Photos for interview

[doctorbeat 6]

We've just been going through our photos to get them ready for printing.

I noticed as we were going through them that there aren't really many if my wife and me together, because one of us is usually holding the camera.

What are people's opinions of this? Are several photos in a group obviously taken at the same time good enough?

Also, we've been through about half of our photos so far, and only picking out the most suitable ones has left us with 120. This means we're going to have probably 300 suitable ones once we're done.

Is there such a thing as having too many photos?

How many is too many?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I think 100s are too many, though it depends on your case.

How about 10-15 in various locations and with various people, especially family?

Edited June 20, 2011 by Harpa Timsah

[san diego 407]

I recommend 3-4 from each meeting. I had 7 meetings, had 3-4 together from each (your favorite) and arranged them by meeting together with other meeting documentation. Had separate folders. For example:

Folder Moscow 05/2010:

1) Boarding passes both ways

2) Photocopy of my passport with entry/exit stamps

3) Photocopy of the visa page

4) My registration in her apartment (required in Russia for visitors over 3 days)

5) 3 pictures: engagement party, 2 of us with her parents, 2 of us in the park

I recommend selecting pictures which are MEANINGFUL for the process. For example, picture of 2 of you with her parents, 2 of you with your parents. I think more than 4 per visit IS too many and may get lost in a volume. What is important is meaning, not quantity.

Another example of the folder: while we were waiting for I129 approval I moved her to Tijuana, rented apartment and commuted to work through the border daily. Folder:

1) Her boarding passes

2) Her entry/exit visas and permit to enter Mexico for 180 days

3) Out boarding passes to and from Cabo for celebration of our 1 year meeting anniversary

4) Hotel receipt in Cabo

5) My lease of the apartment in Mexico

6) 1 picture in Cabo, 1 picture with my mom that she met in Tijuana (she traveled there to meet her from San Diego), 1 picture with my daughter from ex-marriage, 1 picture with my cousin with his wife. 4 pictures total. Remember: MEANINGFUL PICS, NOT QUANTITY!

[doctorbeat 6]

Yeah that makes sense, we don't want to bog the interviewer down with too many.

But, for instance, we went to visit my wife's mom in Wisconsin. There's photos I took of my wife and her mom, and photos my wife took of me and her mom, but no photos of all three of us together.

We thought maybe a sequence of photos would tell the story, but then there's the problem of ending up with too many...

You just don't think 'hey I might need these for an immigration interview' at the time.

[san diego 407]

Yeah that makes sense, we don't want to bog the interviewer down with too many.

But, for instance, we went to visit my wife's mom in Wisconsin. There's photos I took of my wife and her mom, and photos my wife took of me and her mom, but no photos of all three of us together.

We thought maybe a sequence of photos would tell the story, but then there's the problem of ending up with too many...

You just don't think 'hey I might need these for an immigration interview' at the time.

It is understandable. I also have pic, for example, only of my fiancee and my mom. This is what counts. If you are careful, you will not end-up with too many. They just do not care about the number. For example: your Wisconsin trip:

1) Your foto of YOU and HER MOM. nobody cares about pic of HER with her own mom.

2) One more pic of two of you in Wisconsin that YOU really like.

3) Possibly you with her friends if any.

This is enough. Move on to other trips. No one thought about making them for this purpose. You just select and move on. This is not a photography contest.

Edited June 20, 2011 by san diego

[san diego 407]

Everyone understands that you do not plan pictures for the K1. For example:

1) We met in Dusseldorf when I was at the conference - 0 pics

2) We spent together Christmas vacation in Budapest - 1 blurry pic together on the Blackberry

3) My first trip to Moscow to visit her - 1 high-quality accidental pic of two of us together in the Night club downloaded from this night club website: the club took random pics of the attendees of that night and posted on the club website without our permission

You just select and go with it. We new each other for almost a year and multiple meetings before we even decided to get engaged...

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Everyone understands that you do not plan pictures for the K1. For example:

1) We met in Dusseldorf when I was at the conference - 0 pics

2) We spent together Christmas vacation in Budapest - 1 blurry pic together on the Blackberry

3) My first trip to Moscow to visit her - 1 high-quality accidental pic of two of us together in the Night club downloaded from this night club website: the club took random pics of the attendees of that night and posted on the club website without our permission

You just select and go with it. We new each other for almost a year and multiple meetings before we even decided to get engaged...

People in this forum did not come on a K-1 visa and did not have "trips." The circumstances here are different.

[san diego 407]

People in this forum did not come on a K-1 visa and did not have "trips." The circumstances here are different.

For AOS I did the same thing - just trips/events. Type of stuff that you usually photograph. Just 6 pics selected: marriage, weekend trips, reception, with my daughter and my mom and my cousin. You have to be selective.

[mof 15]

I had the same questions regarding the pictures - and I am sure that many others here have wondered as well.

We compiled about 150 pictures - wife and I, her mother and I, her father and I, my parents and I, her siblings and I, my brother and my wife, pics of the whole family with us, pics of both our families together at our wedding, etc.

The IO looked at exactly ZERO pictures!

In other words, I think if your evidence is strong enough, then pictures are simply not very important. However, if the evidence is not clear, I am sure it helps to have a variety of pictures available.

[doctorbeat 6]

We need as much evidence as possible really.

We have some other areas that may be a little lacking, we don't have a lease, and all utility bills are included in our rent payments.

The only bill we actually get is cable, and they won't allow us to have more than one name on our account.

We have other stuff, but we need the evidence that we do have to be strong.

[mof 15]

We need as much evidence as possible really.

We have some other areas that may be a little lacking, we don't have a lease, and all utility bills are included in our rent payments.

The only bill we actually get is cable, and they won't allow us to have more than one name on our account.

We have other stuff, but we need the evidence that we do have to be strong.

In that case, by all means, bring whatever you feel might support your case. When preparing, I thought to myself that I'd rather have a big folder with way too much information in it that I might never need, than to sit in my interview, beating myself up for not bringing enough. You see, the IO doesn't have to see everything that you bring - he or she will ask for specific items. If he/she asks for pictures, I don't think it hurts to have plenty to show them. Obviously, there is no need to go overboard: I could have brought 30,000 photos of us (I am not exaggerating - I ALWAYS carry a camera with me and I use it every single day!) but really, if the first fifty photos cannot make a convincing case, the others likely won't add much...

[doctorbeat 6]

Yup, I also like photography and carry a camera.

It took most of the day today to go through around half of the several thousand that I have (not quite 30,00 but probably close to 10,000).

The other problem that I have is that my wife hates having her photo taken, and I have a lot of photos of her with her hand in front of her face...

[lady26 0]

do not worry about it

bring with you two photo albums and joint bank account statements as well as lease contract.

good luck!!!

[iwuvcheshert 6]

my cousin advised me to prep at least 15 pics only. most of which important moments in your relationship

[Helen Louise Pile 80]

My husband and I had the same issue (Most pictures include one of us while the other one takes the pictures.) Last summer we drove from Alaska to Vermont and we bought a little tripod so we could avoid this problem.

Including 300 pictures seems too many. As someone else said: you want quality over quantity. A picture of you and her Mum might be a good one to include. A picture of her with her own Mum seems pointless. Do you have bills with either name on them for the same address? That way you could match up the address and the time frame? Or are all bills in one name? I did a K1 so it's slightly different, we did not have to include any evidence of marriage other than our marriage certificate, but I've thought about this for our ROC. Can you open a joint bank account right now and include evidence of that? Concentrate on the primary evidence and provide the pictures as 'back up' proof of what your primary shows.

Good luck with everything!