Correspondence "before" meeting in person?

[VeniyaAO 4]

Hi,

I received a NOA, Request for Evidence. I-129F petition sent March 3, 2011.

This is very strange.

I have known my fiancee for 1.5 years. I sent actual photo copies of airline tickets, flight itineraries, with purchase information, copies of boarding pass stubs, many pictures of us together in many places in Colombia, dated hotel receipts showing both of our names as guests and both names signed at the bottom, long distance call log, dinner receipts, love letters in my initial visa petition packet. Also, when we met in another city for a trip in Colombia, I even sent them the copies of my fiancee boarding pass stubs and flight itinerary showing we were in the same city at the same time along with dated photos. I even have photos of us together in the jewelry store sizing the engagement ring.

I provided a letter of how we met in person in a mall in Colombia. I was with her in February 2011, Jan. 2011, Dec. 2010, and every 3 months before that. I sent information regarding every trip together along with photos together with dates.

Now I get an NOA. for a request for evidence of meeting in person? I can not believe this. How can this be?

Now they want me to:

1) send copies of passport pages.

2) Description of how we meet (already described in initial packet),

3) Also this line in the letter from the Dept. of Homeland Security really confuses me.

"provide copies of correspondence to establish that the petitioner and beneficiary were in contact before the petitioners trip abroad."

NOTICE that the word before is underlined. What? Do you have to meet your fiancee through correspondence before you make a trip. Is it not possible to be on vacation and meet your fiancee in another country while you are there? I am really confused, I explained how we meet, gave 1.5 years of trip information, photos, hotel receipts with both of our signatures and all the information I described above and they are doubting if we meet in the last 2 years???????????? and they want to information showing we were in correspondence before the trip? I took many, many trips to Colombia all documented.

My application was over 130 pages long with evidence of meeting in person.

It seems someone is just wanting to stall our visa application.

I am just completely confused as to how they can not understand we have not met in person. Do photos together in many different parks, beaches, hotels, restaurants, airports mean anything? I am shocked I got a NOA creating additional time before we can be together.

I spent over a month preparing the visa petition to ensure it was completed to the full extent possible.

I am shocked.

Edited May 30, 2011 by VeniyaAO

[VanessaTony 3,567]

This is an example of why there is such a thing as too much evidence. I think they couldn't be bothered ferreting through the massive pile of evidence and sorting it out so they just issued and RFE to get what they need succinctly.

I think the correspondence before trip abroad thing is a bit weird but it could be that they only saw the most recent trip information and decided you weren't together long enough or again couldn't be bothered sorting through the pile.

For the "before" part perhaps you could attach a "contents list" at the start of your RFE response with a number to explain what is attached for each RFE point such as:

1. Passport pages (or however it's officially worded)

a. 4 x pages attached of passport pages (or however many pages there are)

2. Description of meeting (or however it's officially worded)

a. 2 x pages of Description of circumstances of meeting (or however many pages there are)

3. Provide copies of correspondence to establish that the petitioner and beneficiary were in contact before the petitioners trip abroad

a. 1 x pages of relationship timeline (or however many pages there are)

b. 20 x pages of correspondence between Petitioners Name and Beneficiaries Name - selection from start of correspondence to present (or however many pages there are)

Don't know if that helps at all but good luck.

Edited May 30, 2011 by Vanessa&Tony

[danik713 21]

This is an example of why there is such a thing as too much evidence. I think they couldn't be bothered ferreting through the massive pile of evidence and sorting it out so they just issued and RFE to get what they need succinctly.

Disagree on point one - it is a matter of having the right evidence, quality over quantity. The second point makes plenty of sense. If I was the adjudicator and had the option to issue an RFE or go through 130 pages searching for what I needed I'd definitely send the RFE as well.

For the third requirement of the RFE I would take it as looking for correspondence prior to one of your more recent meetings. It does seem a bit odd but the adjudicator is probably asking for this because of the massive petition you sent - just looking for concise confirmation. Fortunately you should be able to return the requested evidence quickly and hopefully get your approval in the very near future -- good luck.

[galenjr 1]

Your best bet at this point is to do as requested. It may slow down the process...but the process is still moving. Patience is very important in this process. You'll be with your loved one soon.

[Anh map 2,098]

The 130 pages is way too much. Giving them a pile and expecting the adjudicator to sift through to find the pertinent info is too much to expect. Unless there was a detailed index/table of contents with the 130 pages it would be difficult to find the needed items in that amount of pages.

Send back the information requested, even if it is duplicating what has already been sent. Include a cover page explaining what is being sent (for example: copies of passport pages, email correspondence from xx/xx/xxxx - xx/xx/xxxxx, etc.)