"Bury them in paperwork" ???

[EminTX 131]

Just out of curiosity, for those of you who plan to "bury them in paperwork", I personally witnessed a close friend with a file that was over 6 inches thick in court. His court appointment was for 8am. The judge took one look at the outside of his file and told the bailiff to put it on the bottom of the stack for the end of the day since it was obviously so full. At the end of the day, we ran out of time and were rescheduled.

If you plan to irritate the person handling your paperwork, I don't think that can help your case any. Seriously, I know that if I were the person with a stack of case folders in front of me, I'd always pick the ones that looked manageable first.

Who has done this and had a positive result?

Who has sent only what was asked and had a positive result?

What are the outcomes that are negative either way?

(Please don't respond at all unless you have finished the process and have a visa in hand. Anything else is just space/time wasting clutter.)

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Just out of curiosity, for those of you who plan to "bury them in paperwork", I personally witnessed a close friend with a file that was over 6 inches thick in court. His court appointment was for 8am. The judge took one look at the outside of his file and told the bailiff to put it on the bottom of the stack for the end of the day since it was obviously so full. At the end of the day, we ran out of time and were rescheduled.

If you plan to irritate the person handling your paperwork, I don't think that can help your case any. Seriously, I know that if I were the person with a stack of case folders in front of me, I'd always pick the ones that looked manageable first.

Who has done this and had a positive result?

Who has sent only what was asked and had a positive result?

What are the outcomes that are negative either way?

(Please don't respond at all unless you have finished the process and have a visa in hand. Anything else is just space/time wasting clutter.)

My fiancee got here last Sat. My initial file was not very big at all. Just about 8 pictures, copies of entry stamps, airline tickets, etc etc. Very well organized and everything in order. Same thing with interview file. She breezed thru interview and they barley glanced at evidence. On my affidavit of support I just enclosed my last 3 years Tax return, W-2 and a letter from my bank saying I had an active account. I did not list bank account details, brokerage accounts etc. Took me 5 months from NOA 1 until the day she got here. Hope this helps. Keep in mind from what I understand every embassy is different

.

[naijaboy 16]

court? what was he filing? i have a lot of paper work for my fiance's interview coming up

[Golden Gate 530]

I sent about 6 pictures of us, samples of phone calls (maybe 10 pages at most) for about three different months for the past 1 1/2 years - beginning, middle, end, a 1/2 page description of how we met and what our relationship was about, a screenshot of my email sent box, boarding pass copies, restaurant and car rental receipts, and our application. I believe that was it. I just placed these things in order - with a table of contents at the beginning and little stickies to separate the info. He was approved, and I don't believe he showed any evidence I had him bring to the interview - the papers already said approved while he was being interviewed.

Edited November 17, 2011 by Golden Gate

[VanessaTony 3,567]

1. Who has done this and had a positive result?

2. Who has sent only what was asked and had a positive result?

3. What are the outcomes that are negative either way?

(Please don't respond at all unless you have finished the process and have a visa in hand. Anything else is just space/time wasting clutter.)

1. Not me

2. Me. I sent quite literally ONLY what was asked for. They didn't look at anything for my proof of relationship at the interview and I was approved without RFE. With AOS the same. ONLY was was asked for (to a "T") approved without interview or RFE

3. I recall several cases where people got REALLY long RFE's asking for info the applicants said they'd already "included". USCIS couldn't be arsed going through the mound of paperwork to find something that they actually wanted, and that was actually relevant.

[TBoneTX 46,276]

every embassy is different

This is the key advice. USCIS needs only what its own requirements are, but front-loading the I-129F petition with "evidence of bona fide relationship" can pay off at the consular stage. USCIS passes this information to the consulate, and the consulate is not supposed to refuse a visa on the basis of evidence that USCIS has seen.

Include only material that YOU want the consulate to see, and for God's sake, omit anything in which you playfully refer to each other as "husband" or "wife."

[Anh map 2,098]

This is the key advice. USCIS needs only what its own requirements are, but front-loading the I-129F petition with "evidence of bona fide relationship" can pay off at the consular stage. USCIS passes this information to the consulate, and the consulate is not supposed to refuse a visa on the basis of evidence that USCIS has seen.

Include only material that YOU want the consulate to see, and for God's sake, omit anything in which you playfully refer to each other as "husband" or "wife."

Agreed. The amount of evidence needed/expected does vary greatly depending on the embassy/consulate. Reading in the appropriate regional forum can be very helpful to learn the expectations facing you.

[EminTX 131]

court? what was he filing? i have a lot of paper work for my fiance's interview coming up

His was a very complicated case. He was a fraud victim.

He was married to a US citizen in another country. She sat with him and directed him to fill out paperwork for a K1-fiance visa. His questioning of it got the response that the US was her country and that marriages from outside the US were invalid and to trust her. It went downhill from there. (Of course, his English wasn't so hot back then).

He was a doctor and stupid and in-love. After he sold everything he had, moved here, and was ready to make a new life with her, she told him to pay her off or else she would report him for being a terrorist. He thought it was a sick joke. Then she split, taking everything they had.

Seriously.

And she DID report him as a terrorist. He was taken into custody while we were at work in front of an ER full of patients and coworkers.

The thickness of his file was because she had called every senator/congressman she could to report that her husband was a terrorist who had committed fraud and used her to gain access to the US. She also reported him as abusive to the police. Called his two jobs and told them things, etc. Privately, she told him that if he wanted her to stop, he'd have to pay her 70,000U$. (I'm guessing that she didn't consider that if he couldn't work, he wouldn't be able to earn her fees.)

THAT is why his file was so thick. And why he had multiple court dates, each one, of course, adding more and more pages to that file.

My first horror was when I saw his file as the bailiff was bringing it in. All the other folks there in immigration court were snickering over it, too. The judge was obviously very annoyed at even having something with that much trouble in her courtroom and verbally open with her disdain.

I would expect that a little extra to be sure is good, but I keep reading people who say, "I sent the entire chat history over 2 years--teehee!" or "Every phone record and our entire photo album together--let them deal with that!" or "I'm so proud because I needed a box for my stuff--an envelope just wouldn't do!" It seems to me like shooting yourself in the foot.

There is a list of exactly what to send, if they have to search specific things out (and too many flags/markers/post-its to make important things stand out will make anything just as difficult to find), it can't be good for your case, IMHO. It seems interesting to me that several people here are often advising to completely ignore what is actually requested as evidence and "send in lots of....." instead.

(Side note--I do see where now, letters with references to specific dates and locations where you were together are requested evidence, but apparently 4 years ago, there was a direct statement that letters will NOT be accepted as evidence. Sigh.)

(Side note #2 -- When this occurred, you could be granted an emergency divorce in Kansas. Call the police and claim to be abused. Go to court, be granted the divorce before your spouse returns home from work/school for the day, Arrange to have the house emptied and get someone to go get his car while you are in court and he has no idea whatsoever. Perfectly legal. I hope this has been done away with now.)

Edited November 17, 2011 by EminTX