Wedding Guest List....too early to submit?

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Interesting to see regional differences although as many mention, USCIS does not require it as evidence in their official documentation.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

A wedding guest list is required at almost NO consulates.

Edited September 4, 2011 by Gary and Alla

[bigdog 376]

In Delhi do as they do in Delhi.

[Bec_Dipu 103]

I don't know if the wedding guest list is "required" or just something they ask for on a whim. I've read a few stories where married couple were asked to provide the list and then the embassy called people on the list. It could be these couple didn't have enough proof of their marriage.

I've also read stories where K1 people were asked so that the embassy could call and verify that people actually knew about the engagement and that it was real.

I realize that not everyone who goes through the visa process uses this site (I think it's less than 10% based on quick calculations of # of petitions filed versus Igor's list) but there are sooooo many crazy stories about India in general and New Delhi specifically on this site...I've developed some kind of tick in my eye

The fact that they ask so many people for five years of voting records really makes me mad. I don't know what a voting record in India looks like, but the choice to vote and the privacy of it in the US is a right that I hold very dear. It really creams my butter that they ask for something that no one would ever ask a US citizen for.

The engagement party is a VERY tricky thing at this embassy. I've read stories about where people are asked for evidence that they've had one. I've also read stories where people provide evidence of the party and the CO says the party is too elaborate, it must be a wedding ceremony and then denies them.

Reading all the stories on the site and another visa site I found really makes my head spin. Sometimes I wish that I had never done any research so that I could have waited my 8 months in blissful ignorance...of course, then we probably would have been outright denied. Ahhhhhhh....

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

I don't know if the wedding guest list is "required" or just something they ask for on a whim. I've read a few stories where married couple were asked to provide the list and then the embassy called people on the list. It could be these couple didn't have enough proof of their marriage.

I've also read stories where K1 people were asked so that the embassy could call and verify that people actually knew about the engagement and that it was real.

I realize that not everyone who goes through the visa process uses this site (I think it's less than 10% based on quick calculations of # of petitions filed versus Igor's list) but there are sooooo many crazy stories about India in general and New Delhi specifically on this site...I've developed some kind of tick in my eye

The fact that they ask so many people for five years of voting records really makes me mad. I don't know what a voting record in India looks like, but the choice to vote and the privacy of it in the US is a right that I hold very dear. It really creams my butter that they ask for something that no one would ever ask a US citizen for.

The engagement party is a VERY tricky thing at this embassy. I've read stories about where people are asked for evidence that they've had one. I've also read stories where people provide evidence of the party and the CO says the party is too elaborate, it must be a wedding ceremony and then denies them.

Reading all the stories on the site and another visa site I found really makes my head spin. Sometimes I wish that I had never done any research so that I could have waited my 8 months in blissful ignorance...of course, then we probably would have been outright denied. Ahhhhhhh....

Just to be on the safe side, I'm going to include the guest list. What USCIS decides to do with it, I'll never know. They can look at it, they can toss it aside, they can wallpaper their living room with it, heck, they can even set it on fire and have a little bonfire with it, but it's going in the petition.

The voting records I really don't understand at all. Why does that have anything to do with the validity of a person's relationship? Is it supposed to suggest their strong ties to India? I told Kirpal this morning to prepare himself in case he has to get these and he was equally baffled why they would want these.

[Team Erra 0]

New Delhi asks for this all the time. It's best to provide them whatever they might issue a 221g for prior to the interview. They've also been known to ask for a copy of the beneficiary's voter id card and last five years of voting records.

We turned in a guest list, a notarized statement that my fiance doesn't vote, 12 notarized letters of support from our families and friends, a letter and pictures detailing my bridal shower, screen shots from our theknot.com page, a renewed letter of intent that answered questions I thought they might have like why we hadn't physically met each other's parents, evidence of us interacting with each other's family via email, phone or Skype, why we didn't have a large engagement party, why we went the K1 instead of marriage route, pictures of all of his stuff I've brought home over the past year and integrated into our home, phone logs, email logs, Skype logs.

I provided all of that and when we walked up to the CO's counter, the 221g was already printed and ready for us. BUT, when the CO saw me and found out who I was, in the trash it went. Moral of my story: be as prepared as you can be and still expect a 221g. If at all possible, show up for the interview too.

By the way, I've read multiple stories where New Delhi or other Indian consulates issued a 221g for evidence that they already had in their possession and when the beneficiary pointed that out and tried to make them look at it, they said they wouldn't review it and it would have to be turned into the VFS again. Proof that they don't look at everything you send them.

I totally agree with you! Having the guest list in advance, a list of people who know you are engaged, the letters of support, bridal shower, etc plus the voting records were all included in our 221g and then later denied for "expiration" Having this in advance is a lesson learned!!!

I also agree that you could recieve 221g, because that is how we felt - they put us into 221g evidence for reasons that we had covered.

ALSO... our Consular officer was not happy that we had photo copies of our photos. Crrazy minor detail - get real photos.