The RFE Master List

[IainG 0]

Hi,

Unfortunately we just had a RFE (Proof of petitioners USC status). This is a tad confusing as my fiance sent a proper birth certificate with the application, perhaps it got lost on route... We are thinking we should reply with anouther birth certificate and a photocopy of her passport? Or is it worth sending the real passport (she travels for work sometimes so it would be inconvenient to not have it!). Here is an extract of their RFE letter:

Please submit evidence of your status as a U.S. citizen as appropriate:

-A compelte birth certificate issued by a civil autrhority

-An unexpired passport issued initially for a full ten year period to a citizen of the US

and several other options that arent readily available to us.

Any advice is welcome!!!

[TabeaK 517]

Do NOT send the original passport. Chances are you are never gonna see it again.

I would copy all pages of the passport and send that. On top I would send the birth certificate..

Please fill in your timeline: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/ Top left, Add timeline.

[IainG 0]

That was my thought process too, although it does day to send an unexpired passport. It does not say to send a copy, is there anywhere that explicitly says copies are ok? We just dont want any more delays!

For reference we tried calling to find out why the birth certificate was rejected or if they even received it and we didnt get any help.

(timeline made)

[whitetiger 0]

Hello lainG!

Please visit http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-129finstr.pdfand it is mentioned on page 4, point 5d to submit a copy of the passport.

[Jkozz 0]

Checked my status online and saw that I had a RFE coming...was worried it was going to be something major. When I received the RFE I was both mad and relieved I didn't review well enough my submission and made two dumb mistakes...forgot to check item 15 "has your fiancé ever been in the US"...it is right in the middle of a bunch of stuff that didn't apply & she left the employment space blank on the G325A because she hasn't worked yet. Two things easily taken care of. Researched and found that I don't need her to send me a signed G325A back...I can just fix it and label it as she will sign during the interview. That saves a week and about $75 for shipping.

[GaRaS 10]

I used the envelope that came with the rfe. I mailed it at usps as certified mail. Don't send anything unless it was ask on your rfe it might cause some confusion when they are reviewing your rfe when adding more evidence. About the other evidence just keep for now and send it to your fiance/fiancee after your NOA2, it might come handy at the time of the interview. I did not copy the rfe notice but its up to you.

Received the mailed notice of my RFE today - it's for something we submitted with the original petition! Oh well - I'm just glad it's something really easy to take care of. They asked for proof that my fiancée intends to marry me within 90 days of her admittance to the US, which can be a statement (we sent this, but I guess they overlooked it). I do have a few questions if anyone can help:

1. They provided an envelope to mail back the requested evidence. Does that mean I need to mail it in that envelope? I had intended to overnight it via Priority Mail, but can I not do that?
2. I want to include some more evidence that we've met in person (more boarding passes, passport stamps), because I only included my passport stamps from my first visit to see her a year ago. They didn't ask for that, but I'm afraid they might down the line, and the last thing I want is to get hit with another RFE. Is it a bad idea for me to include more proof of meeting with the statement saying my fiancée intends to marry me within 90 days?
3. Should I mail back a copy of the notice or mail back the original and keep a copy for myself?

Thanks for any help!

Edited February 1, 2015 by GaRaS

[EmilyRosePF 34]

I used the envelope that came with the rfe. I mailed it at usps as certified mail. Don't send anything unless it was ask on your rfe it might cause some confusion when they are reviewing your rfe when adding more evidence. About the other evidence just keep for now and send it to your fiance/fiancee after your NOA2, it might come handy at the time of the interview. I did not copy the rfe notice but its up to you.

Thanks for the advice. I overnighted it via Priority Mail Express and it got there fine - my case status was updated to say USCIS had received it and would resume processing my case the same day it was delivered, and I even neglected to right ATTN: RFE on the envelope. I paper-clipped the envelope that USCIS provided to the front of the packet I sent back, though.

I ended up including the other evidence, which I hope doesn't confuse them. I wrote a brief cover letter that I think clearly delineated between what they had asked for, and what I was also including (it was only a few pages with photocopies of boarding passes and 2 pages from my passport).

[vicks5721 18]

we did our petition with help from a visa company called RapidVisa based in Colorado, USA. They told us what we needed to include and we sent our petition to them first so they could double check we had everything we needed to provide and then they sent it to USCIS for us, it took then only 3 months for our petition to be approved. We are planning to use Rapid Visa's help again when we apply for my AOS. I highly recommend them as their fees are good and reasonable, they are available 24 hours a day by phone, email or live chat and will help with any questions have.

[mmjohnson 27]

i got a text saying that theyre going to send me a rfe. so now I just have to wait for it to come in the mail. Hopefully I get it soon and can send it back and get this thing going. Ill let you guys know when I get the mail and what it says.

[Slay0r 1]

This is the RFE me and my fiancee were issued.

Firstly, it's great that they can take as long as they damn well please with our application, but there's a very strict deadline that we have to comply to their request by.

Secondly, it doesn't make sense that what they need is a) Something they never asked for, and b) Something we wouldn't have been able to provide at the time of the application, so how can it stall our case that we didn't provide it at the time?

We fell in love, we got engaged, we filed for the right to get married and live together in the USA. Was the expectation that we guessed our wedding date, booked a wedding, kept all the receipts and then applied?

I wouldn't have minded if they wanted more proof of the relationship or something, but this nonsense is just borderline offensive. Luckily we have plenty of evidence to satisfy their request but, hooray, our wedding is delayed by another couple of months.

[TabeaK 517]

I admit, this is pretty sucky!

The way I read it, howeve, this should easily be taken care of with an letter of intent to marry from your finace (the beneficiary). To be on the safe side, include one from you as well. May sure they are both signed in the original.

Did you include Letters of intent to marry with your original petition? If so, it seems they have lost them.

Edited February 8, 2015 by TabeaK

[EmilyRosePF 34]

You can send a statement - no the I-129F instructions don't say to include this, but you need to anyway. There are examples on this site. If you didn't include one from yourself, you should do that as well. I got an RFE for this also because they lost the statement from my fiancée that I sent, and I just had her scan a signed copy of a new statement and email it to me. My petition got approved within a week so apparently they don't require an original signature. Then again your RFE reads very differently from mine and I would err on the side of caution, especially if you haven't sent letters of intent to marry at all.

[Slay0r 1]

My fiancee included a signed declaration of intent to marry amongst the original forms that she sent off when she filed the K1 application to bring me to the states. That was because of advice on various websites (including this one) suggesting that she needed to do that even though the USCIS guide doesn't mention it.

We didn't see any mention that I would need to supply the same declaration. You're right that it's easy enough to satisfy this RFE; I've mailed a signed document to my fiancee and we've printed off email interactions with wedding venues, vendors, wedding ring receipt, wedding suit receipt etc.

It's just frustrating because we've already been waiting seven months.

emilyrptimm - How the hell did you get approved in less than three months?! I'm jealous.

[TabeaK 517]

There you go. I know it sucks, but they require signed declarations from both parties. You can expect your approval pretty quickly after they have have your RFE.

And people get approved in less than 3 weeks by two means: a) they are Filipino beneficiaries or b) their application gets processed in California instead of Texas

[EmilyRosePF 34]

My fiancee included a signed declaration of intent to marry amongst the original forms that she sent off when she filed the K1 application to bring me to the states. That was because of advice on various websites (including this one) suggesting that she needed to do that even though the USCIS guide doesn't mention it.

We didn't see any mention that I would need to supply the same declaration. You're right that it's easy enough to satisfy this RFE; I've mailed a signed document to my fiancee and we've printed off email interactions with wedding venues, vendors, wedding ring receipt, wedding suit receipt etc.

It's just frustrating because we've already been waiting seven months.

emilyrptimm - How the hell did you get approved in less than three months?! I'm jealous.

I hope you get approved soon - I would actually take the RFE as a good sign, it means someone is actively working on your case!

And I got approved in under 3 months because our petition was routed to the California Service Center. The disparity between Texas and California is horrible