RFE - I129F Request for primary evidence of meeting in person

[mattmari 0]

My fiance and I just recieved an RFE, because they want primary evidence of us meeting in person. We originally sent 5 photos, many many emails and facebook messages, and they are saying they want primary evidence...He is from Michigan and I'm from Ottawa, Ontario. We travel by car only so perhaps we should send credit card bank statement and receipts of our gas bills? We dont have passport stamps, no hotel receipts (as we always stay in each other's family home when we visit), and no plane, train or bus tickets.They said they don't need more photos or telephone bills, as they don't want more proof of an on-going relationship but rather they want evidence of us meeting. Please make suggestions of what else we can include as primary evidence

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Use any receipts or bank statements that show the USC making purchases in Canada or the Canadian making purchases in the US. Write a letter explaining you drive to see each other.

[lost_at_sea 995]

My fiance and I just recieved an RFE, because they want primary evidence of us meeting in person. We originally sent 5 photos, many many emails and facebook messages, and they are saying they want primary evidence...He is from Michigan and I'm from Ottawa, Ontario. We travel by car only so perhaps we should send credit card bank statement and receipts of our gas bills? We dont have passport stamps, no hotel receipts (as we always stay in each other's family home when we visit), and no plane, train or bus tickets.They said they don't need more photos or telephone bills, as they don't want more proof of an on-going relationship but rather they want evidence of us meeting. Please make suggestions of what else we can include as primary evidence

I'm sure others will chime in with more suggestions, but you could have friends and family that have met you both write affidavit letters attesting to have met you both, together (when, where & how) and to the nature of your relationship. These letters should be formal in nature.

It's interesting that they want evidence of you *meeting* and yet I assume you submitted photographs with both of you in them, together. You know, like... meeting. Silly folks.

Edited June 6, 2013 by lost_at_sea

[julitathomas0810 30]

My fiance and I just recieved an RFE, because they want primary evidence of us meeting in person. We originally sent 5 photos, many many emails and facebook messages, and they are saying they want primary evidence...He is from Michigan and I'm from Ottawa, Ontario. We travel by car only so perhaps we should send credit card bank statement and receipts of our gas bills? We dont have passport stamps, no hotel receipts (as we always stay in each other's family home when we visit), and no plane, train or bus tickets.They said they don't need more photos or telephone bills, as they don't want more proof of an on-going relationship but rather they want evidence of us meeting. Please make suggestions of what else we can include as primary evidence

Affidavits from friends and family as witness to the relationship may help .

[Gosia & Tito 199]

My fiance and I just recieved an RFE, because they want primary evidence of us meeting in person. We originally sent 5 photos, many many emails and facebook messages, and they are saying they want primary evidence...He is from Michigan and I'm from Ottawa, Ontario. We travel by car only so perhaps we should send credit card bank statement and receipts of our gas bills? We dont have passport stamps, no hotel receipts (as we always stay in each other's family home when we visit), and no plane, train or bus tickets.They said they don't need more photos or telephone bills, as they don't want more proof of an on-going relationship but rather they want evidence of us meeting. Please make suggestions of what else we can include as primary evidence

Make sure they do not mean meeting within past 2years, which is the requisite, and in that case you need to have something dated.

In the case of statements/affidavits, ensure the dates they attest to know you have been together are listed.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I'm sure others will chime in with more suggestions, but you could have friends and family that have met you both write affidavit letters attesting to have met you both, together (when, where & how) and to the nature of your relationship. These letters should be formal in nature.

It's interesting that they want evidence of you *meeting* and yet I assume you submitted photographs with both of you in them, together. You know, like... meeting. Silly folks.

The requirement is to have met in the last two years, not just to have "met." I think with the internet, people don't realize that people might have met 6 years ago, or be childhood friends, or have had some other "meeting" that was not in the last two years.

The photos show that they met. They don't show when that was.

Affidavits will help round out the package, but generally aren't taken for that sort of proof by themselves.

Receipts or bank statements showing activity in the opposite country will do the trick.

[batallion9 50]

Make a point at stopping at border crossing that has immigration officer, and get them to stamp your visa. Credit card statements with purchases in his home town. These may help.

[risingjsun 1]

I had the same RFE, but I was fortunate to have passport stamps, which I submitted along with plane ticket receipts. These pieces of evidence helped me gain an approval.

Here's the exact wording on my RFE that may or may not be the same with yours:

• Last Personal Meeting - The petitioner and the beneficiary must meet in person between October 31, 2010 and November 01, 2012. Submit evidence of meeting the beneficiary in person within the two-year period preceding the filing of the petition. Primary evidence may include airline ticket stubs and receipts (that indicate month, day, and year); copies of passport pages that show the identification page and admission stamps, military order(s), letter from Commanding Officer, or any evidence that will help the USCIS to determine that the petitioner has met the beneficiary within the last two years. Secondary evidence may include film-dated photographs of the petitioner and beneficiary together. The following DOES NOT constitute evidence of meeting: disc, videos, emails, letters, phone bills, and greeting cards.

I agree with the other person saying to write a letter explaining that you drive across the border instead of flying, therefore you don't have passport stamps. When submitting evidence for your RFE, highlight all the names and dates. Focus on submitting evidence that shows you were at the beneficiary's home country, with the emphasis on dates, which credit card bank statements and receipts of your gas bills sound fine if they show that you made those transactions in the beneficiary's home country and within the 2 year period USCIS is asking for. Good luck!

[jola83 19]

We got a rfe online yesterday so no hard copy.I'm really thinking that our rfe is going to be the same as we sent pictures but they where just print outs from Facebook.the only evidence that I guess is

Dated officially is our flight details to Spain

I had the same RFE, but I was fortunate to have passport stamps, which I submitted along with plane ticket receipts. These pieces of evidence helped me gain an approval.

Here's the exact wording on my RFE that may or may not be the same with yours:

• Last Personal Meeting - The petitioner and the beneficiary must meet in person between October 31, 2010 and November 01, 2012. Submit evidence of meeting the beneficiary in person within the two-year period preceding the filing of the petition. Primary evidence may include airline ticket stubs and receipts (that indicate month, day, and year); copies of passport pages that show the identification page and admission stamps, military order(s), letter from Commanding Officer, or any evidence that will help the USCIS to determine that the petitioner has met the beneficiary within the last two years. Secondary evidence may include film-dated photographs of the petitioner and beneficiary together. The following DOES NOT constitute evidence of meeting: disc, videos, emails, letters, phone bills, and greeting cards.

I agree with the other person saying to write a letter explaining that you drive across the border instead of flying, therefore you don't have passport stamps. When submitting evidence for your RFE, highlight all the names and dates. Focus on submitting evidence that shows you were at the beneficiary's home country, with the emphasis on dates, which credit card bank statements and receipts of your gas bills sound fine if they show that you made those transactions in the beneficiary's home country and within the 2 year period USCIS is asking for. Good luck!

[risingjsun 1]

We got a rfe online yesterday so no hard copy.I'm really thinking that our rfe is going to be the same as we sent pictures but they where just print outs from Facebook.the only evidence that I guess is

Dated officially is our flight details to Spain

No one knows what your RFE is going to ask for until the hard copy comes in.

But just for my RFE only, it seemed like they needed passport stamps because I didn't submit passport stamps with my I-129F application. Good luck!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You must provide dated, third-party evidence that you met in person in the two years prior to filing the petition (really this boils down to being in the same country at the same time). Photos are not proof of meeting because there is no reliable date on them (even the old cameras that dates the film could be incorrect). This requirement is separate from proof of an ongoing relationship, but people often conflate the two.

It's my impression that with so much meeting on the internet, people think the requirement was designed for that, but it wasn't. It was designed to prevent mail order brides and also to prevent people filing for childhood family friends they haven't seen in decades. So the requirement is not just showing you met (with photos together or something) it's showing you met in the last two years.

Edited June 6, 2013 by Harpa Timsah

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Make a point at stopping at border crossing that has immigration officer, and get them to stamp your visa. Credit card statements with purchases in his home town. These may help.

This will not help with their RFE. They must provide evidence they met within the 2 years prior to filing. Getting something stamped now will not work.

Edited June 6, 2013 by Jay-Kay

[mpheonix 7]

I made sure that some of the pictures I took with my fiance had a timestamp on them, if you get a chance go up this weekend or next and take some pictures with a time stamp. If that's not feasible, dated receipts like many people said may help, any documents you got when crossing the boarder, any EZPass logs of you crossing the border.

Good Luck!

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

I made sure that some of the pictures I took with my fiance had a timestamp on them, if you get a chance go up this weekend or next and take some pictures with a time stamp. If that's not feasible, dated receipts like many people said may help, any documents you got when crossing the boarder, any EZPass logs of you crossing the border.

Good Luck!

Just the same as getting a stamp now will not work, neither will taking photos now. The evidence must come from the 2 years prior to filing. Photos are only secondary evidence anyway.

Harpa Timsah provided the correct information to help the OP.

[mpheonix 7]

Nevermind then, I just give up and I'll stop posting.