About to file my cr1! Insider tips?

[TSC Blackhole 11]

Hi all

I finally got married to my boyfriend of 11 years and now we're about to file our CR1 papers. I was looking over the guide and planning getting the package completed over the weekend, and I just want to make sure I don't forget anything, etc. I was also worrying about the evidence of a "bonafide marriage" and wondering if old emails, photos and phone bills would do the trick. If anyone has gone through the initial filing of the cr1 and has any tips I would love to hear them! Thanks!

[trailmix 77]

Hi and welcome,

If you are concerned about missing something you might want to post what you are sending and then people can double check it for you.

[Darnell 8,479]

Ya, there's that 'block' in the I-130 instructions, covering 6 types of 'evidence of bonafide marriage' - All of that is optional, of course, but you might want to think to send in as much as you can.

The 'evidence pile' is really a living document, ya? Grows and grows, you start it 'whenever', submit it once on the I-130, show it again on Interview Day 9 to 12 months later (it grew some more, aye?) then show all again on the I-751 application (Removal of Conditions) 2 years later (roughly) .

Here's a small diatribe on what I did - have a read ? (ya, click the link, it's safe, I swear )

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=218775&st=0&p=3324240&hl=Rusticentry3324240

Mine's a bit much, but our interview is in Guangzhou, and those IV folk are b@stards, as China is a high-fraud country.

Good Luck !

[closed-20101014 3]

The 'evidence pile' is really a living document, ya? Grows and grows, you start it 'whenever', submit it once on the I-130, show it again on Interview Day 9 to 12 months later (it grew some more, aye?)

Stuff like this terrifies me.

I don't send cards, gifts etc, we don't really want or need anything commercial from each other, don't really take photos either. Don't send letters as neither of us can write well and in fact writing is painful to me, really hurts my wrists. If I was to do this to satisfy rules it would be fake. I don't really know how to fake things well. I don't really expect people to understand us, we are very non traditional. We use the internet for everything. And I'm still reconsidering the USA at all after reading about the lady today with the I-130 taking 2 years and no end in sight. I can't wait 2 years. They still haven't put us on the computer so how do I know there isn't a huge problem with our case?

[OBX 51]

Hi all

I finally got married to my boyfriend of 11 years and now we're about to file our CR1 papers. I was looking over the guide and planning getting the package completed over the weekend, and I just want to make sure I don't forget anything, etc. I was also worrying about the evidence of a "bonafide marriage" and wondering if old emails, photos and phone bills would do the trick. If anyone has gone through the initial filing of the cr1 and has any tips I would love to hear them! Thanks!

Those items sound fine although all I sent ( in addition to the required marriage certificate) was three notarized affidavits from friends and family. I saved my 10 years worth of telephone bills, emails, cards and photos for the interview (none if which they even looked at BTW). Good luck!

[M J Woods 1]

Stuff like this terrifies me.

I don't send cards, gifts etc, we don't really want or need anything commercial from each other, don't really take photos either. Don't send letters as neither of us can write well and in fact writing is painful to me, really hurts my wrists. If I was to do this to satisfy rules it would be fake. I don't really know how to fake things well. I don't really expect people to understand us, we are very non traditional. We use the internet for everything. And I'm still reconsidering the USA at all after reading about the lady today with the I-130 taking 2 years and no end in sight. I can't wait 2 years. They still haven't put us on the computer so how do I know there isn't a huge problem with our case?

I've misplaced the link, but someone somewhere in these forums (fora?) had posted a way to print out your Skype calling history (even Skype-to-Skype), if that's what you guys do. We have sort of the same problem; my husband and I took lots of photos while we were together in Turkey, but other than that, it's mostly just Skyping or MSN, commenting on each other's Facebook posts, things like that. But it seems that USCIS, etc. should be tech-forward enough that they will comprehend such things. Hopefully.

[TSC Blackhole 11]

Thanks everyone for your advice, I sent my package out today. Fingers crossed.