Extremely important for newbies K1 visa

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Dear all,

USCIS don't care about pictures. They said the pics are secondary evidence and they have to be film dated not HAND dated. They also said in the RFE that emails, chats, phone bills, bills...are irrelevant and unacceptable. They also said Flight itineraries and undated boarding passes are not acceptable. Finally, they said please submit copies of passport pages showing name and stamped entries to the beneficiary's country. I suppose dated boarding passes are acceptable. This is extremely important as I didn't know this stuff when I first submitted and got a RFE. I don't think anybody should get RFE for something like this. So guys, listen, I told you this exactly from my RFE paper. Hope my RFE becomes NOA2 now.

Have fun.

You got a boiler plate response because you didn't include any primary evidence to prove you and your fiancee had met. Most of the information is already fairly well known on VJ, and some of it is effectively obsolete.

There was a time when USCIS felt it was important to have film dated photos because, although it is quite easy to change the date on the camera, it's considerably more difficult to change the date that's been imprinted on the film negative. This means that in order to perpetrate a forgery you'd almost need to change the camera date before taking the photos. This would be tough if you were intending to use photos you'd taken more than two years ago. This particular requirement is obsolete because most people now use digital cameras, and adding what appears to be a film date using any photo editing software is a simple task. USCIS now expects your primary evidence to establish the dates, but photos are still useful secondary evidence to show you actually met when you say you did.

Flight itineraries have always been useless. Give me three minutes and I can go to Orbitz or Travelocity or Expedia and produce a complete and accurate flight itinerary. If I want one that's retroactive to a few weeks or months ago then I can save the HTML page from the travel agency website, and edit it before printing it. Anyone can do this without paying a dime or actually traveling anywhere.

Primary evidence has to be credible. This means it has to be produced by a third party, not easily fabricated, and prove when you made the trip. Boarding passes, passport stamps and visas, hotel and merchant receipts, etc.

Emails, chats, phone bills etc. ARE relevant, but not for proving that you've met. They are evidence you have a relationship, and can be very relevant at the consulate interview.

I'm sorry you got an RFE, but it sounds like you didn't understand the requirements when you sent the petition.

[SunDrop 59]

Because he put that information out there to help all of us....

OP was trying to help all K-1 filers. These petitions are for fiance/ees, not spouses, as is your case (if you've filed a CR-1/IR-1). You personally don't have a burden of proof of having met in person within the past 2 years, as you're already married.

The reason why your post is potentially confusing matters is because there is no requirement for a K-1 petition beneficiary to provide any proof of identity or citizenship. Only the petitioner needs to establish US citizenship.

From what the OP has said, they got confused as to what the purpose of the various pieces of evidence is. All K-1 petitioners, irrespective of the eventual consulate/embassy, are required to prove they've met their fiance/ees in person within the past 2 years. Many people then add more 'evidence of ongoing relationship' which is also known as frontloading your case. At petition level, this stuff is ignored but once your petition is approved and forwarded to the applicant's consulate/embassy, some people like to have all that additional info forwarded by the NVC, or historically, they've had problems with decisions to deny being made before interview.

It's important to understand what your individual visa petition requires as well as what is expected by your individual consulate/embassy.

[Bsze 50]

Also, you sent your ORIGINAL birth certificate? I hope you have started the process to get a new one, you won't be getting that one back.

When we applied for the K1, we obtained two certified copies of my husband's birth certificate from the county he was born in because his parents could not find the original. The certified copy had a seal and a stamp. We sent in one of those with our application. When it was approved, it was actually returned (in a separate envelope to the NOA2) to us with a hand-written note saying "Your original."

We were surprised because 1) it wasn't an original (and it says clearly on the bottom "certified copy"), and 2) we thought they would need to keep everything for their records. Maybe they just photocopied it. Who knows?

Edited November 23, 2010 by Bsze

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Dear all,

USCIS don't care about pictures. They said the pics are secondary evidence and they have to be film dated not HAND dated. They also said in the RFE that emails, chats, phone bills, bills...are irrelevant and unacceptable. They also said Flight itineraries and undated boarding passes are not acceptable. Finally, they said please submit copies of passport pages showing name and stamped entries to the beneficiary's country. I suppose dated boarding passes are acceptable. This is extremely important as I didn't know this stuff when I first submitted and got a RFE. I don't think anybody should get RFE for something like this. So guys, listen, I told you this exactly from my RFE paper. Hope my RFE becomes NOA2 now.

Have fun.

ALL of these things have been said here 37 million times. But it is good to note them again for those that think sending chat logs will make up for not giving proof of MEETING IN PERSON which is really the ONLY evidence needed for the petition. Without it, 1000 truckloads of emails and chat logs mean nothing.

[Mochamich 7]

Can videos sent via e-mail be used as proof? I already have my Passport with stamped dates, 2 pictures, receipt of engagement ring, and itinerary. (I will be adding the boarding pass copy after reading this.)

[pushbrk 12,882]

Can videos sent via e-mail be used as proof? I already have my Passport with stamped dates, 2 pictures, receipt of engagement ring, and itinerary. (I will be adding the boarding pass copy after reading this.)

Proof of what? Regardless, the answer is no. All evidence submitted must be on "paper".

[Peace.... 281]

Dear all,

USCIS don't care about pictures. They said the pics are secondary evidence and they have to be film dated not HAND dated. They also said in the RFE that emails, chats, phone bills, bills...are irrelevant and unacceptable. They also said Flight itineraries and undated boarding passes are not acceptable. Finally, they said please submit copies of passport pages showing name and stamped entries to the beneficiary's country. I suppose dated boarding passes are acceptable. This is extremely important as I didn't know this stuff when I first submitted and got a RFE. I don't think anybody should get RFE for something like this. So guys, listen, I told you this exactly from my RFE paper. Hope my RFE becomes NOA2 now.

Have fun.

Well, I sent one picture and it was of myself, my fiance and his mother sitting all together. There was no date as I printed it off my computer. I put our names on the back and dated and also said "my soon with hopes to be mother-in-law" The CO looked at this picture more so than any other pictures we took. I guess he liked it LOL.

For the interview, I loaded it up for him but they never really looked it all over. Of course, passport of the 5 trips i took to casablanca was there and hotel, car, food, money exchange over a period of 1 year was very helpful as well.

Edited November 23, 2010 by foreverwaiting

[mike_d_godfather 3]

I did not include copy of my passport too. Should I send a copy now to the service center office or should I wait for the RFE?

[pushbrk 12,882]

I did not include copy of my passport too. Should I send a copy now to the service center office or should I wait for the RFE?

A copy of your passport is not specifically required. What DID you send as primary evidence of meeting in person? If enough, there won't be any RFE.

[KittyPollitt 284]

I don't understand how such a redundant topic can make the front page of Visa Journey..

[Kris & Liezl 3]

I did not include a boarding pass in my petition. When I went over there, I was just visiting a friend who I wanted to meet and who had been asking me to visit her for 10 years. Almost a year after my trip is when I proposed, so I never thought to save any boarding passes - I didn't know I might eventually need it until I found this site. What I DID send was:

- Certified copy of Birth Certificate

- Copy of every page of my Passport

- Copy of receipt sent from travel agency ON boarding pass-like paper - includes itenerary in right quadrant

- Dated Itenerary emailed to me from the Travel agency

- Copies of ATM, Restaurant and Hotel Receipts

- Copies of pictures of us together during my trip, and of me with her family and friends - with names of people and loations written beneath each photo (14 photos)

- Copy of a letter FROM my travel agent, TO ME, AT the hotel in Cebu, asking me how I liked Cebu and how things were going with LIEZL (along with envelope)

- Chikka receipts from every time we chatted in the past 3 years - no logs, because Chikka doesn't save chats and I never thought to save them off (but I am now)

- Copies of 9 years worth of written correspondence - I lost a years worth when moving out of a dorm 10 years ago

Will I get a RFE for not having the actual boarding pass (which is probably rotting away somewhere in a Cathay Pacific seat-back pocket)? Or, based on the above, do you think I will get my NOA2 when they get to my case?

[John+Lourdelie 28]

Can videos sent via e-mail be used as proof? I already have my Passport with stamped dates, 2 pictures, receipt of engagement ring, and itinerary. (I will be adding the boarding pass copy after reading this.)

Maybe you could print out every frame of the video and make a flipbook. That would be interesting.

John

[John+Lourdelie 28]

I don't understand how such a redundant topic can make the front page of Visa Journey..

It seems that the more people that respond to the OP's post the more likely it is to make the HOT list.

John

[newlyweds2010 208]

Boarding passes never show the year all they write is - say - NOV 23.

For what they know, NOV 23 could be this year, last year, 10 years ago. Of course if you put together a boarding pass, a stamp in your passport on the same day or the next day depending on the travel time, and some pics of the two of you together taken during that visit, I bet you're fine. I didn't know the distinction between primary and secondary evidence, but it sounds like common sense to me.

[John+Lourdelie 28]

Boarding passes never show the year all they write is - say - NOV 23.

For what they know, NOV 23 could be this year, last year, 10 years ago. Of course if you put together a boarding pass, a stamp in your passport on the same day or the next day depending on the travel time, and some pics of the two of you together taken during that visit, I bet you're fine. I didn't know the distinction between primary and secondary evidence, but it sounds like common sense to me.

WRONG. Looking at my boarding passes right now and the have DDMMMYY. Maybe some airlines boarding passes don't have years but you can't make a blanket statement that they all don't.

John