A Few Questions

[GrahamandMegan 1]

Hi there.

A quick introduction before I ask the questions I have. I'm Graham, UK Citizen all my life (26) and I'm currently on holiday with Megan, my US Citizen girlfriend (23).

We met online around 10 years ago and have been in touch ever since as pen friends. We first met in April 2003 and I stayed until May 18th, when she kindly invited me for a holiday to meet with her friends and family. After that we still stayed in touch but my working life and her school life kept us apart. I moved around a couple of times and finally we decided after a vast amount of emailing, calling and online chatting that I should come across again to see how our feelings were for one another. Well I came over on 29th November 2007 and stayed for 5 days and we decided that we wanted to be together. So she came to the UK on February 29th for 18 days to meet with my family and for her to see where I live without the aid of pictures! We both then traveled here to the US to spend some more time together. I have a return ticket booked for 11th June and have every intention of using it, perhaps even leaving early to start proceedings for a K1 Visa as we have decided to get married

I apoligise to everyone for the long post but wanted to get the whole story in to get the best possible information!

So here are my questions......

1. Can we begin filing for the I-129F while I am still in the country with Megan or would it be advisable to leave before we started proceedings?

2. In previous experience of everyone on here, is our story above enough to satisfy the criteria for having met with one another? We don't have any emails between us except for those before I came over in November 2007, but I do have my cell phone bills from that period. Are these sufficient additional evidence along with pictures and receipts for engagement rings etc?

Thank you for taking the time to read the above version of our War and Peace and I look forward to hearing from people who have had the same experiences as we are having.

Graham and Megan.

Edited March 27, 2008 by GrahamandMegan

[Dan J 277]

Hi there.

A quick introduction before I ask the questions I have. I'm Graham, UK Citizen all my life (26) and I'm currently on holiday with Megan, my US Citizen girlfriend (23).

We met online around 10 years ago and have been in touch ever since as pen friends. We first met in April 2003 and I stayed until May 18th, when she kindly invited me for a holiday to meet with her friends and family. After that we still stayed in touch but my working life and her school life kept us apart. I moved around a couple of times and finally we decided after a vast amount of emailing, calling and online chatting that I should come across again to see how our feelings were for one another. Well I came over on 29th November 2007 and stayed for 5 days and we decided that we wanted to be together. So she came to the UK on February 29th for 18 days to meet with my family and for her to see where I live without the aid of pictures! We both then traveled here to the US to spend some more time together. I have a return ticket booked for 11th June and have every intention of using it, perhaps even leaving early to start proceedings for a K1 Visa as we have decided to get married

I apoligise to everyone for the long post but wanted to get the whole story in to get the best possible information!

So here are my questions......

1. Can we begin filing for the I-129F while I am still in the country with Megan or would it be advisable to leave before we started proceedings?

2. In previous experience of everyone on here, is our story above enough to satisfy the criteria for having met with one another? We don't have any emails between us except for those before I came over in November 2007, but I do have my cell phone bills from that period. Are these sufficient additional evidence along with pictures and receipts for engagement rings etc?

Thank you for taking the time to read the above version of our War and Peace and I look forward to hearing from people who have had the same experiences as we are having.

Graham and Megan.

1. Yes you can. There is no reason to wait.

2. There are two types of evidence. Evidence of meeting and Evidence of a relationship. For the petition, you only need to provide evidence of a meeting that has taken place within the last two years. Which it has in your case.

Include pictures, passport stamps, copies of boarding passes, reciepts or anything that shows when you visited the US. And/Or when your fiance visited the UK.

You will need relationship evidence later, for the interview.

[GrahamandMegan 1]

With regards to point 1, can I stay here right up until the 11th of June or will I be required to leave before then if the petition is accepted or denied?

All the supporting evidence of our relationship is only really from October 2007 till the present time, is that substantial enough for the interview?

Edited March 27, 2008 by GrahamandMegan

[BigCityDave 0]

With regards to point 1, can I stay here right up until the 11th of June or will I be required to leave before then if the petition is accepted or denied?

All the supporting evidence of our relationship is only really from October 2007 till the present time, is that substantial enough for the interview?

There should not be any problems with you staying in the United States until June 11th.

The evidence you have will be enough for the interview. Just be sure to include pictures, emails, phone bills, passport stamps, etc... everything you can think of to show a bona fide relationship.

Hope this helps.

[pushbrk 12,898]

With regards to point 1, can I stay here right up until the 11th of June or will I be required to leave before then if the petition is accepted or denied?

All the supporting evidence of our relationship is only really from October 2007 till the present time, is that substantial enough for the interview?

There should not be any problems with you staying in the United States until June 11th.

The evidence you have will be enough for the interview. Just be sure to include pictures, emails, phone bills, passport stamps, etc... everything you can think of to show a bona fide relationship.

Hope this helps.

That is correct. You may stay whether you file an I-129F or not.

However, provided your decision to marry occured after your most recent US entry, you have the option of simply marrying in the US now and filing to adjust status to permanent resident, based on your marriage to a US Citizen. Of course, you'll need to remain in the US until either the green card arrives or you have advanced parole. For more information, study the AOS guide. Just click the word "Guides" at the top of any page.

[GrahamandMegan 1]

With regards to point 1, can I stay here right up until the 11th of June or will I be required to leave before then if the petition is accepted or denied?

All the supporting evidence of our relationship is only really from October 2007 till the present time, is that substantial enough for the interview?

There should not be any problems with you staying in the United States until June 11th.

The evidence you have will be enough for the interview. Just be sure to include pictures, emails, phone bills, passport stamps, etc... everything you can think of to show a bona fide relationship.

Hope this helps.

That is correct. You may stay whether you file an I-129F or not.

However, provided your decision to marry occured after your most recent US entry, you have the option of simply marrying in the US now and filing to adjust status to permanent resident, based on your marriage to a US Citizen. Of course, you'll need to remain in the US until either the green card arrives or you have advanced parole. For more information, study the AOS guide. Just click the word "Guides" at the top of any page.

I thought that was frowned upon and considered to be fraud in the eyes of INS though? Ideally that is what I would like to do so we didn't have to be apart but I don't want to risk being deported and not getting a visa again.......Any help appreciated

[pushbrk 12,898]

With regards to point 1, can I stay here right up until the 11th of June or will I be required to leave before then if the petition is accepted or denied?

All the supporting evidence of our relationship is only really from October 2007 till the present time, is that substantial enough for the interview?

There should not be any problems with you staying in the United States until June 11th.

The evidence you have will be enough for the interview. Just be sure to include pictures, emails, phone bills, passport stamps, etc... everything you can think of to show a bona fide relationship.

Hope this helps.

That is correct. You may stay whether you file an I-129F or not.

However, provided your decision to marry occured after your most recent US entry, you have the option of simply marrying in the US now and filing to adjust status to permanent resident, based on your marriage to a US Citizen. Of course, you'll need to remain in the US until either the green card arrives or you have advanced parole. For more information, study the AOS guide. Just click the word "Guides" at the top of any page.

I thought that was frowned upon and considered to be fraud in the eyes of INS though? Ideally that is what I would like to do so we didn't have to be apart but I don't want to risk being deported and not getting a visa again.......Any help appreciated

Fruad is based on intentions. See the bolded part of what I wrote. Entering the US on the VWP or with a visitor visa with the intention of marrying AND adjusting status based on that marriage in order to circumvent immigration law is one thing. (an illegal thing) Entering with the intention of visiting and then deciding to marry is allowed. Which description fits you?

[GrahamandMegan 1]

With regards to point 1, can I stay here right up until the 11th of June or will I be required to leave before then if the petition is accepted or denied?

All the supporting evidence of our relationship is only really from October 2007 till the present time, is that substantial enough for the interview?

There should not be any problems with you staying in the United States until June 11th.

The evidence you have will be enough for the interview. Just be sure to include pictures, emails, phone bills, passport stamps, etc... everything you can think of to show a bona fide relationship.

Hope this helps.

That is correct. You may stay whether you file an I-129F or not.

However, provided your decision to marry occured after your most recent US entry, you have the option of simply marrying in the US now and filing to adjust status to permanent resident, based on your marriage to a US Citizen. Of course, you'll need to remain in the US until either the green card arrives or you have advanced parole. For more information, study the AOS guide. Just click the word "Guides" at the top of any page.

I thought that was frowned upon and considered to be fraud in the eyes of INS though? Ideally that is what I would like to do so we didn't have to be apart but I don't want to risk being deported and not getting a visa again.......Any help appreciated

Fruad is based on intentions. See the bolded part of what I wrote. Entering the US on the VWP or with a visitor visa with the intention of marrying AND adjusting status based on that marriage in order to circumvent immigration law is one thing. (an illegal thing) Entering with the intention of visiting and then deciding to marry is allowed. Which description fits you?

Definitely the latter but what evidence will the INS want to see to back up your claim that we actually just happened to change your mind and get married?

[GrahamandMegan 1]

Also Megan currently lives with her grandparents and obviously they own the house. Is this deemed acceptable as obviously we will be getting a house together after we are married and I am eligible to work? Also she was going to use her father as a co-sponsor for me. Is this also acceptable even although she doesn't live with her father but he does live locally?

Thanks again everyone

[GrahamandMegan 1]

Anybody help us please?

[Dan J 277]

Also Megan currently lives with her grandparents and obviously they own the house. Is this deemed acceptable as obviously we will be getting a house together after we are married and I am eligible to work? Also she was going to use her father as a co-sponsor for me. Is this also acceptable even although she doesn't live with her father but he does live locally?

Thanks again everyone

There are no problems with that.