Filling I-129F while living abroad... We need some help!

[scottfede 0]

Hi everybody!

My fiancé Scott (U.S. citizen) and I have been together for a year now and are currently living in Italy.

We spent the first 6 months of our relationship in California where I was working as au pair (I had a 1-year J1 visa). When my visa expired, we moved to Australia where we lived together for 4 months before moving back to Italy. I have my apartment in Rome and we are living here for now, but we decided we want to get married in California after I finish my university in January, so we are starting our K1 visa journey, in order to be able to move back to the US after I graduate. We are working on our I-129F package and we were wondering if you could help us with some questions we have.

1) I-129F form, Part 1. Your Mailing Address - We filled out this part writing the Italian address where we are currently living together and where we want to receive all mail. Is this correct? In question 28 (Address in the US where your fiancé intends to live) we wrote his parents address (we will live there for a while before the wedding), but on the USCIS website is specified that the US address where the beneficiary will live should be the same as the petitioner's US address. The form only asks the petitioner's address once, so we have no way to specify his permanent US address on the form. What should we do?

2) I-129F Cover Letter and Fiancé letter of intent to marry [PETITIONER’S ADDRESS] - Which address should we write here?

3) I-129F $340 Fee Payment (Check) - Since we are in Italy we have no way to send a check from here. Is it possible to have Scott's best friend send us a check to pay the $340 fee from his bank account, and put that check in the package? Can it be a problem to send a check from a person who's not directly related to us?

4) Petitioner's G-325A form. Applicant's residence last five years - We wrote the addresses where we lived in the last 2 months in Italy and 4 months in Australia, but before moving with me he had always lived in his parents house. What should we write as a beginning date for the period he lived there?

5) Beneficiary's G-325A form. Applicant's residence last five years - The form has only 5 rows to write the addresses but in the past 5 years I've lived in more than 5 places and I don't know if it's necessary to list all of them. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about: 2011 to 2012 I lived in my parents house, in 2013 I moved to Spain for 7 months (Erasmus), then I went back to Italy until the end of 2014. In 2015 I moved to California and lived with an american host family for a year. In December I went back to Italy and stayed with my parents for a month and a half, then flew back to California and lived with Scott in his parents house until we moved to Australia in February. In June we moved to Italy, where we are now. To cover the whole period (5 years) I would need 8 rows. I will obviously omit the last month in California since that was just a vacation, but do you think it's ok if I omit the 7 months in Spain and just say I've always been in Italy before California?

6) The last question is just a doubt I have: I've been reading everywhere that we need to put in the package "documentary proof of having met in person in the past 2 years and an ongoing relationship". We have no problems in proving the ongoing relationship with flight tickets, hotels, photos and even a joint bank account we opened in Australia, but can it be a problem that we've been together for only 1 year? Do they want people to be together for at least 2 years before applying for the K1, or just to show that the relationship is recent and ongoing?

Sorry for the stupid questions, I know some of these are not important, but I want to be sure everything is correct before sending the package. I would like to avoid receiving an RFE for stupid errors.

Thank you very much.

Federica

[Greenbaum 12,260]

scottfede, on 22 Jul 2016 - 6:05 PM, said:

Hi everybody!

My fiancé Scott (U.S. citizen) and I have been together for a year now and are currently living in Italy.

We spent the first 6 months of our relationship in California where I was working as au pair (I had a 1-year J1 visa). When my visa expired, we moved to Australia where we lived together for 4 months before moving back to Italy. I have my apartment in Rome and we are living here for now, but we decided we want to get married in California after I finish my university in January, so we are starting our K1 visa journey, in order to be able to move back to the US after I graduate. We are working on our I-129F package and we were wondering if you could help us with some questions we have.

1) I-129F form, Part 1. Your Mailing Address - We filled out this part writing the Italian address where we are currently living together and where we want to receive all mail. Is this correct? In question 28 (Address in the US where your fiancé intends to live) we wrote his parents address (we will live there for a while before the wedding), but on the USCIS website is specified that the US address where the beneficiary will live should be the same as the petitioner's US address. The form only asks the petitioner's address once, so we have no way to specify his permanent US address on the form. What should we do? List a US address where someone can get your mail and then I suggest they scan it to a PDF and email to you. At this stage it is not important that you are in the US to receive your email.

2) I-129F Cover Letter and Fiancé letter of intent to marry [PETITIONER’S ADDRESS] - Which address should we write here? Again, use your US address.

3) I-129F $340 Fee Payment (Check) - Since we are in Italy we have no way to send a check from here. Is it possible to have Scott's best friend send us a check to pay the $340 fee from his bank account, and put that check in the package? Can it be a problem to send a check from a person who's not directly related to us? Yes, a check drawn on a US bank from your friend is ok to use. You could send a money order just the same.

4) Petitioner's G-325A form. Applicant's residence last five years - We wrote the addresses where we lived in the last 2 months in Italy and 4 months in Australia, but before moving with me he had always lived in his parents house. What should we write as a beginning date for the period he lived there? Use the address and dates that he actually lived at those addresses. So if he was born (ie 1975) and lived at his parents house till moving to Australia then he would list 1975 as the starting date.

5) Beneficiary's G-325A form. Applicant's residence last five years - The form has only 5 rows to write the addresses but in the past 5 years I've lived in more than 5 places and I don't know if it's necessary to list all of them. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about: 2011 to 2012 I lived in my parents house, in 2013 I moved to Spain for 7 months (Erasmus), then I went back to Italy until the end of 2014. In 2015 I moved to California and lived with an american host family for a year. In December I went back to Italy and stayed with my parents for a month and a half, then flew back to California and lived with Scott in his parents house until we moved to Australia in February. In June we moved to Italy, where we are now. To cover the whole period (5 years) I would need 8 rows. I will obviously omit the last month in California since that was just a vacation, but do you think it's ok if I omit the 7 months in Spain and just say I've always been in Italy before California? During this process DO NOT cut corners or leave ANYTHING out. So list every address you ever lived at. If it requires an additional sheet(s) of paper then so be it. Be sure to add to the top of the page of the additional sheets of paper your names, date, form # and "question XX continuation". when answer a specific question using a second sheet of paper add the line that you are responding to. Also, at the bottom of the question that you are answering indicate that there are additional pages included that will be a continuation of the question that requires additional information.

6) The last question is just a doubt I have: I've been reading everywhere that we need to put in the package "documentary proof of having met in person in the past 2 years and an ongoing relationship". We have no problems in proving the ongoing relationship with flight tickets, hotels, photos and even a joint bank account we opened in Australia, but can it be a problem that we've been together for only 1 year? Do they want people to be together for at least 2 years before applying for the K1, or just to show that the relationship is recent and ongoing? The requirement is to prove that you have met in the "proceeding" past two years. It can be last week, last month, last year or 2 years ago. Doesn't matter as long as it has been in the proceeding 2 years from date of filing.

Sorry for the stupid questions, I know some of these are not important, but I want to be sure everything is correct before sending the package. I would like to avoid receiving an RFE for stupid errors.

Thank you very much.

Federica

[NuZayetsPogodi 117]

I want to be sure to note you can absolutely receive USCIS mail abroad. Do not listen to people who say you cannot. I filed from abroad and had no trouble receiving NOA-1.

[scottfede 0]

Thank you very much for your answers!

@Greenbaum we would prefer receiving USCIS mail here in Italy, if possible, so we don't have to constantly ask his parents to send us things. Do you think it's a problem if he writes as a mailing address the one where we are now in Italy, and on the cover letter, intent of marry and g-325a he writes his permanent address in the US?

Also, I have another question: Is it necessary to put in the package the beneficiary's birth certificate (in my case I need a translated one, since mine is in Italian), copy of beneficiary's passport (all pages) and affidavit from the petitioner's family? I was reading the list of reasons why you can get an RFE and apparently many people got it for not including these documents in the package. In every I-129F checklist and videos online about how to assembly the package, I've never seen anyone talking about those documents. Should we include them?

[KayDeeCee 4,896]

Foreign fiance(e)'s birth certificate not needed with the I-129F petition. You will need it for the K-1 visa interview, and later for AOS after married.

[Greenbaum 12,260]

Like KayDeeCee states, the beneficiary does not submit their birth certificate when filing the I-129f.

Yes you can get your mail in Italy but the only mail you will receive is the NOA1 and NOA 2 so this may not be enough to put your parents out to scan and email to you. Just my suggestion. Keep in mind that mail is delayed or can be lost or misplaced. Be sure to include G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance

Here is an example of a cover letter and the documents you will be sending as a guide. Do what only Do will Do.

http://www.k1approved.com/k1-fiance-visa-guide/i-129f-cover-letter-for-k1-visa/

[taylor&ilies 5]

Hello,

Like others have mentioned above, it is very possible to receive USCIS mail abroad. I recently filed my k1 petition from France, where I live with my fiance (he is Italian). We put our French address on all forms/letters/documents except for the question that asks where my fiance will be staying when he comes to the US, in which case we put my parents address.

I included the G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance, did not receive a text message since I only have a French number right now. But received NOA1 email on June 30, and received NOA1 in the mail at my French address on July 8th. I am now waiting for NOA2.

So you can put your Italian address, it won't be a problem to get USCIS mail abroad, and if you include the G-1145, you will receive email updates as well.