Getting ready to send in I-129F, Your input please!

[FHL 0]

Dear VJ Members,

My girlfriend and I met in 2012 when I was in MN as an international student from Venezuela. I completed a post completion OPT and worked with an EAD in CA and during this time, my employer decided to send an H1B visa petition. Unfortunately, it was not selected and therefore, I had to move back to Venezuela. Her parents want her to finish college before getting married, so that's why I ended up coming back home. Despite the long distance, we are still together. She is in her senior year now and we are getting ready to send our packet to the Dallas Lockbox soon.

We decided to do this without a lawyer since it seems that our case is pretty simple: no kids, never been married, and have plenty of pics.

We've been following the K1 guide provided here and it's been very helpful, but we still have some questions:

• For evidence, we collected about 40 pictures and we used shutterfly.com to add captions on the back of it with our names, location of the pic (just city and state), month and year taken, and a short description (an event, place, etc.) Shutterfly prints it in photo paper and prints that info in the back of it for you. The question is: Are we sending too many pictures?

I read that this is considered secondary evidence, but we have pics corroborating how we met, trips, anniversaries, my graduation pics. We also have flight confirmation emails (we visited each other 5 times in one yr while I was in CA), a confirmation email of a bus ticket showing both of us as passengers. We are sending these as well. I am also putting together a doc with screenshots of our skype call history since I moved back to be sent as evidence. Are any of these considered primary evidence?

• Before I left the US, we signed a power of attorney doc that was notorized. Can this also be sent as evidence?

• This might be a dumb question (and I think I know the answer), but for the beneficiary letter of intent (me) and G325-A, do I have to sign in ink or can it be a digital signature or can it be just typed? if it's ink, I'll have to sign them and mail them to the US which takes about 5 days. Just trying to be smart with the timing here, that's all.

• The format of the addresses in Venezuela are different from the US, so my address doesn't fit in the field in the I-129F. We entered an abbreviated form of the address. We omitted the street and just wrote the name of the residential complex where I live. Can I write "see attachment" and attach a sheet with my address instead? Could this be a potential processing problem since I am using my full address in the letters of intent?

Sorry for the long post, but wanted to be as specific as possible with our situation. Your comments will be much appreciated! I cant wait to create timeline and see it change.

Felix

[Mabenita 5]

Dear VJ Members,

My girlfriend and I met in 2012 when I was in MN as an international student from Venezuela. I completed a post completion OPT and worked with an EAD in CA and during this time, my employer decided to send an H1B visa petition. Unfortunately, it was not selected and therefore, I had to move back to Venezuela. Her parents want her to finish college before getting married, so that's why I ended up coming back home. Despite the long distance, we are still together. She is in her senior year now and we are getting ready to send our packet to the Dallas Lockbox soon.

We decided to do this without a lawyer since it seems that our case is pretty simple: no kids, never been married, and have plenty of pics.

We've been following the K1 guide provided here and it's been very helpful, but we still have some questions:

• For evidence, we collected about 40 pictures and we used shutterfly.com to add captions on the back of it with our names, location of the pic (just city and state), month and year taken, and a short description (an event, place, etc.) Shutterfly prints it in photo paper and prints that info in the back of it for you. The question is: Are we sending too many pictures?

I read that this is considered secondary evidence, but we have pics corroborating how we met, trips, anniversaries, my graduation pics. We also have flight confirmation emails (we visited each other 5 times in one yr while I was in CA), a confirmation email of a bus ticket showing both of us as passengers. We are sending these as well. I am also putting together a doc with screenshots of our skype call history since I moved back to be sent as evidence. Are any of these considered primary evidence?

• Before I left the US, we signed a power of attorney doc that was notorized. Can this also be sent as evidence?

• This might be a dumb question (and I think I know the answer), but for the beneficiary letter of intent (me) and G325-A, do I have to sign in ink or can it be a digital signature or can it be just typed? if it's ink, I'll have to sign them and mail them to the US which takes about 5 days. Just trying to be smart with the timing here, that's all.

• The format of the addresses in Venezuela are different from the US, so my address doesn't fit in the field in the I-129F. We entered an abbreviated form of the address. We omitted the street and just wrote the name of the residential complex where I live. Can I write "see attachment" and attach a sheet with my address instead? Could this be a potential processing problem since I am using my full address in the letters of intent?

Sorry for the long post, but wanted to be as specific as possible with our situation. Your comments will be much appreciated! I cant wait to create timeline and see it change.

Felix

Hello.. As from my experience regarding pictures, IST, i sent maybe like 60-80,photos. Then i got an RFE. One of which was they need more picture evidence.. So when i did the RFE, I sent them 210 photos hahha!!!

Plus flight tickets/boarding pass and passport stamp. And we got approved.

As for the intent to marry, ink signature needed.

So based on my experience, send them more photos as you can.

Edited March 24, 2015 by Mabenita

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Just to make sure, since you mentioned you met in 2012, you have been together in person within the last 2 years, yes? This is a must.

Show your passport stamps and visa for entering the US, not just the bus tickets together. You can also use receipts of various types, such as hotels, using debit or credit cards during the time at the place you state you were together. The photos are secondary for backing up that type of primary evidence. No need to send a large amount of them. If you have some together with friends and/or family, or in front of well known landmarks, then use those for sure.

Yes, you need ink signatures on those, and yes you can supply an attachment for any questions that need one. See the I-129F instructions on what to include in attachment/supplement sheets.

[FHL 0]

Hello.. As from my experience regarding pictures, IST, i sent maybe like 60-80,photos. Then i got an RFE. One of which was they need more picture evidence.. So when i did the RFE, I sent them 210 photos hahha!!!

Plus flight tickets/boarding pass and passport stamp. And we got approved.

As for the intent to marry, ink signature needed.

So based on my experience, send them more photos as you can.

Thanks Mabenita! I'll keep this in mind! We were thinking that 40 was a lot already. It seems like it may not be.

[Mabenita 5]

Thanks Mabenita! I'll keep this in mind! We were thinking that 40 was a lot already. It seems like it may not be.

Youre welcome. I just sent them our remaining photos together, with his and my familiy and relatives, our trip together, skpe screenshots, and selfies hihi.. Whatever we had i printed them all just to make sure (even our ugly pics haha). However i didnt say that you need 200+ photos ok.. and i put those in albums and had it printed from walgreens, cheaper Edited March 24, 2015 by Mabenita

[FHL 0]

Just to make sure, since you mentioned you met in 2012, you have been together in person within the last 2 years, yes? This is a must.

Show your passport stamps and visa for entering the US, not just the bus tickets together. You can also use receipts of various types, such as hotels, using debit or credit cards during the time at the place you state you were together. The photos are secondary for backing up that type of primary evidence. No need to send a large amount of them. If you have some together with friends and/or family, or in front of well known landmarks, then use those for sure.

Yes, you need ink signatures on those, and yes you can supply an attachment for any questions that need one. See the I-129F instructions on what to include in attachment/supplement sheets.

Thanks KayDeeCee!

Yes, we met in March 2012. were together in Minnesota until July 2013. Moved to California for work until May 2014. I visited her in Sept 2013, Nov 2013, May 2014. She visited me on Jan 2014 and May 2014. I even stayed at her parents house during the 60 day grace period before leaving the US.

I've sent her gifts on amazon and have chat logs with her sister because they were a surprise. Can I submit these too?

I don't have receipts of credit cards. Who saves credit card receipts? hahah. I dont think bank statements show the state where the purchase was made. Any idea if the bank can provide this?

Thanks again KDC!

[FHL 0]

Youre welcome. I just sent them our remaining photos together, with his and my familiy and relatives, our trip together, skpe screenshots, and selfies hihi.. Whatever we had i printed them all just to make sure (even our ugly pics haha). However i didnt say that you need 200+ photos ok.. and i put those in albums and had it printed from walgreens, cheaper

Yeah, if i receive an RFE I'll pretty much do that. send every single pic we have.

Another quick question: how about using NA or None on the I129F? We used NA for child or prior spouse or anything that didnt apply. We originally had None, but i changed them to NA.

This shouldnt be a big deal i think.

[Greg_Dubai 15]

Dear VJ Members,

My girlfriend and I met in 2012 when I was in MN as an international student from Venezuela. I completed a post completion OPT and worked with an EAD in CA and during this time, my employer decided to send an H1B visa petition. Unfortunately, it was not selected and therefore, I had to move back to Venezuela. Her parents want her to finish college before getting married, so that's why I ended up coming back home. Despite the long distance, we are still together. She is in her senior year now and we are getting ready to send our packet to the Dallas Lockbox soon.

We decided to do this without a lawyer since it seems that our case is pretty simple: no kids, never been married, and have plenty of pics.

We've been following the K1 guide provided here and it's been very helpful, but we still have some questions:

• For evidence, we collected about 40 pictures and we used shutterfly.com to add captions on the back of it with our names, location of the pic (just city and state), month and year taken, and a short description (an event, place, etc.) Shutterfly prints it in photo paper and prints that info in the back of it for you. The question is: Are we sending too many pictures?

I read that this is considered secondary evidence, but we have pics corroborating how we met, trips, anniversaries, my graduation pics. We also have flight confirmation emails (we visited each other 5 times in one yr while I was in CA), a confirmation email of a bus ticket showing both of us as passengers. We are sending these as well. I am also putting together a doc with screenshots of our skype call history since I moved back to be sent as evidence. Are any of these considered primary evidence?

• Before I left the US, we signed a power of attorney doc that was notorized. Can this also be sent as evidence?

• This might be a dumb question (and I think I know the answer), but for the beneficiary letter of intent (me) and G325-A, do I have to sign in ink or can it be a digital signature or can it be just typed? if it's ink, I'll have to sign them and mail them to the US which takes about 5 days. Just trying to be smart with the timing here, that's all.

• The format of the addresses in Venezuela are different from the US, so my address doesn't fit in the field in the I-129F. We entered an abbreviated form of the address. We omitted the street and just wrote the name of the residential complex where I live. Can I write "see attachment" and attach a sheet with my address instead? Could this be a potential processing problem since I am using my full address in the letters of intent?

Sorry for the long post, but wanted to be as specific as possible with our situation. Your comments will be much appreciated! I cant wait to create timeline and see it change.

Felix

We sent only 12 pictures and no RFE but we did send a lot of primary evidence, Visa copies (we are both living and working in UAE), hotel receipts in both names, statements from friends that we at events with us (pictures of events were part of the 12), engagement ring receipt and copy of tenancy agreement in both our names. She brought additional pictures and evidence to the interview but was never asked for it. I say all this to say what is most often said here other evidence is more important than pictures, the pictures just back up the evidence.

I used supplements for addresses in 3 different places, I wanted to make certain that there was no confusion. I looked at every requirement with a critical eye trying to anticipate any question and answering it with supplements and evidence.

We will be moving to Minnesota in 32 days and marrying in 53 days, not that I am counting LOL

Best success on you journey.

[Mabenita 5]

MAYBE IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHATS IN YOUR PHOTOS AND OTHER REQS. AND ALSO IT DEPENDS ON WHOS CHECKING YOUR CASE.

ABOUT THE N/A QUESTION, I FORGOT WHAT I WROTE ON THAT PART. BUT IF THATS THE ONLY OPTION FOR NO KIDS AND NO PREVIOUS MARRIAGES THEN N/A OR NONE. BOTH WERE OK THEY UNDERSTAND THAT.

GOODLUCK!

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Thanks KayDeeCee!

Yes, we met in March 2012. were together in Minnesota until July 2013. Moved to California for work until May 2014. I visited her in Sept 2013, Nov 2013, May 2014. She visited me on Jan 2014 and May 2014. I even stayed at her parents house during the 60 day grace period before leaving the US.

I've sent her gifts on amazon and have chat logs with her sister because they were a surprise. Can I submit these too?

I don't have receipts of credit cards. Who saves credit card receipts? hahah. I dont think bank statements show the state where the purchase was made. Any idea if the bank can provide this?

Thanks again KDC!

Yeah, if i receive an RFE I'll pretty much do that. send every single pic we have.

Another quick question: how about using NA or None on the I129F? We used NA for child or prior spouse or anything that didnt apply. We originally had None, but i changed them to NA.

This shouldnt be a big deal i think.

The bank statements and credit card statements may show from who and where you made purchases. You could always ask your bank if more details can be provided to show the locations of where you made the purchases. Chatting with her sister is good for ongoing relationship evidence, but not for proof of meeting.

http://www.uscis.gov...i-129finstr.pdf

How To Fill Out Form I-129F

1. Type or print legibly in black ink.

2. If extra space is needed to complete any item, attach a continuation sheet, write your name and Alien Registration

Number (A-Number) (if any), at the top of each sheet of paper, indicate the Part and Item Number to which your

answer refers, and date and sign each sheet.

3. Answer all questions fully and accurately. If an item is not applicable or the answer is “none,” leave the space blank.

[HeryKa 0]

Hola!

Yo saliendo de todo ese enredo ya gracias a Dios.

No vale la pena el abogado. Le estas haciendo bien.

Está bien al principio con 40 fotos. Igual le van a pedir el RFE

Ahi te puedes extender. En mi caso, mandamos 300 fotos, Páginas de copias de boarding pases, Copias de los sellos del pasaporte, tanto de ella como de el mío, y a los 5 dias de haberlo mandado llegó la aprobación. No estoy implicando que más fotos es mejor. Solo estoy contando nuestra experiencia. Firma con tinta los documentos. Usa none en vez de N/A. Para lo de la dirección si puedes escribir "See attachment"y anexar una página extra.

Lo de los regalos por amazon no es relevante. Si me mandas tu dirección de email te puedo enviar el video del "libro"que mandamos para el RFE

Muchísima suerte!!!

[Ryan H 3,812]

***If you wish to use a language other than English, please do so in the regional forums only or provide a translation in the post.***

Hola!

Yo saliendo de todo ese enredo ya gracias a Dios.

No vale la pena el abogado. Le estas haciendo bien.

Está bien al principio con 40 fotos. Igual le van a pedir el RFE

Ahi te puedes extender. En mi caso, mandamos 300 fotos, Páginas de copias de boarding pases, Copias de los sellos del pasaporte, tanto de ella como de el mío, y a los 5 dias de haberlo mandado llegó la aprobación. No estoy implicando que más fotos es mejor. Solo estoy contando nuestra experiencia. Firma con tinta los documentos. Usa none en vez de N/A. Para lo de la dirección si puedes escribir "See attachment"y anexar una página extra.

Lo de los regalos por amazon no es relevante. Si me mandas tu dirección de email te puedo enviar el video del "libro"que mandamos para el RFE

Muchísima suerte!!!

Below is a translation from Google Translate:

Hello!

Leaving all that mess and thank God.

Not worth the lawyer. Le you're doing well.

Okay at first with 40 photos. Like him they will ask the RFE

There you can extend. In my case, we sent 300 photos, Pages copies of boarding passes, copies of passport stamps, much of it as mine, and after 5 days of having commanded arrived approval. I'm not implying that more is better photos. I'm just telling our experience. Signature in ink documents. None used instead of N / A. To what address if you can write "See attachment" and attach an extra page.

What gifts for amazon is not relevant. If you send me your email address I can send the video of the "book" that send to the RFE

Good luck !!!

~~~Any additional posts that are in a language other than English and do not have a translation will simply be removed.~~~

[HeryKa 0]

So sorry!

New at this

So sorry!

New at this

[t0m 1]

For evidence of having met, I only sent 3 photos, photocopies of the Venezuelan visa entry/exit stamps in my passport, and photocopies of my boarding pass from MIA to CCS. Our petition was approved with no RFE.

[JMB0 1]

Sounds like overkill! My fiancé and I sent in our plane ticket itineraries (5 trips in total) and one photo of us together from each trip (5 photos) along with a letter of intent to marry from each of us, and the engagement ring receipt, and we were approved no problem!

Edited March 25, 2015 by JMB0