G-325

[CarlieandJames 0]

Hi all!

I have been making a lot of posts lately but I just want to make 100% sure I am doing everything right. My fiance and I met abroad in Australia while we were backpacking. Both of us were away for 9-10 months on this trip. I was also away for 5 months during the last 5 years backpacking in Europe. When the G-325 asks for addresses from the last 5 years it says to leave no gaps...What do I do?! We have gaps because we were living out of hostels and tents!!! Please HELP!!!!!!!!!

Also, is it best to sign and date the bottom of the form above the bottom line or is it best to sign and date on the back??!

[What Happened? 4]

Hi all!

I have been making a lot of posts lately but I just want to make 100% sure I am doing everything right. My fiance and I met abroad in Australia while we were backpacking. Both of us were away for 9-10 months on this trip. I was also away for 5 months during the last 5 years backpacking in Europe. When the G-325 asks for addresses from the last 5 years it says to leave no gaps...What do I do?! We have gaps because we were living out of hostels and tents!!! Please HELP!!!!!!!!!

Also, is it best to sign and date the bottom of the form above the bottom line or is it best to sign and date on the back??!

Hostels have addresses, list the address and the timeframe. Tents are set up in parks, you can give the name of the park or whatever setting you were in and if you needed to register at an outpost or something you can give the address and make a notation that you were backpacking in that area, and give the dates.

[childress_london 3]

Where was your mail going to at that time? If you had a "permanent" address where you had mail being sent, then I would use that address.

I don't think that backpacking trips constitute a move to a different permanent address.

Edited May 12, 2009 by childress_london

[CarlieandJames 0]

I think it would be nearly impossible for me to get the addresses of all the hostels! I hope I don't have to do that!! YIKES! I used my parents address, should I just put that?!

[What Happened? 4]

Where was your mail going to at that time? If you had a "permanent" address where you had mail being sent, then I would use that address.

I don't think that backpacking trips constitute a move to a different permanent address.

It is asking for residence for the last five years not permanent mailing address. Residence means where you were actually living. If they need to do background checks in the areas you were actually living, giving your mailing address as if THAT was where you were living during the time periods would not be accurate.

Also you need to sign and date where it says signature and date on the front not the back for all four pages.

Edited May 12, 2009 by cornbread

[childress_london 3]

I would use the parent's address then, unless you want to give them several pages listing camping sites and hotels. Or if you feel too nervous about that, just list the city/country, put "various" for the address and then add a continuation sheet that explains the situation for that line item.

[CarlieandJames 0]

Oh my goodness! That will be nearly impossible as I probably stayed at atleast 30 hostels on the trip as did he! Does anyone else know anything about this? Surely someone else met their partner while travelling abroad and has the answers!!?? Thank you, cornbread...

[What Happened? 4]

Oh my goodness! That will be nearly impossible as I probably stayed at atleast 30 hostels on the trip as did he! Does anyone else know anything about this? Surely someone else met their partner while travelling abroad and has the answers!!?? Thank you, cornbread...

Sorry, didn't realize you were moving around THAT much in 10 months.....

....goodluck

[Mike B. 231]

Where was your mail going to at that time? If you had a "permanent" address where you had mail being sent, then I would use that address.

I don't think that backpacking trips constitute a move to a different permanent address.

It is asking for residence for the last five years not permanent mailing address. Residence means where you were actually living. If they need to do background checks in the areas you were actually living, giving your mailing address as if THAT was where you were living during the time periods would not be accurate.

Also you need to sign and date where it says signature and date on the front not the back for all four pages.

This frankly strikes me as being an almost absurdly literal reading of the rules. If you stayed in a hotel for less than a week, you'd be very hard pressed to argue that that constitued a "residence." Did you register to vote in the local elections for 30 different municipalities? Did you change your tax information 30 different times? Did your finacee get thirty different national indentification cards? Probably not because you and your finacee may have gone on an extended vacation, but you really didn't change your residency every time you slept in your tent.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi all!

I have been making a lot of posts lately but I just want to make 100% sure I am doing everything right. My fiance and I met abroad in Australia while we were backpacking. Both of us were away for 9-10 months on this trip. I was also away for 5 months during the last 5 years backpacking in Europe. When the G-325 asks for addresses from the last 5 years it says to leave no gaps...What do I do?! We have gaps because we were living out of hostels and tents!!! Please HELP!!!!!!!!!

Also, is it best to sign and date the bottom of the form above the bottom line or is it best to sign and date on the back??!

There are no gaps. You cannot have "gaps" unless you vanished from the planet.

Generally vacations, even for 5 months are not considered "residing" somewhere. If they are, then that is where you resided. You either list your permanent address or the hostel where you were, take your choice, but there ARE no gaps.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Oh my goodness! That will be nearly impossible as I probably stayed at atleast 30 hostels on the trip as did he! Does anyone else know anything about this? Surely someone else met their partner while travelling abroad and has the answers!!?? Thank you, cornbread...

Stop. Please. My head hurts. List the address of your backpack and be done with it.

what was your address in the USA? You were on an extended vacation, NOT residing there. Do you imagine I listed every hotle I stayed in for the five years previous to filing? They would reject me for the "excessive, redundant BS" clause!

[CarlieandJames 0]

Ha! Ok...Well, i just wanted to make sure I shouldn't put "travelling" or "various places" or whatever... I will put my parents permanent residence at that time. I was a backpacker living out of my backpack basically! Thanks for the advice.

[Mike B. 231]

Ha! Ok...Well, i just wanted to make sure I shouldn't put "travelling" or "various places" or whatever... I will put my parents permanent residence at that time. I was a backpacker living out of my backpack basically! Thanks for the advice.

Your guess is as good as mine, but since you have to explain when you were with her it might not hurt to put an attachment saying "Although I was travelling with my fiancee from xx/xx/xxxxx to xx/xx/xxxx, my lawful permanent residence remained xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx."

Again, I donno, but maybe it's something you'd want to consider.

[CarlieandJames 0]

That's a very good suggestion. Maybe I should just attach a sheet explaining that...thank you!

[Mike B. 231]

That's a very good suggestion. Maybe I should just attach a sheet explaining that...thank you!

No problem. Obviously I would never advise someone to lie on their immigration papers, as those who do can get themselves in extremely serious trouble. That being said, I once asked an immigration lawyer what the point of the G-325A is. After all, what in the hell does the US government have to know the name of your fiancee's father for? What possibly bearing could that have on your status?

Her response, and who knows if it is true, is that unless your fiancee's family are notorious terrorists or drug traffickers, the G-325A is mostly to keep track of who is who. USCIS and the US Embassy in Mexico deal with a lot of guys named Juan Martinez over the course of a decade, for example, and unless you have detailed biographic information about each one it becomes impossible to figure out which one is which. Long story short, as a total non-expert, I would be shocked if USCIS determined that they needed to know about every single night you slept in a tent in order to determine your fiancee's visa eligibility.