Declaration of how you met

[Hin-d 16]

Keep it short and sweet and include dates of meetings. That should be good enough to fullfill their requirement.

Good Luck

[sweetgal8 4]

that's what I did too... I wrote where we met, which is ONLINE, but then met in person on specific dates. I attached travel tickets.

I'm happy we're not the only ones who met online

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Just write that you met online initially and then when and where you met in person within the last 2 years. No need for a long description or supplement if it fits in the space provided on the form. There is no requirement that you write out a long explanation on a separate sheet.

There are a small number of consulates where it would be beneficial to make a timeline of your relationship, but that is not true for most and the timeline is really for the consulate stage and not getting the I-129F petition approved. An evolution of relationship timeline is part of 'front-loading' for certain, tougher consulates.

[JoBri 548]

I think this is basically what I said:

"We met in a Christian chat room in Spring 2006. I lost her for 6 months after that first night when she went to Indonesia to teach a year. We never talked deep or much that one time, but I searched for her and watched for her till I found her again in Indonesia. She returned to the Philippines and we continued talking and growing closer and we got married January 15, 2008.

And my wife never wrote a thing... I did it all...and still do, but regarding different issues in life other than immigration now.

Edited February 26, 2014 by Brijo

[Girl from Celebes 588]

Hello

Newbie here. The guideline mentioned that it should be a single typed page attachment regarding question '34.a' of the I-129F. Some people say to keep it simple but I have seen some have written ""lots and lots of details" (as quoted). With that statement, I already imagined a couple of pages. So, what was your actual number of pages? Will the beneficiary write this one too? Thank you

My fiance only wrote " we met through internet". That's all.

[Abell 11]

My fiance only wrote " we met through internet". That's all.

you are lucky since this is obviously not what they ask in that question

[Girl from Celebes 588]

you are lucky since this is obviously not what they ask in that question

I thought so too. I told my fiance to specify but we already included our first conversations on YouTube and Skype - printed with dated on these- so that's why my fiance did not bother to put in and saying that's declared how we met and USCIS was smart enough to read those evidence of relationship. We were approved in 38 days without an RFE.

[SparklePony 238]

My fiance and I met online too. We're both writers and met in a writing community. He wrote as much on the form (he specified the community) then said we met in person when he came to visit me. The three lines provided were enough. We were approved without any RFEs.

Edited February 27, 2014 by SparklePony

[Emily and Nathan 39]

Ya- mine was "We met online on a dating site in March of 2012 and having been dating in person ever since. We only live 50 minutes apart."

[Dave&Roza 748]

Just to be clear. The question is in regards to the first time the two of you met IN PERSON. You then include evidence to back up the date and location of that meeting. For the petition to be approved all that is required is that the petitioner is over 18 YO, a USC, free to marry, and has met the beneficiary in person within the last two years and that the beneficiary is also free to marry. That is it. So why use more then the three lines provided to describe the first face-to-face meeting? I started out with a very long paragraph, but finally decided a couple of sentences were enough. Remember that the petition is approved here in the US and not at the Embassy/Consulate the beneficiary will have the interview at so I think they use a pretty standardize set of criteria when looking over the I-129F.

Dave

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I disagree that the question asks about meeting in person only, and here is why.

In the world before the internet, when people met it was always in person. Now, so many people meet online I think they get confused about this. If you met online, and someone asks you how you met your fiance, you wouldn't reply "Jacques picked me up at the airport in Paris." It just makes no sense. Why would he pick you up? How did he know you were there?

I think meeting on the internet is changing how people respond to this question.

It is in close proximity to a question about satisfying the 2-year in person requirement, but I think it is a slightly different question. I do think they want to know how you came to know each other. Just like Girl from Celebes said, they put "met online" and it was approved.

I don't want to argue the point, because the wording is confusing, but I am just putting my take, out there. Take from it what you want.

[PBJ 60]

I disagree that the question asks about meeting in person only, and here is why.

In the world before the internet, when people met it was always in person. Now, so many people meet online I think they get confused about this. If you met online, and someone asks you how you met your fiance, you wouldn't reply "Jacques picked me up at the airport in Paris." It just makes no sense. Why would he pick you up? How did he know you were there?

I think meeting on the internet is changing how people respond to this question.

It is in close proximity to a question about satisfying the 2-year in person requirement, but I think it is a slightly different question. I do think they want to know how you came to know each other. Just like Girl from Celebes said, they put "met online" and it was approved.

I don't want to argue the point, because the wording is confusing, but I am just putting my take, out there. Take from it what you want.

I'm inclined to agree.

The wording is not explicitly clear:

34.a.

Describe the circumstances under which you met. If you

have not personally met each other, explain how the

relationship was established.

Harpa is correct to state that the means by which people meet these days have changed; people do indeed meet on the internet. I would think it common sense to presume the second sentence as something else entirely that requires further explanation. It may be true that you met on the internet but they clearly also want to know that you have met in person.

This can all be done by sticking to the hard facts in a separate sheet, included with the petition, as recommended in the VJ's excellent K1 guidelines.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

"If I had more time I would have written a shorter letter"

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/04/28/shorter-letter/

It takes several days to compile all the evidence needed for a K1 petition. Then, it takes several more to make it short enough so that anyone can read, understand, and easily find all attachments.

[Sweetmelissa 82]

We added a supplement to our package describe how and when we met. It was about a page ... not sure if necessary but I didn't want to forget anything! lol

[baron555 934]

I disagree that the question asks about meeting in person only, and here is why.

In the world before the internet, when people met it was always in person. Now, so many people meet online I think they get confused about this. If you met online, and someone asks you how you met your fiance, you wouldn't reply "Jacques picked me up at the airport in Paris." It just makes no sense. Why would he pick you up? How did he know you were there?

I think meeting on the internet is changing how people respond to this question.

It is in close proximity to a question about satisfying the 2-year in person requirement, but I think it is a slightly different question. I do think they want to know how you came to know each other. Just like Girl from Celebes said, they put "met online" and it was approved.

I don't want to argue the point, because the wording is confusing, but I am just putting my take, out there. Take from it what you want.

USCIS does not make a determination of the validity of the relationship, that is left up to the Embassy......so the how you met is only in reference to how you met in person. It's very clear.

Two sentences is all it took for us with no RFEs.