Questions from a newbie

[SilentObserver 2]

Hello All,

I am new to this forum. I just got engaged overseas to my girlfriend of a year and half. We got engaged while vacationing in Turkey towards the end of last month. I am trying to get my papers ready for the K1 petition. I have a bunch of questions that I have not seen answered anywhere else. Any help with these questions would be supremely helpful.

a. The I-129F asks for an address that the two of us will live at once she moves here. I currently have a room mate and plan to move to a new apartment right before she arrives. Since I do not know when that will be, can I just use my current address or will this be problematic in the future?

b. Page 5 of I-129F asks about a waiver. None of those scenarios apply to me. Does that mean I can ignore that section?

c. My fiancée and I have met over three vacations in the last year and a half. Will printouts of electronic reservations (flight reservations with both our names on it etc.) suffice or does the USCIS need actual hard copies of boarding passes etc? What is a safe number of pieces of evidence of this sort?

d. The visajourney website has a sample G-235A form filled out. It says there should be no gaps for the home addresses and employment addresses. In the last five years, I spent two years as a full-time business school student. Do I need to include this on the employment section? Furthermore, for the bits that I was on vacation, do I need to state explicitly that I was unemployed?

e. I also have gaps in a permanent address since I was traveling overseas for a while. Hence, I did not have an actual address in the US for a few months in some of the years in the last 5 years. Is this typically problematic? Will a statement explaining the gap be helpful?

f. I have lived in a bunch of places in the last 5 years. Hence, I am unable to fit all the addresses that I have lived at in the last 5 years on the G-235A form. Do I need to add another signed and dated page listing the additional address(es)?

g. I am asked to submit a “front and back” copy of my birth certificate. I do not have anything on the back of my birth certificate to photo-copy. Could this present an issue?

h. For proof of an ongoing relationship, would printouts of e-mails work?

i. In the event that my fiancee wants to visit the US on a tourist visa while the K1 visa is being processed, is that an option?

I realize I have quite a barrage of questions but any input on the above would be supremely helpful. Thank you in advance.

[Girl from Celebes 588]

Hello All,

I am new to this forum. I just got engaged overseas to my girlfriend of a year and half. We got engaged while vacationing in Turkey towards the end of last month. I am trying to get my papers ready for the K1 petition. I have a bunch of questions that I have not seen answered anywhere else. Any help with these questions would be supremely helpful.

a. The I-129F asks for an address that the two of us will live at once she moves here. I currently have a room mate and plan to move to a new apartment right before she arrives. Since I do not know when that will be, can I just use my current address or will this be problematic in the future?

b. Page 5 of I-129F asks about a waiver. None of those scenarios apply to me. Does that mean I can ignore that section?

c. My fiancée and I have met over three vacations in the last year and a half. Will printouts of electronic reservations (flight reservations with both our names on it etc.) suffice or does the USCIS need actual hard copies of boarding passes etc? What is a safe number of pieces of evidence of this sort?

d. The visajourney website has a sample G-235A form filled out. It says there should be no gaps for the home addresses and employment addresses. In the last five years, I spent two years as a full-time business school student. Do I need to include this on the employment section? Furthermore, for the bits that I was on vacation, do I need to state explicitly that I was unemployed?

e. I also have gaps in a permanent address since I was traveling overseas for a while. Hence, I did not have an actual address in the US for a few months in some of the years in the last 5 years. Is this typically problematic? Will a statement explaining the gap be helpful?

f. I have lived in a bunch of places in the last 5 years. Hence, I am unable to fit all the addresses that I have lived at in the last 5 years on the G-235A form. Do I need to add another signed and dated page listing the additional address(es)?

g. I am asked to submit a “front and back” copy of my birth certificate. I do not have anything on the back of my birth certificate to photo-copy. Could this present an issue?

h. For proof of an ongoing relationship, would printouts of e-mails work?

i. In the event that my fiancee wants to visit the US on a tourist visa while the K1 visa is being processed, is that an option?

I realize I have quite a barrage of questions but any input on the above would be supremely helpful. Thank you in advance.

• Just use your current address. You can change your address later on.
• Yes.
• Send them copies of biographical passport along with passport stamp pages. If you met in another country, send those from both of you as a proof you have met in person at same place and date within 2 years. Reservation or itinerary is not strong proof since people can buy ticket without use it. Copy of boarding passes are sufficient.
• No, you don't have to explain that.
• Yes, you can add additional sheet attached to your G-325A.
• No, my husband doesn't have back of his birth certificate and we did not encounter any issue for I-129F. We were approved in 38 days without RFE.
• Yes, print any emails but you don't have to get all hundred of pages. My husband and I only sent 20 emails spanned from 2008-2013.
• Yes, your fiance(e) can visit you while the I-129F in the process.

Good luck!

[SilentObserver 2]

A huge “thank you” to you Girl from Celebes! Seriously, this was a super-prompt response. As far as the travel reservations or itinerary is concerned, I do not have boarding passes on me. I should have kept them but I did not. Right now, the only legitimate evidence I have is the passport stamp. Both my fiancée and I arrived in Turkey on the same day and also left on the same date (our flights were a few hours apart). Would some type of confirmation from the hotels that we checked in work? In at least two of the hotels, we were asked for our passports at checkin for scanning? Your input on this would be great. On another note, the service center (e.g. California, Vermont, Texas) that handles the application is assigned randomly right? Thank you once again.

[phd1974 17]

If you do not have any boarding passes, I would copy ALL pages of my passport and highlight the stamps that denote entry and exits when you both were together.

On this last trip, since you both traveled to a different country (Turkey) than what either of you are from, it would be a bit more difficult I would assume especially if neither of you have any boarding passes. See if your significant other has any boarding passes ... then maybe you can show your passport stamps that you were there at the same time.

Also any receipts from restaurants, hotel bills, email confirmations, etc. Any secondary evidence you can produce to support (photos,etc)

[phd1974 17]

From what I read previously, the service center depends on the region (or state) that you live in. BUT that is iffy. I live in Ohio and I checked the USCIS web site and I found that the Nebraska Service Center was supposed to process my application, but instead, it went to the California Service Center. I believe that the Texas Service Center and California Service Centers might be the only ones handling K-1 petitions right now so it is going to go to one or the other (cross your fingers for California).

[bkghosh 121]

A huge “thank you” to you Girl from Celebes! Seriously, this was a super-prompt response. As far as the travel reservations or itinerary is concerned, I do not have boarding passes on me. I should have kept them but I did not. Right now, the only legitimate evidence I have is the passport stamp. Both my fiancée and I arrived in Turkey on the same day and also left on the same date (our flights were a few hours apart). Would some type of confirmation from the hotels that we checked in work? In at least two of the hotels, we were asked for our passports at checkin for scanning? Your input on this would be great. On another note, the service center (e.g. California, Vermont, Texas) that handles the application is assigned randomly right? Thank you once again.

Passport stamps from both of you would be very good evidence. The hotel bills will probably show both your names. Also, don't forget al those beautiful pictures you took while vacationing in Turkey... :) Did you go on any conducted tours? Basically anything that has both your names on it.

Other than email logs do not forget the cellphone logs, WhatsApp, Skype logs.

[SilentObserver 2]

Passport stamps from both of you would be very good evidence. The hotel bills will probably show both your names. Also, don't forget al those beautiful pictures you took while vacationing in Turkey... :) Did you go on any conducted tours? Basically anything that has both your names on it.

Other than email logs do not forget the cellphone logs, WhatsApp, Skype logs.

I actually do not have the hotel bills. Just the reservations - which might not be any good. I am going to try and reach out to the hotels right now and see if they can e-mail bills to me. I know at least three places, they scanned our passports. We got pretty friendly with the managers at two of the hotels - so I am really hoping they can come through for us.

The only photos we are going to send are the ones at recognizable landmarks (Blue Mosque etc). We did not do conducted tours. We're compulsive backpackers. We should be able to get enough from whatsapp and cell phone logs too - although I think that would serve more as evidence of the ongoing relationship as opposed to evidence of us actually having met within the last 2 years.

Thanks so much for responding. It is so great to have a supportive community here. I don't feel like I am doing this alone anymore.

[phd1974 17]

Yeah, it looks like New York is Texas Service Center territory ... so there may be a bit of a wait as opposed to those going through the California Service Center

[SilentObserver 2]

Yeah, it looks like New York is Texas Service Center territory ... so there may be a bit of a wait as opposed to those going through the California Service Center

Oh dear. I was hoping it was Vermont's Service Center.

My fiancee is overseas. Would it be ok if she scanned a copy of her G-235A and I simply printed it and attached it to my petition or does the signature have to be in ink? It would be great if any of you could let me know. Thank you in advance!

[phd1974 17]

Yeah, they don't process K-1 Visa petitions anymore. It's either Texas or California now.

[phd1974 17]

Oh dear. I was hoping it was Vermont's Service Center.

My fiancee is overseas. Would it be ok if she scanned a copy of her G-235A and I simply printed it and attached it to my petition or does the signature have to be in ink? It would be great if any of you could let me know. Thank you in advance!

Unsure. I believe there are a couple of posts here in the forums addressing this. My fiancee simply used FedEx and sent me original signatures on the Intent To Marry letter and the G-235A form.

[phd1974 17]

Honestly, I would stick with obtaining original signatures instead of scans. Use an express service like Fed Ex or DHL. It is better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

[SilentObserver 2]

Honestly, I would stick with obtaining original signatures instead of scans. Use an express service like Fed Ex or DHL. It is better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Looks like original signatures are needed. Thank you so much for the heads up on this. Another quick question, in the letter of intent to marry, what address should I put in the letter - the lockbox address or a service center address - since i am still not sure if my application will go to the Vermont service center or the Texas Service Center.

[phd1974 17]

Looks like original signatures are needed. Thank you so much for the heads up on this. Another quick question, in the letter of intent to marry, what address should I put in the letter - the lockbox address or a service center address - since i am still not sure if my application will go to the Vermont service center or the Texas Service Center.

In the Letter of Intent, I don't believe it is necessary to put either the Texas Lockbox or any of the Service Center addresses. I did not. I basically created my letter like a business letter - title of the document large and bold at the top (Intent To Marry Statement), date at top, addressed the reader as "To whom it may concern:", then I pretty much wrote something similar (not exactly the same) to the example used in the K-1 Visa guide on here. Maybe I used an extra sentence on it.

Then I ended it with Sincerely ... and then had the name typed at the bottom with petitioner or beneficiary listed as to who is signing the form and then my signature and the date signed.

Apparently, you should have one from you and one from her ....

[SilentObserver 2]

Thank you so much phd1974! I truly appreciate the prompt responses to my endless barrage of questions.