficiary)

- Birth certificate/US Passport (Petitioner)

- Letter certifying intent to marry (Petitioner and Beneficiary)

- Proof of having met in person in the past two years (Your passport and boarding passes are good. In lieu of your missing boarding pass, a flight itinerary would work. Also have the pictures of you two together, with both of your names and the date on back.)

- Proof of ongoing relationship (We included a few emails, cell phone bills, and a couple cards we sent through snail mail. We also included a receipt for the engagement ring, but if you don't have that, it's not necessary.)

We were together when we mailed the package out, so we could both go over it together in person, but if you can't do that, just be sure he has everything together and make him check and recheck if necessary.

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

Thank you. I will tell him to come here and check everything when the package is ready. I've been harassing him with emails for the past weeks, reminding him everything he has to do, and giving him tips, etc. I'm sure he is going to be very happy when the package is sent because I will stop stressing him over it

[kimandfred 0]

I don't blame you, we stressed too at first because there's just too much information and the more of it you read the more your head spins. Sometimes you get too many opinions and you don't know which is correct and it can be overwhelming and too much information isn't always good.

The sooner you get everything sent away, the better because the wait can be very long!

[SonoranSongbird 3]

. I'm sure he is going to be very happy when the package is sent because I will stop stressing him over it

Heh, that's how we were! It was nice to mail it off and not have to think about it at all for a while. Except that I then started obsessing over whether it had gotten to California. I checked the USPS website about 8 times a day until it got there!

- Payment in the amount of $170.00. (I know it's a lot more now!!!)

It's $455.

Sounds like you are all set, Cecile.

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

Alright, I sent everything to my fiance yesterday morning. I feel free! I feel as if I can stop thinking about all this for a few days (even though I know I'll continue being obsessed by it).

When the whole package will be ready, I'll ask Bryan to write the content here, just to make sure we have everything.

[kimandfred 0]

You may be able to stop stressing about the preparation of documents, but believe me the stress doesn't end there. It's a lot of waiting and not knowing what's going on. I really think that we ran into every 'bad timimg' issue there was. We sent ours out at the end of April, and it took forever to receive our NOA1 because the serve centers were backlogged with a huge increase of work visas. Then, there was the fee increase at the end of July and a lot of people trying to beat that increase that slowed things down even more. When we finally got our NOA2 in the beginning of September, we thought things would really pick up then, but they didn't. There was a huge delay in getting our approved petition to the National Visa Center because the California service center was having problems with their mail contractor, but after that, the embassy was quick to send out the packets and get an interview scheduled. I'm just so happy that it will all be over Christmas, at least having to be apart.

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

Alright, we did send the I-129F package to the California Service Center yesterday

I am so excited about it !!! Even though it is going to take a long time, and it will be stressful, we've done the first step of our 'marriage journey'.