question about question 18 on I-129f

[jdall 0]

I started working on question 18 last night and may of gotten a little carried away. I wrote out a 1 page (single spaced) story of our recent engagement linking the story to physical evidence that I'll include in the mailing. I'm curious if I'm going about this the right way. I thought I read somewhere that its best to answer the question in the view of a third person, but I wrote in first person since it seemed more natural that way.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

John

[Otto 83]

Any suggestions?

Edit..edit..edit...

Short, sweet, and to the point; linking the paragraph or two with some of the evidence is great - but I would keep it short. I wrote it the way I would have said it to a friend or relative for the 1000th time (quick, some details, and out); the focus being on how we met in person. Some folks get by with just the space provided on the actual form (believe it or not) - I decided on one line on the form (and indicating 'Continued') then 2 very short paragraphs on a supplemental sheet.

Edited November 17, 2009 by Otto und Karin

[pushbrk 13,033]

Any suggestions?

Edit..edit..edit...

Short, sweet, and to the point; linking the paragraph or two with some of the evidence is great - but I would keep it short. I wrote it the way I would have said it to a friend or relative for the 1000th time (quick, some details, and out); the focus being on how we met in person. Some folks get by with just the space provided on the actual form (believe it or not) - I decided on one line on the form (and indicating 'Continued') then 2 very short paragraphs on a supplemental sheet.

I agree. Exept for the most unique of circumstance, I prefer to fit the answer in the space provided. You do this be limiting it to dates and time frames. Example: We met online in June, 2009. After five months of emails and video chats, I traveled to her city on November 15, 2009 and we spent three weeks together traveling and meeting family members. At the end of my visit, I proposed. Upon my return to the USA, we began preparing to file the I-129F petition.

Then document the visit with boarding passes, passport stamps and photos.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I started working on question 18 last night and may of gotten a little carried away. I wrote out a 1 page (single spaced) story of our recent engagement linking the story to physical evidence that I'll include in the mailing. I'm curious if I'm going about this the right way. I thought I read somewhere that its best to answer the question in the view of a third person, but I wrote in first person since it seemed more natural that way.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

John

Two sentences in the space provided. You are describing how you met IN PERSON one time in the last two years. That is all. "After corresponding online for one year I flew to Dublin to meet her and she net me at the airport" would suffice. The rest is, well, just facetious. However, it doesn't hurt, it will not delay anything and the adjudicators quote from the "hunny bunny's" over their lunch breaks. They are government workers in little cubicles and need some "joie de vie" like anyone else...so knock yourself out! Write a romantic novel for the coffee room at VSC! They will love you for it.

[tallcoolone 102]

I started working on question 18 last night and may of gotten a little carried away. I wrote out a 1 page (single spaced) story of our recent engagement linking the story to physical evidence that I'll include in the mailing. I'm curious if I'm going about this the right way. I thought I read somewhere that its best to answer the question in the view of a third person, but I wrote in first person since it seemed more natural that way.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

John

Don't write a love novel, Keep it short and direct. I used the 2 lines provided on the form.

[baron555 934]

I started working on question 18 last night and may of gotten a little carried away. I wrote out a 1 page (single spaced) story of our recent engagement linking the story to physical evidence that I'll include in the mailing. I'm curious if I'm going about this the right way. I thought I read somewhere that its best to answer the question in the view of a third person, but I wrote in first person since it seemed more natural that way.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

John

I wrote two sentences. We met online and corresponded. Then we met in Kiev from Feb 14 to 24, 2009.

[Nik+Heather 121]

Like others, I provided a more cut and dry timeline of events backed up by the boarding passes and/or passport stamps provided as primary evidence.

Unless your fiance(e) is not an Irish citizen but a resident from a country with a more difficult consulate where people find their relationship questioned, any more is extra fluff.

[jdall 0]

Thank you ALL!! I decided I'm going to cut it down to a paragraph or 2 max.

One more question- Do I need to explain how we initially met in person for the first time? That was 3 summers ago, so I'm not sure if it applies to the question. We have been back and forth loads since we first met, so should I just keep it to the most recent events?

Thanks again!

-John

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Thank you ALL!! I decided I'm going to cut it down to a paragraph or 2 max.

One more question- Do I need to explain how we initially met in person for the first time? That was 3 summers ago, so I'm not sure if it applies to the question. We have been back and forth loads since we first met, so should I just keep it to the most recent events?

Thanks again!

-John

You need to describe how you have met IN PERSON, one time within the last two years. Could be first time, third time, last time, doesn't matter. ONE TIME within two years

[baron555 934]

Thank you ALL!! I decided I'm going to cut it down to a paragraph or 2 max.

One more question- Do I need to explain how we initially met in person for the first time? That was 3 summers ago, so I'm not sure if it applies to the question. We have been back and forth loads since we first met, so should I just keep it to the most recent events?

Thanks again!

-John

How and when you met one time.

[jdall 0]

Got it. That's what I thought but just wanted to verify.

Thanks again!

John

[Angel and Gendy 1]

I swear the search function has saved me so many times on VJ..... Sending I-129F tommorrow...... :P

[Seven 24]

Oh...i'm into a similar situation yeh...i think i understood...

So if we've been traveling back and forth...this would be ok?

We met online whatever date, then we met in person for some days in an event in Europe, still talking online then met whenever in USA and whenever he traveled to Spain and whenever (saying how many times as stamps in passport) i traveled to USA to spend time together in person.

Is that enough or gotta be into details of at least one of the times we met in person?

Thank you all...i know isn't my topic but almost same question....And good luck to the OP!

Blessings

[Nik+Heather 121]

Oh...i'm into a similar situation yeh...i think i understood...

So if we've been traveling back and forth...this would be ok?

We met online whatever date, then we met in person for some days in an event in Europe, still talking online then met whenever in USA and whenever he traveled to Spain and whenever (saying how many times as stamps in passport) i traveled to USA to spend time together in person.

Is that enough or gotta be into details of at least one of the times we met in person?

Thank you all...i know isn't my topic but almost same question....And good luck to the OP!

Blessings

The minimum requirement is that you tell them how you achieved one meeting face to face. This can be the first (if it is within the last two years), The second, third, or latest. It can be as simple as "John visited Jane in the US from Nov 22 to 26, 2008" Back up that trip with the passport stamps/boarding passes/pictures from that trip.

Nik and I chose to list all of our trips to date (of the filing), and had something along the lines of "Heather and Nik met online on X date, Nik visited Arizona from XXXX to XXXX, Heather visited the UK from XXXX to XXXX, Nik visited AZ from XXXX to XXXX, Heather visited the UK from XXXX to XXXX, when they were engaged."

We provided boarding passes/passport stamps and one picture from each trip. It was all extraordinarily bare-bones. For a Visa Waiver country like Spain (unless the beneficiary is a citizen of a high fraud country and only living there), more than this is likely to be overkill. If the beneficiary is from a non VWP country but is living in and interviewing from Spain, "front-loading" the petition with more relationship evidence might be more recommended.