questions about chat logs and photos

[abbi627 43]

Yeah I thought about that too. I am afraid I will start writing too much and give more information than needed and end up hurting us. I have just read so much about addressing red flags. I assume from what I have read from others our red flags would be considered to be: I am 9 years older than he is; we met online; we chose not to have a wedding ceremony. Even though we are both Muslim I have also heard THAT can be a red flag if they think I converted for him (which I did not). But should I even bring that up? See I feel like I am walking a fine line between addressing red flags and just giving them too much information.

We have spent a lot of time together in Morocco. A total of about 5 months. When we are not together in Morocco we talk every day mutliple times a day on the phone, IM, Skype, email. His family even gets on Skype with me sometimes. Should I write about this too?

I am probably WAY over thinking this but I only get one chance to file this petition and I want to do it right. So I thank everyone for taking the time to tell me what you think.

[RFQ 110]

I'll send you a link to my digital scrap book that I sent with my NVC package (since as I said my I130 was a lil lame) Maybe it will give you ideas

Edited June 17, 2013 by RFQ

[ShirahBet 42]

I don't see a point in the letter, in all honesty. USCIS isn't looking for that information, they're looking to verify that this is a relationship and that it can move forward. I wrote a cover letter that explained that I was petitioning my husband and bullet pointed everything they could expect to find in the petition packet.

I did send chats, emails and whatnot, because if you read through other posts in other forums, people have gotten requests for evidence when they sent in only the log, not the content. You don't need to send everything, but enough to show them how frequently you communicate and that you communicate about things that people in relationships would communicate about.

At the NVC stage, consider front loading that application with more content.

[Happytobe 164]

I will second the idea, that you can front-load the initial petition, and then, if at the NVC stage you feel you missed something, add it to the IV package. I mostly showed call logs from Skype, as you can edit out the chats. I only sent chats from Facebook because we were unable to use skype for about 3 months, and didn't have the logs from the other video services we had tried, but in the FB chats we referenced them many times. I did send a letter, as I said, with the IV package and Skype logs from the time the petition was sent til the time I sent the IV package. The letter was mentioned in several other posts, and I felt it would help. After reading some of these thoughts on it, though, I am kinda nervous about it. Oh well, I felt it would help, so I don't regret it.

You, my dear Abbi, will put together an amazing package. I am confident of that. Do what you are sure of, and if you change your mind on the other stuff, you have another opportunity! Win-win!

[Crossed_fingers 128]

If VJ and Facebook are remotely representative, most of the couples going through Casa met online and a 9 year age difference isn't anywhere close to the biggest they've seen. I think the biggest red flag from what you've said here is the lack of a wedding ceremony, but other couples have overcome that with an explanation at the interview and I am not sure what it would add to say ahead of time you just did not want one. The amount of face time is great and more than a lot of other couples they see. Just remember that you can demonstrate something to the CO without spelling it out in a letter. An affidavit from his parents can say they see you talk everyday, they approve, and they got to know you well over five months. In your bullet point cover letter identifying docs in the packet, you can call attention to the dates on the boarding passes and photos to emphasize the length of the trips. If you're planning a U.S. wedding, a friend's affidavit can say they're looking forward to attending, etc. These may not all apply to you but my point is just that there are ways to "show" a point without "telling" a point in a letter. Just focus on quality, don't feel like you need quantity for the sake of quantity, of that makes sense. There are many couples who have gotten approvals without front loading and who have been denied despite pounds of evidence, and vice versa. If you do choose to send chats or emails, keep in mind that there are other couples who have been questioned, delayed, and even denied based on specific conversations the CO's didn't like.

[Lisamarie 79]

We didn't write letters for our original packet (although we did have some letters from family members). For the RFE response we did write them, they were personal and straight from our hearts, and our attorney put them first in the packet, before anything else, which made me feel like they carried a lot of weight. We were approved lightning fast after that. Just our experience and I know there are many differences in opinion about this.

Well I see some differing opinions about whether to write the letter or not. I had thought of just telling how we met and how our relationship developed, our first meeting, our decision to get married, his family being happy about our marriage, our age difference, my conversion to Islam, our second meeting, our decision not to have a wedding ceremony, our life together while living in Morocco. Maybe that is just too much. Maybe it helps. I see some difference of opinions. Same with chat logs. I see a difference of opinions.

I feel a little lost. I don't want to give them anything to use against us. But it is Casa so I have heard to cover everything. I never thought that the part of putting together the petition would be so confusing. I have the pictures figured out. I have everything else attached. Just have to decide whether or not to include this letter and what to do about the chat logs.

[Lisamarie 79]

For our original packet I printed out actual chats, almost 300 pages of them. They came from Hotmail though, which saves in your documents, so they could be easily edited. Our attorney said they were pretty much useless (don't remember her exact words) because of that. For the RFE I printed out Google chat logs, which gave the date, and a couple sentences of each chat. That seemed to work much better. Good luck with everything:))

Hey guys,

I was up most of the night working on my petition - I have bronchitis and couldn't breathe lying down so might as well be working on this. And I have a couple of questions and I have been searching the archives and I see several different points of view on these so I am wondering if I might ask you:

1. Did most of you print out the actual chats between you and your husband? I know I can't print them all - it would be WAY too much. And quite honestly there is personal stuff I don't want them to read. So I thought about printing samples during our relationship and I see some have done that. I also see some have printed out something showing just the dates and times they were on Yahoo Chat but not the actual conversations - though for the life of me I can't figure out how to do that yet. So I just wanted to ask your opinions on that.

2. Pictures: How did you send them? Did you have them in a sort of album? We don't have tons to send probably between 30 and 40. I assume I need to write notations on them showing what they were. I was thinking of attaching them to paper with the explanation and date written above.

I know some people have done this different ways and am just asking how you did yours.

Thanks for the help.

[abbi627 43]

Thanks again. What I have decided to do is go back through the chats (most of which are Yahoo) and pick a couple from each month that show us in normal conversation. If they ask for more I can certainly give it. As for the letter I think I will do as suggested for the petition and just give a brief introductory letter and that is it. If a more detailed letter is neeed later I can always do that. But I am making myself crazy trying to decide is this way best or that way best.....so I made a decision and am sticking to it (I think).

So the petition will have attached to it the following:

sample chats from 1 1/2 years

approximately 30 pictures of my husband and me and some with us and his family

some emails and ecards we have sent to each other

stamped passport from 2 visits

boarding passes and travel itinerary from each trip

phone records from the past 1 1/2 years

So I am almost done. Which brings me to my next question: how did you guys mail this? Regular mail?

Certified mail? Did you send it FedEx?

Thanks again

[Lisamarie 79]

Yes it's really hard to make a decision when there doesn't seem to be a standard. Some people get approved with very little while others front-load and get approved. And the same goes for RFE's and denials. Just go with your gut instinct; that always seems to be the right choice:) If you have any letters from family or friends it would be great to include those, though. I think we had about seven letters, a combination of family (on both sides) and friends wrote them.

Thanks again. What I have decided to do is go back through the chats (most of which are Yahoo) and pick a couple from each month that show us in normal conversation. If they ask for more I can certainly give it. As for the letter I think I will do as suggested for the petition and just give a brief introductory letter and that is it. If a more detailed letter is neeed later I can always do that. But I am making myself crazy trying to decide is this way best or that way best.....so I made a decision and am sticking to it (I think).

So the petition will have attached to it the following:

sample chats from 1 1/2 years

approximately 30 pictures of my husband and me and some with us and his family

some emails and ecards we have sent to each other

stamped passport from 2 visits

boarding passes and travel itinerary from each trip

phone records from the past 1 1/2 years

So I am almost done. Which brings me to my next question: how did you guys mail this? Regular mail?

Certified mail? Did you send it FedEx?

Thanks again

[Happytobe 164]

I used express mail for all of my packages. It has tracking and is fast. I waived the signature required for all of them.

[ShirahBet 42]

I express mailed via USPS the I-130 and it arrived on a Sunday... I sent from Chicago on Saturday to the Chicago lockbox, so surprisingly, they must have people in the building 7 days a week.

I 3-day'd via FedEx the 1-864 and I express mailed via USPS the DS230, which was mis-delivered and re-routed. So, really, the choice is up to you.

In the letter consider including that you have printed out a sample of emails or chats or whatever, so they understand it's not all.

[RFQ 110]

I always overnighted everything by Express USPS mail. It was worth the cost for the peace of mind it gave me!

[MARINAH 0]

thank u , I had same question