Avoid unnecessary RFEs! (same sex marriage I-129F petitions)

[zuluweta 250]

Well, as of 9:15 pm this evening (Oct 30) we officially got electronic notice of our NOA2 (approved!) after submitting our RFE response!!!

They acknowledged receipt of our RFE response on Oct 3, so it took them 27 days to approve it... not the best turn around time but we're thrilled we are moving on to the next step!!

For those of you who have been asking about whether to revise one letter or two letters of intent (i.e. which state you intend to marry in), I made the decision to just send one (mine, the petitioner). The RFE was addressed to me as the petitioner and asked (me) to declare which state we are marrying in, so I didn't see any reason to re-send both... just gave them what they requested, and finally moving forward again!

Feel free to send us a message if you have further questions... Continued best wishes and luck for everyone!

Rob and Adrian

27 days for RFE to be evaluated and NOA2 approved? This is depressing. It's been a week since CSC received our reply to RFE. I just checked the USCIS website and they are still reviewing our reply to RFE.

Our RFE was for passport stamps proving we did go on a trip to Thailand together, which is what the itinerary and e-ticket we submitted with the I-129F tried to show.

Also, a letter of intent to marry in a marriage equality state within 90 days of US entry on a K-1 visa from the beneficiary.

However, we just went overboard with the reply to RFE, which was thicker than the I-129F packet itself! The RFE burned us, in a manner of speaking, so we decided to just give them everything we could find that relates to proof of having met in person within the previous 2 years. Just to be sure. But now, I'm afraid all those documents would take a lot more time to be evaluated, thus further delaying approval. I hope I'm wrong!

[djv-tco 29]

Approved in 38 Days! Fiancée received a text at 10:15pm CST that our status was updated. Checked the USCIS website and our petition was approved on November 8th! We are so so happy!

We did not include the same-sex state where we plan to marry in our letters of intent but we did not get an RFE. So there's hope for those in the same boat.

Good luck everyone!

[zuluweta 250]

Thank God we have a trip to the beach and short vacay out of the country to look forward to this week. This should give us something better to do and think about while waiting and waiting for the procedure to work its way through.

Still planning on doing daily USCIS website checks of our application's status.

[FulanoDeTal 19]

Approved in 38 Days! Fiancée received a text at 10:15pm CST that our status was updated. Checked the USCIS website and our petition was approved on November 8th! We are so so happy!

We did not include the same-sex state where we plan to marry in our letters of intent but we did not get an RFE. So there's hope for those in the same boat.

Good luck everyone!

Congratulations, 38 days is amazing! Good luck getting through the NVC, once you get through that morass the embassy should be a breeze.

Best wishes,

Peter and Bonieke

[PCV 9]

Approved in 38 Days! Fiancée received a text at 10:15pm CST that our status was updated. Checked the USCIS website and our petition was approved on November 8th! We are so so happy!

We did not include the same-sex state where we plan to marry in our letters of intent but we did not get an RFE. So there's hope for those in the same boat.

Good luck everyone!

Wonderful new!!! Congrats!

[djv-tco 29]

Congratulations, 38 days is amazing! Good luck getting through the NVC, once you get through that morass the embassy should be a breeze.

Best wishes,

Peter and Bonieke

Wonderful new!!! Congrats!

Thanks! We were glad it came through while we were together - I had to go back to Canada today and we were really hoping it would come while I was there. Glad we dodged the RFE bullet too; though gay marriage passed in Illinois (our future home state) just before we got our NOA2, so who knows, perhaps that helped :-)

[pinayanne27 8]

This is a very helpful topic.

We hope to meet a filipino/filipina who experienced the same thing.

[TidusSquall 2]

Thanks everyone for posting this useful info.

Sadly, I sent (what I though to be a very complete) I-129F package two days ago, after weeks of reading everything I could, yet somehow missing this thread until today.

We did not specify location where we intended to marry, even though it will be San Francisco, so now I'm pretty disheartened thinking we will get an RFE. Maybe the fact that we will live in Puerto Rico makes it complicated enough already, so I'm thinking there is a big chance that we'll get one, *sad face*

They should definitely include this in their website, it's hard to think I might get an RFE, when I was certain I had been very thorough (guess I wasn't). It's even harder to mention a possible marriage date, since we don't know how long the process takes. I am a romantic one, and in my mind I was daydreaming about a summer wedding, though realistically was expecting this to possibly take much longer to process, probably around December. We'll definitely do it as soon as we have that visa.

I'll keep you updated. Congratulations everyone on their respective journeys.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Mike&Luis

[GayK1inTexas 12]

I'm not an expert. But I doubt you will get an RFE for not mentioning marriage location and date. There is no specific requirement for that. Its a good to give if you have that info. We didnt mention a date and actually it never came up in the embassy interview either.

[zuluweta 250]

I'm not an expert. But I doubt you will get an RFE for not mentioning marriage location and date. There is no specific requirement for that. Its a good to give if you have that info. We didnt mention a date and actually it never came up in the embassy interview either.

It did come up in my interview. The American consular officer asked me (beneficiary) where we planned to get married. I think he needed to know it was in a marriage equality state. The date of marriage wasn't brought up though.

[daveandmaxine 11]

Thank you all for the info. We are also filing soon and my partner is in Philippines, so this info will hopefully keep our case from getting delayed.

[gnarrl 1]

RFE received 07/02/2014.

"INTENT TO MARRY: From the evidence, it is not clear where the petitioner and beneficiary will wed. Therefore, please submit a statement indicating in which state the petitioner and beneficiary intend to marry."

Wish that I would have heard about this forum before submitting the I-129F in April.

Petitioner lives in Nevada.

[Elizabeth+Fred 35]

Well, since SSM's are not allowed in all states, I'd figure this to be something you could have expected.

Still, it couldn't hurt to re-word the Letter of Intent template to indicate the state where the marriage will be taking place.

Mods?

[jens_prodigy 13]

Thanks everyone for posting this useful info.

Sadly, I sent (what I though to be a very complete) I-129F package two days ago, after weeks of reading everything I could, yet somehow missing this thread until today.

We did not specify location where we intended to marry, even though it will be San Francisco, so now I'm pretty disheartened thinking we will get an RFE. Maybe the fact that we will live in Puerto Rico makes it complicated enough already, so I'm thinking there is a big chance that we'll get one, *sad face*

They should definitely include this in their website, it's hard to think I might get an RFE, when I was certain I had been very thorough (guess I wasn't). It's even harder to mention a possible marriage date, since we don't know how long the process takes. I am a romantic one, and in my mind I was daydreaming about a summer wedding, though realistically was expecting this to possibly take much longer to process, probably around December. We'll definitely do it as soon as we have that visa.

I'll keep you updated. Congratulations everyone on their respective journeys.

I wouldn't worry about it. It seems that some people get RFEs for this and some don't. My partner and I did NOT specify where we will be marrying and we were approved without an RFE. So don't sweat it. And If it does happen it seems to be an easy fix, just send back a quick letter ASAP and you're on your way. So good luck!

[MrsKK 1]

hello everyone. i too is a september filer and I've been reading and following all your post and your answers, i just haven't had the chance to post anything and this will be my first. this is my story…...

Im a transgender woman (Male to Female) holding a student visa but is married now to an American citizen ( yes its now legal for same sex marriage in california). at first i have doubts if ill be receiving the same procedure/process with the green card application as with the heterosexual marriage knowing that in my birth certificate and all my legal documents says MALE but my CA drivers license is now a FEMALE since I've been undergoing hormone replacement therapy but after researching and reading different blogs and post and consulting an LGBT immigration attorney, WE now have equal rights when it comes to Green card Application which made me very excited. We got married Feb of this year and been very happy ever since but we didn't get the chance to submit my paperworks because of his Income tax returns, he owns his own business and have a very bad history with it, he haven't filed his taxes since 2010 because of the bad economy. after knowing this i felt like the chances of me getting a green card is vague but then again i never lost hope…. i did my research and ask my lawyer friend is also an LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) advocate on what should we do and she said not to worry because all we need is a JOINT sponsor, after that i was so relieved and i immediately asked my sister who is working as a nurse and also an american citizen to be my joint sponsor and she said without hesitance YES. so after that i gathered all my paperworks, did my physical exam, filled up necessary paperworks…… and then finally after everything is done and after we saved the money for the application we finally sent and this is my time line

sept 17 2014
-filed application

9/19/2014
-application delivered

9/24/2014
-case received

9/25/2014
-check deposited

10/1/2014
-received official receipts

10/3/2014
-NOA for biometrics

10/16/2014
-Biometrics done

10/23/2014
i485 application to register permanent resident - testing and interview
i130 immigrant petition- initial review
i765 (work permit)- card document and production
i1319 application for USCIS travel document- post decision activity

so right now I'm patiently waiting for my EAD and AP….. i never thought that this process would be smooth sailing and so far they never did request for any evidence at all. so I'm hoping everyone will all get their green card soon and lets all live our american dream