Questions about RFE - HELP!

[mjqjazzbar 2]

We received a RFE letter today, the things we need to give more evidence on are,

Dated pictures - Does this mean time stamped, because we dont have ANY. (Who does that anymore, seriously?) Would Facebook picture screenshots work, as they say the date they were uploaded? Or do we simply write on the date they were taken on the back or something?

They need more travel info. - I don't have all the boarding passes. (Why would these also be kept when we didn't know we would eventually be marrying and needing them to prove our relationship?)

Will itineraries do?

The passport stamps apparently don't prove anything. So does that mean I need to scan every single page front to back? How does that prove it anyway?

Help please!!

Edited December 17, 2012 by mjqjazzbar

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

We received a RFE letter today, the things we need to give more evidence on are,

Dated pictures - Does this mean time stamped, because we dont have ANY. (Who does that anymore, seriously?) Would Facebook picture screenshots work, as they say the date they were uploaded? Or do we simply write on the date they were taken on the back or something?

They need more travel info. - I don't have all the boarding passes. (Why would these also be kept when we didn't know we would eventually be marrying and needing them to prove our relationship?)

Will itineraries do?

The passport stamps apparently don't prove anything. So does that mean I need to scan every single page front to back? How does that prove it anyway?

Help please!!

Just write the date on the back of the pictures with your names. Itineraries and as many boarding passes as you have.

[mjqjazzbar 2]

They said that the itinerary doesn't show she entered the country.

[Caryh 5,206]

All the images I had were digital. I went to the drug store to print them and was able to add a date to them. The files were all date stamped electronically on the date they were took, so I just made a list of those dates and added them to the photos before printing. IT was a bit of work at the drug store, but I included them. It seems strange they are asking for more photos, when photos are secondary evidence, not primary.

As to the passport stamps, this is primary evidence. Did you include the identification page of the passport with it? I know some have stated including every page of the passport, but I just included the identification page and the pages showing my entry into the country. And what it proves is being in the country at the same time. Personally I would have thought pictures prove more, but I think they're trying to prove you met in the 2 years prior to filing. I included boarding passes also, but without the year on them, supposedly they were worthless that way. But I also included the itineraries showing us traveling together to. Again supposedly not valid evidence per the list, but again its a piece of evidence building the proof. Also hotel receipts showing both our names as a guests in one room.

When we had an RFE, I called up the disinformation line and asked what they were looking for. I got a very helpful second tier person, imagine that , because I was very confused as it seemed I had already given every thing they were asking for. Her answer to me was to include everything I sent before plus as much more as I could come up showing we had been together in the time frame. You never know what got overlooked or possibly even lost in handling. I also wrote a letter describing in detail every bit of information I sent and what it showed. It must have worked, because a week after I returned the RFE we had the NOA2. When my now wife went to her interview, they asked for nothing from her except the 3 years tax statements.

I know you're probably stressing out, but take a few deep breaths and then start working on your response. Gather every tiny shred of evidence and begin organizing it. Make a cover letter, explaining the order of information returned and a description of the evidence. Give them a copy of every page of the passport, and tell them what page the relevant stamps are on. Make it so easy a kinder-gardener can follow it. Don't make them work to find the answers, make it clear on the cover letter exactly where the evidence they want is. Use highlighters on the page with the stamped dates in the passport. Paste the dated pictures on sheets of paper describing exactly what was happening on that date. Write out a timeline of the events of your relationship, so it makes sense to them should they want to dig into it that far.

You're freaking out now, but when you start working on it in an organized manner, you'll start feeling better and feel your confidence come back.

[baron555 934]

We received a RFE letter today, the things we need to give more evidence on are,

Dated pictures - Does this mean time stamped, because we dont have ANY. (Who does that anymore, seriously?) Would Facebook picture screenshots work, as they say the date they were uploaded? Or do we simply write on the date they were taken on the back or something?

Pictures that you write the date and other descriptive info on the back of.

They need more travel info. - I don't have all the boarding passes. (Why would these also be kept when we didn't know we would eventually be marrying and needing them to prove our relationship?)

You haven't traveled to see each other after deciding on the K-1 visa route? Once you decided on this evidence of a meeting and to prove your relationship should have been key and purposefully generated (more advice for others than for your situation.)

Will itineraries do?

Nope. I can draft any type of intinerary you want.

The passport stamps apparently don't prove anything. So does that mean I need to scan every single page front to back? How does that prove it anyway?

Copies of every page plus front and back covers....not just one page, including blank pages, everything.

Help please!!

Obviously whatever you provided wasn't enough.....you may have non-chalanted it too much....kill them with kindness and inundate them with more evidence of your meeting....this should be very easy to do. The USCIS is only concerned with your one meeting in person and not your relationship....that's for the interview.

Edited December 17, 2012 by baron555

[mjqjazzbar 2]

Can I just screenprint pictures of us together on Facebook along w/ whatever comments/dates correspond? Or should I also go through the trouble of printing actual photos at CVS?

[Altair17 9]

mjqjazzbar, did you even finished reading a response from Caryh? He is giving you a gold mine of info, and you're responding by restating your original question?

You've got to create a document that would be very long, very detailed, very precise, very easy to follow that would include all the info on how you met, travelled to her, etc Expect to spend 12-16 hrs preparing and perfecting this document, at least.

Caryh should be charging you by the hour for a detailed response like this.

[Kevo 69]

they asked for nothing from her except the 3 years tax statements.

3 years? The manila embassy has instructions on their website and it just says "most recent tax statement"...did you just provide more than what they asked or did they actually require 3 years?

Back to the topic...did you use your credit card while there? If so, maybe you can go online and print transactions made there?

[Caryh 5,206]

They say one thing, but sometimes ask for another. I provided 3 years worth since some people have had more than one year requested in Manila, at least as rumor goes. When they asked her for the tax returns, she gave them all three years. I believe she also gave them the copies of the W2's I sent. She had originals to, but she only had originals show and copies to give. She may have been good with one year, but she was worried about not having something, so I sent her anything she wanted, which was a ton of stuff that she mainly didn't need. At one point my wife said, if you don't mind if we're delayed because I'm missing something, and that kicked me into the mode of making sure she had anything that was even rumored to be needed. I think she was disappointed about not needing things, as she spent so much time organizing everything and dragging it along. But she was happy with how easy the interview went.

3 years? The manila embassy has instructions on their website and it just says "most recent tax statement"...did you just provide more than what they asked or did they actually require 3 years?

Back to the topic...did you use your credit card while there? If so, maybe you can go online and print transactions made there?

[redvelvet 12]

When you book airline tickets or hotel rooms, they usually send confirmation to your e-mail. Print them. Those can be used as evidence.

[feli114 65]

Ditto to everything and don't forget to make copies of all of it and send back the original rfe letter. Good luck.

[mjqjazzbar 2]

Sorry. You're right. I truly appreciate the help. I think we've got it sorted out now. It's just a frustrating roadblock after six months of hopeful/stressful waiting. The errors we made seem pretty stupid and obvious now, but I honestly had no idea we made any when we sent out or package. Hopefully they get back to us quickly this time.

Edited December 18, 2012 by mjqjazzbar

[EminTX 131]

Do you have a printer at home? They want to see pictures, not necessarily the traditional individual prints. We put 6 or 8 to a page with captions underneath citing the date and location/situation (example: October 16, 2011 in Iglesia Evangelica Bautista de San Isidro in Lima with missionaries from San Antonio, Texas) then we wrote the name of each person on the back in ball-point pen (so as not to bleed through). This was accepted without question and is probably easier for them to put in the file since it is a sheet of paper like the rest of what is sent in.

Dated simply means to provide the date that the photo was taken. That is not complicated at all. Don't assume that things have to be digital or typed or technological.

How do passport stamps NOT prove anything? They do indeed prove that you have been to the country of your beloved. They are dated (mostly--lots of mine are crappy and not so legible, though). You didn't save any souvenirs from the time you were with your sweetheart? That is uncommon. We had ticket stubs from travel, receipts from hotels, tour tickets showing that one was paid for a local and on for a foreigner, etc. Did you rent a cell phone while there?

The UK is a low-fraud country so it is normally a lot easier.

We were RFE'd also--a month after I had returned from a visit there. I sent in the most recent boarding passes that I had still tucked into my passport wallet and had some ATM receipts and other stuff that I hadn't gotten around to shredding/discarding. You probably have plenty of stuff but need to look for them or print them (from 3rd parties like your cell phone company).

Hang in there. Lots of us have been through this already and can give you confidence that it is normally just a bump in the road--not a wall that blocks everything.

Edit:

You are right to be frustrated about this being asked for NOW when you would have happily submitted it all in the first place. I followed the directions from USCIS to a T but it wasn't good enough. It seems pretty impractical and downright stupid for them to knowingly "ask" to RFE everyone who doesn't send in extra stuff because they didn't learn the realities from sites like this or friends or a lawyer. I found this site about 3 months after sending in our original packet. I am a master Google-er but with all the lawyer ad pages and such, it is a super-power to be able to filter ALL those out to get to really useful sites.

Edited December 18, 2012 by EminTX

[mjqjazzbar 2]

Taking the forum's advice and OVERWHELMING them with evidence. Any idea what kind of info. should go into the "Affidavits of friends, neighbors and other knowledgable associates"? Also, how should I organize all my evidence? I have travel info. from my beneficiary, followed by her entire passport; my travel info., followed by my entire passport. Then I have all my DATED photos, selected from every trip we've had with one another. Engagement ring. receipt, wedding info., chat logs regarding our trips/future plans/ongoing relationship.

Do I just staple and label each piece and throw them in an envelope? Oh yeah, I also wrote my "statement" and tried to clearly explain everything I threw together. Is there some kind of logical way to arrange my packet? There's no real advice in USCIS's blue letter. Oh yeah, I already know to put the blue letter before everything, so I've got that covered.

Now I just wanna know what my friends/family/whatevers should say and I'm off to the post office. I'm a bit miffed this all happened during the holidays, so I hope for my sake they're not closed for too long. I should become an immigration lawyer. I've never done so much work in so little time.

Thanks for your help!

Edited December 19, 2012 by mjqjazzbar

[mjqjazzbar 2]

Any advice on that affidavit? What do they mean about needing two people to attest/swear to it? How do I prove anyone did that? Thanks.