The Stupid RFE Thread

[Saylin 1,605]

My stupid RFE and how surprisingly fast it was approved after:

A little background info. Tinz and I have been married almost three years and she is a philippine citizen

On July 8 or so picked up the mail. Inside was a nice letter asking for another marriage certificate from NSO (which we already submitted). Thing is when they ask you for more evidence they don't exactly explain what was the problem with the first document or whatever ( apparently common sense has no place in governent affairs). So they list there all the important information that they need on the NSO marriage certificate. Which I thought was already included. And it was.

The problem, which I later learned because I was lucky enoigh to have several copies of our marriage cert used for her visa to china many times to accompany me on work stays, was that we had our marriage certificate further certified by adding the "red ribbon" from DFA. DO NOT DO THIS FOR USA. It's needed for china USA will kick it back. They make a big hole over the NSO seal when they add the red ribbon.

Long story short that big hole was the reason for our RFE. Sure it looks and is more official with the red ribbon. But will cost you some time.

Bright side : I submitted a copy without the red ribbon and in only 2 WEEKS! Got the approval from homeland security. I was shocked when I found that in the mail. So now we are at NVC. Don't make our mistake. Be sure no staples no holes no red ribbons nothing on the marriage cert for you husbands of filipinas. It will only slow you down. Good luck everyone. Hope I can save at least one person from an RFE

You should post this as well in the Philippines sub-regional forum, so more people can see it, as they may not see your very informative post buried in this thread. If you do, I suggest summarizing the above in the title, so people know right from the title not to have any red ribbons or such on the certificates.

[Joshua@Tinz 52]

Sure I'll do that. I'm still learning my way around here. Maybe an admin can paste it for us? I joined this site a long time ago but didn't use it much until today

[Ryan H 3,818]

~~~Off topic post removed.~~~

[Anoukh 0]

Hi, new-ish here. My stupid RFE: Sending in out of date version of I-864 Affadavit of support -.- They updated the version like a month after i printed it out xD darn it for not rechecking the versions before sending in package. I just had to resend it in the new version

[Anoukh 0]

Darn it. As soon as i thought this shiz was going well, BAM, another RFE -.- Now what do they want xD Last time was the Affadavit that was out of date form. So i resent it in the new version. Now i really wonder what is missing Darn darn darn

[zeeeeeeek 9]

thanks to this thread we got our noa2 without any RFE. unfortunately there was no "stupid checklist thread" that could have prevented a NVC checklist. So im adding it here to help you all avoid the dreaded checklist.

my husband got a checklist for his birth certificate. we provided them with an original Jordanian birth certificate but that wasn't enough. He was born outside of jordan therefore they wanted the birth certificate of country of birth. If you can not provide the birth certificate of the country of birth, a letter that provides a reason must accompany supporting documents,

[Anoukh 0]

lol, we missed to send in the W-2 with the affadavit xD ohwell, this years tax has been fixed, so well just resend the affadavit of support with the new year added in and this time add w-2 and tax papers for all three years. apparently better to overload with evidence than go for minimal

[Rose13 30]

I forgot to included bank details for the removal of conditions We don't share bank accounts but I should have included a letter stating this and explaining how bills are paid.

[Rose13 30]

i got an rfe today and i want to call it stupid because it is unfair. i recieved an rfe due to lack of sufficient evidence to prove bonafide marriage which is outrageous and i am sooooooooooo upset. has anyone had to unfairly deal with this as i am and had approval prevail? thanks. i just hate to think i am the only innocent person this has happened to.

It happened to me too I was so depressed. My hubby (the USC) was so confident though and he was right. Just provide as much info as you can. I had affidavits from USC friends and a letter explaining how we paid bills (we don't share a bank account). Good luck

[Wenche&Jason 8]

Our stupid RFE,..not filing my original divorce decree. Sent a notarized and apostilled official stamped document, stating my general information, also divorce date and year. It was not enough,.. Hopefully we will receive the NOA2 soon!

[monil622 1]

my stupid RFE was i did not attached my pasport photo and i am still wating for my approval and it like almost 3 weeks idk what is going on at ponatamic service center they told me have to wait 60 day for my answer and idk why a passport photo hurts that much have and at uscis there is no real human and i am getting a clear cut answer it is always same answer and not clear and they are taking that much money but not providing services to their customers

Edited July 29, 2016 by marathon

[Missrowoh 1]

You won't believe it! I would have saved 6 weeks of wait time if only I remembered to throw in the police certificate from country of birth! 30 days gone, no update. 2 more awful weeks to go.

It's so stupid I still bang my head each time I think about it.

??????

[fletto 0]

OMG! So grateful to whomever started this thread!

My stupid RFE was for not sending in our Civil marriage certificate when i filed the I-130. The marriage cert provided by our church was what i sent instead.

Had to go back to my home country, hold a civil union ceremony to the get the marriage certificate from a Registrar General's office - specified by USCIS.

Good thing is, i got to spend time with my husband and extended family.

What I learned: Research! Research! Research!

Thank goodness for VJ members and all the tips you provide on this forum.

• In doing my research, I found that one of the questions on the DS-260 is "date of marriage".
• Question: Do I enter in the civil marriage date or the religious ceremony date?

Thank you all in advance.

USCIS
01/22/16 - Filed I-130 at Chicago Lockbox
01/29/16 - Checks cashed ($420)
02/05/16 - I-130 NOA1 Rcvd Email
02/24/16 - I-130 NOA1 Rcvd Hard copy notice (Form I-79C)
05/27/16 - Rcvd RFE - Email (request for copy of Marriage Cert.)
05/31/16 - Rcvd RFE Hard copy notice

07/31/16 - 8/12/16 - Visited Husband for 2 weeks in Ghana
08/02/16 - Performed Civil Marriage @ Accra Registrar General Office
08/03/16 - Rcvd Civil Marriage Certificate, issued by the Principal Registrar of Marriages
08/12/16 - Returned to NYC
08/15/16 - Mailed RFE to Vermont Service Center NE mailbox via USPS priority mail.
08/18/16 - USCIS Rcvd RFE - Email notification

[Ahmed & Amy 291]

My stupid RFE was not sending the Arabic copy of our marriage certificate. I had sent a copy of the certified English translation that had been approved by the US embassy here in Cairo. Stupid me forgot to include the Arabic copy when we sent our I-130 packet to USCIS.

This whole RFE thing has been a total nightmare as NSC kept flip flopping on whether it was 'sent' or 'ordered'.

I really hope we get an approval soon.

[zaiddiaz 7]

Hello Everyone. I'm new to this thread. I sent out my I-130 on 9/24 (rcvd 9/26) for my husband in the Philippines. It's being processed in the NSC. On 11/4, I got an alert that my status changed for an RFE. ughhhhhh

It's been a little over a week but I haven't got the notice in the mail over what it even is about. Tried to call them to see if they can just tell me over the phone what they needed. Turns out they can't.

I really hope it's something super simple.