I-130 question

[Riggs 0]

Hello all,

I am wondering if there is a sample form somewhere for the affidavit for additional proof of a bona fide marriage that they ask for in the I-130 requirements? I saw an sample affidavit form for the lifting the residency requirements but no sample forms for an affidavit for additional proof of a bona fide marriage that is requested from family and friends that have knowledge that the marriage is legitimate.

please let me know if there is an sample form available or if you could give me an example of how it should be written.

Also, is the VSC processing any faster lately do to decreased applications or are they still way behind?

Thank you so much!

Steve M. Lilley

[Otto 83]

The two examples you mentioned would be suitable outlines for the purpose your inquiring about.

[WhidbeyGirl 1]

For those who did not attend wedding here is what I had written:

Date:

To Whom it May Concern:

I, (full name), born on, (full date of birth), in (full city and state of birth), am (how they are related to you or know you), of (your full name), who married (SO's full name) of (SO's country). I have seen their wedding certificate which is written in the (language) language dated (date of wedding certificate) in (city/state/province/country of document). I ascertain it to be a true and legal document of their marriage. If there are any questions, please call me (phone number) or write me at (address). I confirm these facts to be true to the best of my knowledge.

Signature

Notarized

For those who attended wedding:

Name

Address

Date

To Who It Might Concern,

I (full name) born on (full date of birth) in (city/state/province/country) have been a friend of (SO or your full name) for more than (how long they have known you or SO). S/he married to (SO or your full name) from (country). I stood and witnessed their marriage on (full date and time of wedding) in (city/state/province/country). If there are any questions please call me at this number (phone number) or write me at the above written address or email me at (email address). I confirm these fact to be true to the best of my knowledge.

Signature

IF the affidavit is from a USC then have it notarized, otherwise don't.

[vareska 3]

I guess my I-130 packet could be described with one word: excess

However, we just got approval notice after 58 days, so I am going to show here everything that I have included in the packet, and maybe some of that can help you get ideas what to include in your packet.

For affidavits, I didn't keep them just factual; the affidavits my family wrote were personalized testimonials in which they described how and when they learned of our relationship, how everyone including my husband was then opposed to the idea of him coming to the US, dates and insights of when they met my husband (then fiance), their judgement of his character and of our relationship and commitment, and then the affidavits were concluded with summary of our wedding and our plans for future (where will we live, etc).

Since hubby and I don't have any children or any intermingled financial assets, our proof of bona fide consisted in showing ongoing long term relationship prior to marriage, and evidence (phone logs, emails,...) of communication after the wedding-present.

This is what our cover page looked like:

Nature of Submission: I-130 Petition for Alien Spouse;

Original Submission

Enclosed please find my Form I-130, Petition for Alien Spouse for ........ and supporting documents. Contents include:

I-130, Fee

• Form I-130

• Filing fee in the amount of $355 in form of a personal check

G-325A: Beneficiary

• G-325A Biographic Information for the Beneficiary

• Two (2) color photos 2x2 of the Beneficiary

G-325A: Petitioner

• G-325A Biographic Information for the Petitioner

• Two (2) color photos 2x2 of the Petitioner

Marriage Certificate

• Original Marriage Certificate (English translation is on the back of the certificate)

• Paid invoice stub for wedding reception at hotel ............ and certified translation of the paid invoice

• Petitioner’s notification of change of address for the duration of stay in Bosnia in 2008 – shows Beneficiary’s permanent address as Petitioner’s temporary residence, and English translation is provided within the form

Passport

• Copy of all pages of Petitioner’s U.S. Passport (evidence to establish citizenship, and also as documentation supporting evidence of travel and meetings between the Petitioner and the Beneficiary. Please see all visa pages and note that the dates of travel coincide with the date on photos included in the packet)

• Copy of Petitioner’s Texas Driver License

Evidence of ID: Beneficiary

• Copy of Beneficiary’s Bosnian issued passport

• Copy of Beneficiary’s B1/B2 U.S. issued Visa (obtained in 2007 to visit the Petitioner in the US in July/August of 2007)

• Copy of Beneficiary’s Bosnian issued identification card

• Copy of Beneficiary’s Bosnian issued certificate of permanent residence, as well as certified English translation of the document

Travel / Flight

• Twenty two (22) pages of Petitioner and Beneficiary’s flight information as supporting evidence of ongoing relationship prior to marriage. Evidence includes:

• Flight reservations / payment confirmation

• Boarding passes

Photos

• Seventy (70) pieces of photos as secondary evidence of bona fide relationship/ bona fide marriage.

• Twelve (12) pages of the travel documentation for my family who have traveled to Bosnia to be at our wedding (photocopies of passport pages, boarding passes and flight reservations)

Affidavits

• Four (4) notarized affidavits from family members attesting to the bona fide marriage

E-mails

• Forty two (42) pages of emails exchanged between Petitioner and Beneficiary as evidence of ongoing relationship

• Seventeen (17) pages of cellphone to e-mail messages from Petitioner to Beneficiary

Letters

• Fifteen (15) pages of copies of mailing envelopes and shipping slips as evidence of ongoing relationship

Phone Logs

• Fifty eight (58) pages of long distance telephone call logs between Petitioner and Beneficiary

• One (1) page Beneficiary’s prepaid cell phone activation certificate

• One (1) page Certified translation of the above named activation certificate

• One (1) page Beneficiary’s phone and internet payment stubs

• One (1) page Certified translations of the above named payment stubs

Online Chats

• Thirty two (32) pages of MSN chat logs

• Two (2) pages of web to cell phone messages from Petitioner to Beneficiary

• Two (2) printed pictures - computer desktop print screen picture displaying web to cell phone messages from Beneficiary to Petitioner

• Two (2) pages of Petitoner’s current cell phone monthly statement as evidence of the phone number for above named print screen pictures/ web to cell messages

Thank you for your assistance in this matter. If you should have any questions or need additional documentation, please contact me at the address or phone numbers provided below.

Respectfully,

[vareska 3]

This is going to be long post, but here are the actual affidavits I have sent in my packet.

All names in the affidavits have been changed

I, cousin of vareska, born on ... in Bosnia, daughter of ......, currently residing at ...... and the holder of United States passport# hereby issue this

AFFIDAVIT

stating that vareska (maiden name ....) and vareska hubby's marriage is a bona fide marriage based on the following:

vareska is my cousin, and I have known her for twenty-six years. vareska and I have a close relationship where we spend a lot of time together as family as well as friends. vareska and I were also work colleagues, and we attended high school and college together. I believe I am a good judge of her character because I have known her for a long time and we have gone thorough life-milestones together.

I was present when vareska met vareska's hubby online in 2003. We attended same college classes at that time and I was present when they chatted for the first time at the college computer lab. I have witnessed, numerous times, vareska chatting to vareska's hubby while in class, and later I have witnessed their chats via web-camera at home, as well as calling each other on the phone. I could see that she has developed genuine feelings for him because she spent so much time talking to him, talking about him, eagerly showing me his pictures and letter, adjusting her life to work around the time zone differences so that they can spend time together, and I have never seen her care that much romanticaly for anyone before. I have seen their relationship get serious when she went to Bosnia to meet him in person (Summer 2005) and again in 2006. Upon her return to Dallas, she shared with our entire family that they plan to marry as soon as they agree on the place of their residence.

I have had the opportunity to meet vareska's hubby when he visited her here in Dallas during the summer of 2007.

During his stay in Dallas, I spent time with both of them together and have been able to conclude that his feelings for her are genuine, and that he is as committed to their relationsip as she was. Towards the end of vareska's hubby's visit, vareska and vareska's hubby informed the family that they have gotten engaged, and plan to marry the following year (2008).

They were married on July 24, 2008 in Bosnia. Both of my parents flew to Bosnia to attend the wedding, and to meet his family. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend their wedding due to work.

Vareska has shared with me all of the obstacles of her relationship with vareska's hubby, who, at first, did not want to move to Dallas. I remember them breaking off the relationship for short periods of time because the residency issue came to be a roadblock for them. His family ties to Bosnia and his patriotism, I learned from vareska, were the reasons he insisted they live in Bosnia. She insisted that the United States was a better place for a young, college educated couple to start their life together. vareska and vareska's hubby were very determined to be together and they kept trying to maintain the relationship despite the underlying differences in their plans for future residence. They are now eagerly awaiting to begin their life together in Dallas, Texas.

As someone who has witnessed their very first online encounter, and having seen their relationship evolve into a genuine and committed marriage between two people who have overcome many difficulties of a long distance relationship and are very much in love, I attest under the penalty of perjury that it is my strong conviction that vareska and vareska hubby's marriage is a bona fide marriage.

cousin,

sinature

Edited April 11, 2009 by vareska

[vareska 3]

Then, this is an affidavit my sister wrote us, again very personal and she had it notarized, certified, the whole 9 yards. My aunts who attended our wedding wrote similar statements...

I, vareska's sister, born on ..... in Vares, Bosnia and Herzegovina, daughter of ....... currently residing at .......... and the holder of United States passport # ........hereby state:

vareska, maiden name........., is my older sister and I have known about her and hubby's' relationship since its very beginning in 2003.

By the year of 2005 their relationship has reached the level where they were discussing marriage. Their relationship, in the beginning, caused a lot of controversy in my family. Both my parents and I continuously advised her to terminate her relationship with hubby because we feared that she was too attached to a person she only met online, and we also feared that he might be taking advantage of my sister's emotions in order to move to the United States.

vareska, on the other hand, persisted that relationship was genuine and that the two of them bonded over common interests and beliefs, and she insissted that he had no intentions of moving to the United States, and in fact he has given my sister an ultimatum where he would only continue the relationship if she would marry him and live in Bosnia.

Our family's doubts in his intentions were put to rest once vareska and my mother traveled to Bosnia in 2005 to meet hubby and his family. My mother concluded that they were a wonderful family and that our fears regarding his visa sham had no ground.

.......Then, here comes a paragraph with very intimate details of hubby's background that I would rather not share, so I will skip........

I understood the reasons why he would not move to the US to be with my sister, and it was difficult for me to watch her in pain because by that time they both have developed strong feelings for each other. I knew how scared she was to move to Bosnia, because it is an underdeveloped country and she told me she felt that her education and passion for her career would be wasted there.They broke off the relationship many times because of their disagreement where to live, but kept getting back together after only a couple of days.

In 2007 hubby came to Dallas to visit vareska and to meet our family. We were very excited to have him here because by that time we have all formed a relationship with him, and we were very sympathetic towards the struggle the couple was going through trying to determine if either one of them would move across the globe for the other. While he was here, we were all able to spend a great amount of time with him and get to know him even more. I could see that the two of them were very similar in many ways, and I could see why he was so important to my sister. It was very clear that he and vareska were very much in love. By the time of his departure to Bosnia, vareska and hubby have worked out their differences and announced their engagement. I was very happy for them because they have had so many problems and obstacles in their relationship that any other couple would call it quits sooner or later, but they continued to fight for their relationship.

On July 24, 2008 they married in Bosnia. Myself and my parents, as well as three of my aunts and an uncle from the US, flew to Bosnia to be at their wedding. I had the honor of being my sister’s maid of honor in both civil and religious ceremony. It was a very emotional day for all of our family. They deserve to be together and now they finaly are bound for life as they have desired for so many years.

I am very excited for them now that they have decided to live in the United States and have put their struggles behind them. They are already spending a lot of time planning how they want to decorate their apartment, shopping online for the furniture, searching for jobs in Dallas that hubby is qualified for, and googling places they want to visit when he arrives here. Their realtionship is a pure and honest commitment to one another, and their marriage is a bona fide marriage.

Sincerely,

vareska's sister

Edited April 11, 2009 by vareska

[Driade 0]

i just keep it quite simple and got aproved from NOA1 - NOA2 30 days and i already have my case number so just sent as proof 4 bona fide affidavits one from , one from my dad, one from a wedding witness and one from my husband, all of them stamp by a notary and 3 of them translated from spanish to english.

if u want some really simple u can try it:

bona fide affidavits

Good luck.

[Riggs 0]

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE HELP, IT IS MUCH APPREIATED

STEVE