Threshold of Evidence: GHANA EMBASSY

[BrownSugarHoney 0]

HEY ALL,

AS MY FIANCE & I MOVE CLOSER TO, WHAT I HOPE IS, THE END OF THIS PART OF OUR VISA JOURNEY, BOTH EXCITEMENT AND FEAR HAVE BEEN EVER PRESENT EMOTIONS.... SEVERAL OF MY VISA JOURNEY FRIENDS HAVE HAD INTERVIEWS WHICH RESULTED IN ADDITIONAL INTERVIEW DATES AND REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

MY FIANCE WANTED ME TO POSE A QUESTION: WHAT IS THE THRESHOLD OF EVIDENCE NEEDED TO PROVE A CONTINUED RELATIONSHIP?

IN A TECHNOLOGICAL SAVVY TIME, WE HAVE EMAIL, PHONE CARDS, SKYPE YET NO WAY TO PROVE WE WERE THE ONE'S COMMUNICATING. IT SEEMS LIKE THE EMBASSY IS STILL STUCK IN THE "OLD AGES" WHERE POTMARKED ENVELOPES AND NON-PHONE CARD (EXPENSIVE) CALLS ARE HELD UP HIGH....

MY FIANCE HAS TONS OF EMAILS, PHONE RECORDS SHOWING USE OF CALLING CARDS, LETTERS SENT WITH CARE PACKAGES (3X) AND HOME-MADE MUSICAL DEDICATION CD'S ETC., BUT WE ARE FEARFUL IT IS NOT ENOUGH!

THE ADVICE I HAVE BEEN GIVEN IS: THE MORE INFO THE BETTER. THE CO CAN PICK AND CHOOSE WHAT THEY WANT.

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS AS TO WHAT TO INCLUDE?

HOW TO ORGANIZE AND PRESENT THE INFO? ETC....

CAN YOU GIVE EXAMPLES OF WHAT ADDITIONAL INFO WAS REQUESTED OR WHAT RESULTED IN A SECOND INTERVIEW BEING SCHEDULED?

LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR FEEDBACK AND THANK YOU IN ADVACNE!

[Zee Bee 61]

No one can tell you what to include. The only advice I can give is to take EVERYTHING and ANYTHING. It does not matter how trivial it seems to YOU, it is the CO you need to satisfy.

What the CO asks for is going to depend on so many different factors. There is no formula to try and decipher what the CO could want.

Here is what we included: phone records (July-March), text message records (July-March), pictures (taken July 2007, including pictures with friends and family), e-mails (since the beginning of our relationship), chat logs, my flight itinerary and boarding passes from when I went home in 2007. In our case the CO wants to see letters we wrote to each other We did not include them originally because (1) they are so few and (2) we had more than enough e-mails. The CO himself said that we had "overwhelming evidence" and that he "did not doubt our relationship". So then why the second appointment? I have no idea Maybe so that they can issue the vias later since we were not planning for my fiance to come until August (which the CO seemed to fixate on, but that is another story ).

Others have taken less to interviews and been approved.

In terms of the second interview, it is not an interview per se but an appointment to bring additional evidence. The problem is that it seems like Ghana is the only consulate that actually schedules you for a date to come back; and it is so out there that it is maddening . At other consulates you are just told to come back when you have the information. It makes no sense but that is what we have to deal with.

So, basically, take every single piece of evidence you can. You can only do your best and hope that it satisfies the CO. Also remember, everyone's case is different, so what happens to one is not necessarily going to happen to someone else.

Don't stress over things that are out of your control

[K&A 0]

Hi Jackie aka "BrownSugarHoney" let me introduce myself, my name is Moet aka "K&A" I must say I really enjoyed reading all your posted questions because it directly relates to questions that are whirling in my head of late.

So I decided to share with you what evidence that I will be presenting and what I have so far.

- I-129F Packet copy that I had sent when I first filed.

- I-134 Notorized

- Taxes ( 2005, 2006, 2007 transcripts and copies of 1040)

- 6 months paystubs

- Employment letter

- Bank letter

- Emails from the time of NOA2 to the present

- Cards/letter ( Christmas, Birthday, Valentines Day & I miss you cards 4 from me and 4 from fiance and ONE letter from fiance)

- Emails ( A nice handful from various dates...mostly from me, he likes to talk mostly)

- Phone Bill records ( from the time of NOA2 to the present which shows HIGHLIGHTED incoming calls from fiance)

- Calling Cards ( I have a small bag of used calling cards to show when I called him and made copies too)

- PINGO ( spreadsheet of calls from me and him, I just started using it 2 weeks ago)

- FORMS ( NOA2 original and copy, DS 230, DS 156, DS 156K extras just in case my fiance messed up on filling his form)

- Letters of Intent ( I have written mine and will notorize it at the end of the month, he will notorize his as well whenever he does it)

- Pictures ( Pics from when I visted fiance in Ghana in 2006 and again in 2007 with me and him and family)

- Interview Questions ( I made a list of interview questions to ask him after reviewing our I-129F packet making believe if I was the CO what I would ask him if I were the one interviewing so that it can take some of the nervousness away from him the day of the interview).

- Ring Receipt ( It is already provided in the I-129F packet when I sent it but now I am bringing in the original)

AND THAT IS IT MY FRIEND LOL... AND LIKE ZEE SAID YOU CAN HAVE EVERYTHING, THE SUN COULD BE SHINING THAT DAY, YOU COULD LOOK YOUR BEST, HAVE EVERYTHING AND SOME CO BEHIND A DESK MAY STILL HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR BONEFIND INTENTION TO MARRY YOUR FIANCE. MY PRAYERS TO RICCA, GURL I PRAY THE BEST FOR YOU. AND AS FOR YOU BROWNSUGARHONEY... GURL, WE GONNA HAVE TO JUST WAIT THE TIME ... HOPE MY INFO WAS HELPFUL AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU ARE ADDING THAT I MAY NEED....

[Ricca711 1]

Zee said it all....what more can I say except...I literally sent a bible of information, and I included everthing Zee, Zainab, AsanteMaroon, and other VJ members told me to send. They talked and I listened. It cost me over $200.00 to send via Fed-Ex. But now that I am standing at the threshold of the CO deciding our future...the cost is minimal.

Send it all to them Ms. Lady and let them decide.

Erika

[Ricca711 1]

Hi Jackie aka "BrownSugarHoney" let me introduce myself, my name is Moet aka "K&A" I must say I really enjoyed reading all your posted questions because it directly relates to questions that are whirling in my head of late.

So I decided to share with you what evidence that I will be presenting and what I have so far.

- I-129F Packet copy that I had sent when I first filed.

- I-134 Notorized

- Taxes ( 2005, 2006, 2007 transcripts and copies of 1040)

- 6 months paystubs

- Employment letter

- Bank letter

- Emails from the time of NOA2 to the present

- Cards/letter ( Christmas, Birthday, Valentines Day & I miss you cards 4 from me and 4 from fiance and ONE letter from fiance)

- Emails ( A nice handful from various dates...mostly from me, he likes to talk mostly)

- Phone Bill records ( from the time of NOA2 to the present which shows HIGHLIGHTED incoming calls from fiance)

- Calling Cards ( I have a small bag of used calling cards to show when I called him and made copies too)

- PINGO ( spreadsheet of calls from me and him, I just started using it 2 weeks ago)

- FORMS ( NOA2 original and copy, DS 230, DS 156, DS 156K extras just in case my fiance messed up on filling his form)

- Letters of Intent ( I have written mine and will notorize it at the end of the month, he will notorize his as well whenever he does it)

- Pictures ( Pics from when I visted fiance in Ghana in 2006 and again in 2007 with me and him and family)

- Interview Questions ( I made a list of interview questions to ask him after reviewing our I-129F packet making believe if I was the CO what I would ask him if I were the one interviewing so that it can take some of the nervousness away from him the day of the interview).

- Ring Receipt ( It is already provided in the I-129F packet when I sent it but now I am bringing in the original)

AND THAT IS IT MY FRIEND LOL... AND LIKE ZEE SAID YOU CAN HAVE EVERYTHING, THE SUN COULD BE SHINING THAT DAY, YOU COULD LOOK YOUR BEST, HAVE EVERYTHING AND SOME CO BEHIND A DESK MAY STILL HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR BONEFIND INTENTION TO MARRY YOUR FIANCE. MY PRAYERS TO RICCA, GURL I PRAY THE BEST FOR YOU. AND AS FOR YOU BROWNSUGARHONEY... GURL, WE GONNA HAVE TO JUST WAIT THE TIME ... HOPE MY INFO WAS HELPFUL AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU ARE ADDING THAT I MAY NEED....

Girl.....listen at you. You are making me cry right here in my office. Although I must admit...these last few days...everything makes me cry. I am trying to be strong ladies, but I am human. I am prepared to deal with any outcome that befalls us. Thank you so much for the well wishes. We need it.

Much Love,

Erika

[Kanyiri 0]

They seemed to fixate on the physical letters that we wrote which was easy for us since he didn't have access to either phone or computer for a long time, but others I know it is difficult. Not only did they want a copy of the letters, they wanted the original envelope with the stamp and everything.

We were told to come back for financial info instead of relationship evidence, but they seemed to just want another copy of the evidence that he already turned in. It sounded like an excuse to just get him to come back again later.

Like others have said, just have as much evidence as you can muster.