Question about personal info on emails, chat logs, letters, etc...

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

My fiance and I are very close to submitting our I-129F package, we have all of our forms completed and he is in the process of mailing me his signed paperwork from India.

I've been gathering evidence of our ongoing relationship and starting printing out emails, chat logs, facebook messages, etc.

The first question is, I understand you are allowed to black out personal information with a marker, but how much is too much? I have one email message that I would like to submit because of the date but my fiance mentions a lot of personal info on that email so I had to black out a few sentences. Should that be ok?

Also, in some of our messages he refers to me as "wife" purely as an affectionate term. I'm just worried that if USCIS sees this it will arm them with more questions to drill Kirpal with at his interview, or worse make him prove that we are not married!

Should I just black out "wife" from our messages to be safe?

Thanks!

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I wouldn't send anything with the word wife in it. It would be obvious if you were blacking out an endearment and they would wonder WHAT he was calling you. There have been people denied because of it. USCIS thought they might be married when they weren't really. Just not worth the risk.

You said you want to send the email with the personal info because of the date... What is it about the date that's so special? Are there any other emails? Blacking out is usually fine but I'm not sure if India is considered high-fraud and would therefore frown upon the blacking out. Hopefully someone else could give you more specific advice on that front but definitely, the term wife should NOT blacked out because it would be too obvious so don't send anything that has that in it.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

I wouldn't send anything with the word wife in it. It would be obvious if you were blacking out an endearment and they would wonder WHAT he was calling you. There have been people denied because of it. USCIS thought they might be married when they weren't really. Just not worth the risk.

You said you want to send the email with the personal info because of the date... What is it about the date that's so special? Are there any other emails? Blacking out is usually fine but I'm not sure if India is considered high-fraud and would therefore frown upon the blacking out. Hopefully someone else could give you more specific advice on that front but definitely, the term wife should NOT blacked out because it would be too obvious so don't send anything that has that in it.

That's bad news, because Kirpal writes wife in everything, all of our facebook messages, emails, chat logs are all null now I guess.....

As for the email, the date is important because at that time we were only communicating by email, for several months. Phone calls weren't really an option at that point, I was not doing so well financially and he was traveling in and out of remote areas where cell phone reception was quite bad. It was just easier for us to regularly catch up when he would reach an internet cafe rather than dealing with the frustration of continuously dropped phone calls.

[Gosia & Tito 199]

My fiance and I are very close to submitting our I-129F package, we have all of our forms completed and he is in the process of mailing me his signed paperwork from India.

I've been gathering evidence of our ongoing relationship and starting printing out emails, chat logs, facebook messages, etc.

The first question is, I understand you are allowed to black out personal information with a marker, but how much is too much? I have one email message that I would like to submit because of the date but my fiance mentions a lot of personal info on that email so I had to black out a few sentences. Should that be ok?

Also, in some of our messages he refers to me as "wife" purely as an affectionate term. I'm just worried that if USCIS sees this it will arm them with more questions to drill Kirpal with at his interview, or worse make him prove that we are not married!

Should I just black out "wife" from our messages to be safe?

Thanks!

The requirement for the 129 is to have met in the past 2 years. You did not mention that, thus make sure you have that covered first. In some countries, some pictures and boarding pass stubs would do; but as another post says, don't know what are the specifics in India. Again, the requirement is to have met. Once you get to the interview is where you would want to show ongoing relation, so, maybe it's time to make adjustments in your messages. In our interview, we had a few samples of e-mail and other written communications, they did not look at it at all. In fact, CO wanted to see tax transcripts and letter of employment; 3 questions later is was over.

[Dan & Jenni 457]

The requirement for the 129 is to have met in the past 2 years. You did not mention that, thus make sure you have that covered first. In some countries, some pictures and boarding pass stubs would do; but as another post says, don't know what are the specifics in India. Again, the requirement is to have met. Once you get to the interview is where you would want to show ongoing relation, so, maybe it's time to make adjustments in your messages. In our interview, we had a few samples of e-mail and other written communications, they did not look at it at all. In fact, CO wanted to see tax transcripts and letter of employment; 3 questions later is was over.

i would agree with that too... provide proof of having met like boarding passes, passport stamps, and photos of the two of you together in the I-129F package and then choose your words a little more carefully in future emails and messages

[VanessaTony 3,567]

That's bad news, because Kirpal writes wife in everything, all of our facebook messages, emails, chat logs are all null now I guess.....

As for the email, the date is important because at that time we were only communicating by email, for several months. Phone calls weren't really an option at that point, I was not doing so well financially and he was traveling in and out of remote areas where cell phone reception was quite bad. It was just easier for us to regularly catch up when he would reach an internet cafe rather than dealing with the frustration of continuously dropped phone calls.

It's completely up to you whether you include them or not. Everyone is different but calling you wife when you're not his wife de-values the term... at least that's how Tony and I felt about it, and several of my now-married friends and what not. that's why it was always "wife to be" or "husband to be".

Edited August 13, 2011 by Vanessa&Tony

[TBoneTX 46,487]

Indian K-1 interviewees are typically given a VERY hard time. Front-load your I-129F petition with everything that you can (MINUS anything with "wife" in it -- holy mackerel, what trouble you'd be in!). It will help considerably, and may be a de facto requirement, for the USC to be on the consular premises for the interview. Cost aside, I'd delay filing until you have a couple of months' worth of phone records to include in the I-129F filing. Spare expense now, and repent in leisure if the interview goes south because you didn't front-load your petition effectively.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

The requirement for the 129 is to have met in the past 2 years. You did not mention that, thus make sure you have that covered first. In some countries, some pictures and boarding pass stubs would do; but as another post says, don't know what are the specifics in India. Again, the requirement is to have met. Once you get to the interview is where you would want to show ongoing relation, so, maybe it's time to make adjustments in your messages. In our interview, we had a few samples of e-mail and other written communications, they did not look at it at all. In fact, CO wanted to see tax transcripts and letter of employment; 3 questions later is was over.

Thank you for the reply.

We did meet up just a few months ago and I have plenty of proof of that meeting (i.e. ticket stubs, receipts, photos, etc.)

I did manage to find a few emails without the word wife in them. I also plan on providing phone bills, and letters. I also have a chat log with no messages in it, just the dates we logged on.

I also have plenty of photos and other evidence during the year he spent in the U.S. on a J-1 visa.

Hopefully that will be enough to get our petition approved.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

It's completely up to you whether you include them or not. Everyone is different but calling you wife when you're not his wife de-values the term... at least that's how Tony and I felt about it, and several of my now-married friends and what not. that's why it was always "wife to be" or "husband to be".

You're absolutely right about the wife thing, that's just Kirpal. I'll have to tell him to be more careful with what he types from now on.

I was really just trying to provide as much evidence as I could but I think we will be able to get by with all of the rest of the letters, photos, and phone bills I have also provided.

Thanks for the info.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

Indian K-1 interviewees are typically given a VERY hard time. Front-load your I-129F petition with everything that you can (MINUS anything with "wife" in it -- holy mackerel, what trouble you'd be in!). It will help considerably, and may be a de facto requirement, for the USC to be on the consular premises for the interview. Cost aside, I'd delay filing until you have a couple of months' worth of phone records to include in the I-129F filing. Spare expense now, and repent in leisure if the interview goes south because you didn't front-load your petition effectively.

Thanks so much, very helpful. I'll keep all these things in mind.

As for the phone bills, we have been in a relationship for nearly 3 years so I have plenty of phone bill records to show. I was just concerned about that particular "gap" period in which communication was somewhat of a strain for us. It lasted for a few months in the 14 months that we were separated.

[Bec_Dipu 103]

Also, in some of our messages he refers to me as "wife" purely as an affectionate term. I'm just worried that if USCIS sees this it will arm them with more questions to drill Kirpal with at his interview, or worse make him prove that we are not married!

Should I just black out "wife" from our messages to be safe?

Thanks!

DO NOT provide anything where you refer to each other as husband and wife. Indian consulates outright deny or place into AR couples who they feel may actually be married. One couple in Mumbai I believe just had issues because their engagement pics looked like wedding pics. It is in your best interest to in any way provide any evidence that may be misconstrued as proof you are married.

It is not necessary to print tons of emails. Go into your sent box and or whatever folder you save your conversations in and take a print screen showing all of the emails, dates and times you have communicated. Just one print screen can show multiple communications. They do not want to and probably won't read every email you provide them. A print screen log and just a few sample emails should suffice.

I can't stress this enough...DO NOT refer to each other as husband and wife in any evidence you provide. Not even in a cute joking kind of way. Read the Indian consulate reviews and get a feel for the kind of harassment people have faced.

[workaholic 0]

All emails have a seach column. Therefore, type the email address or your fiance's email address, and whole list of her emails will show up.

Just take a print view of them and thats it. No need to disclose the contact of the emails, just a basic print, showing the dates and the email headers bw u and ure fiance.

I send the same thing,, since it makes it concise and to the point.

[TBoneTX 46,487]

take a print screen showing all of the emails, dates and times you have communicated.

Excellent procedure -- and be sure to scrutinize the "subject" lines of each mail to ENSURE that nothing says "wife" or "husband." Either edit those out and reprint the print-screen, or blacken them out on BOTH sides of the paper. Do NOT underestimate the Indian consulates! Edited August 13, 2011 by TBoneTX

[smirky 0]

My fiance and I are very close to submitting our I-129F package, we have all of our forms completed and he is in the process of mailing me his signed paperwork from India.

I've been gathering evidence of our ongoing relationship and starting printing out emails, chat logs, facebook messages, etc.

The first question is, I understand you are allowed to black out personal information with a marker, but how much is too much? I have one email message that I would like to submit because of the date but my fiance mentions a lot of personal info on that email so I had to black out a few sentences. Should that be ok?

Also, in some of our messages he refers to me as "wife" purely as an affectionate term. I'm just worried that if USCIS sees this it will arm them with more questions to drill Kirpal with at his interview, or worse make him prove that we are not married!

Should I just black out "wife" from our messages to be safe?

Thanks!

if you have tons of emails and chatlogs, i guess you can omit some with personal info. most often CO won't even bother to read them according to the Vj members who underwent their interview here in Manila not sure though on how strict are the CO's there in your country. We got approved even if my fiance just submitted two photos and nothing more for supporting evidence.

[ronluvme 10]

hi,

dont worry you do not need that email,chat,letters etc when you file the fiance petition,we have done everything about it and all you have to do is,print of the photos togther of you and your gf showing that u met in person,copy of boarding passes,plane tickets stamp on your passport,

the emails,chat logs etc will be bringing during the interview at the CO so yu have enough time to prepare such things,the letter with "wife"on it dont ever think to submit those,just pick the good email and good conversation that u guys did,phone records,etc would be helpfull..so when u start to file your petition u can continue sending letters to your gf with no"wife"word on it,good luck.

femloveron