Proof of meeting in person

[antda 13]

Hi Shelia&Greg and Everyone,

(I posted this on the N-400/Citizenship forum before, but I thought it would help you and others out too...)

Lol..I totally understand where you are coming from.....

Likewise, I travel back to Canada every 1-4 months since I live so close to the border (1-2 hours away driving by land) and have family/friends back in Canada....Lol..I is hard keeping track of such dates! On top of that, I'm a Canadian Citizen...so no passport stamps on my Canadian passport or record on the US side of things on my former Green Card for me either! My shortest trip to Canada...45 minutes....to renew my Canadian passport...And yes, I even "declared" that for the N-400 forms too, just in case (though I didn't have to declare trips less than 24 hours)......lol...

According to the N-400 form, they specifically ask the applicant to list "trips more than 24 hours" outside of the USA, which includes the following information: date you left the USA, date you returned to the USA, did your trip last more than 6 months, countries you traveled to, total days outside of the USA. The reason they ask this is to see if you have met the 'continuous residency' requirement in your eligibility for citizenship at the time and to see if you still have premanent residency status in the USA (you can't be more than 6 months outside of the country at one time or risk losing your status).

Try to remember as many trips as you can, to tbe best of your ability, as yes, they will ask for such when you apply for citizenship. Anything that you remember about these trips will certainly help. For example, did you travel back during a special occasion/event, season, etc., which hence will help you remember which exact dates you travelled on? Is there anyone you can ask that can help you remember such trips too (for example, did you visit anyone there?). Lol..I don't have any official records of my many trips driving over to Canada either..so I just have to rely on memory (and a little bit of help from others in remembering) there...So, start making a list and keeping a record now, if you haven't done such already, so that you will be ready when the time comes for citizenship

So I did list such trips to Canada, according to my own unofficial records, provided an explaination as to why I don't have official records in my Canadian passport (lol..trips back to Canada as a Canadian with a Canadian passport = no passport stamps), and said that if they wanted to verify my unofficial records they can find it themselves from their own official records (I can't be bothered additionally searching for and paying for records they might already have in their own government computers).

And yes, this did satisfy their requirements about recording such travels (lol..and they were impressed with my detailed list during the interview too!).

As well, I crossed out "five" and wrote "three-since permanent residency-applying based on marriage", and listed my trips since then....

What I would recommend for you (and for any everyone else, especially all you Canadians) is to keep an unofficial record on your own about the trips you have made over the years. Use a calendar, list, or whatever else...So in case they do ask about such trips in the future, you have an unofficial record already, and can verify it with their own official records. As well, if you have any additional proof of your trips (ticket stubs, itineries/agendas, photos, cards, etc.) keep those and show those as well when asked.

Remember: Always tell the truth about such trips and you'll be ok there.

Hope this helps. Good luck with the rest of your immigration journey too.

Ant

Hi There,

After nearly 6 months of waiting from filing our K-1 we received a letter from USCIS telling us that we need to provide proof of meeting in person in the 2 years prior to filing. We did provide proof at the time of filing in the form of pictures, emails, a copy of my date book entries, our e-harmony profiles and messages, and a letter detailing times, dates and locations of our meetings. Our passports also get scanned every time we cross between the Canadian and US borders plus we both have Nexus cards. It seems immigration is confusing our application with an oversees situation since they have asked for proof of stamped passports and trip itineraries. This proof doesn't exist since we drive the 2.5 hours to see eachother every weekend.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where we should go from here, or what other proof we could provide to immigration?

Thanks so much!