Received RFE to Prove Circumstance Of Meeting

[earthboundchild 1]

Hello again everyone,

 

We have just received an RFE requesting more proof of having met within the two year period immediately preceding the submission of the I-129F.

 

Most people it seems who apply for this visa are in a situation where the US citizen is living in the US, and the Fiance(e) is living in their home country. For us though, I (the US citizen) and my Fiancee were living 4 Kilometers away from each other in Ontario, Canada. When we decided we wanted to move to the US, I first made the move, and immediately filed for the K1 visa. When they asked for evidence from the last two years in the I-129F form, I figured, "We've been together for 9 years! I'll just give our passport stamps from 2008, and lots of pictures over those 9 years!" Apparently the passport stamps were invalid as they were beyond the two-year window preceding my submission of the application.

 

On the RFE they state only two types of primary evidence:

- Copies of airline tickets with the date on them

- Copies of passport pages showing the stamps and date

 

Obviously we didn't have a need to fly to see each other, as we would just walk or drive to see each other every single day in the two years prior to this application. The only evidence we have are digital pictures which don't have date stamps, and the RFE states that pictures are considered secondary evidence.

 

Has anyone else been in this situation? We are scared we will get denied for lack of evidence. I tried calling the USCIS today to ask them, but they sidestepped the question and said I need to either contact an immigration attourney (can't afford it), or request an appointment at my nearest office using their InfoPass website (nearest office is a 4 hour drive away, with no appointments available).

 

Should I provide photocopies of my drivers license or T4's with my old Canadian address? Should I print a Google Map showing how close the distance was between our two addresses? I'm at a loss for what more we could provide them with. We gave them as much evidence as we thought we had in the original I-129F application.

 

We need to submit this additional evidence by May 9th. I hope someone can shed some light on this sticky situation.

Edited February 21, 2017 by earthboundchild

[NAT2016 18]

How did your U.S. fiance(e) come to meet you? If he/she crossed the border everyday, then he/she can show U.S. passport (stamps), if there is any.  Otherwise he/she needs to contact CBP to get border crossing records.  Vice versa if you crossed border each day.  Or, did you two attend friends party together and your friend happened took pictures of you two with dates to prove your meeting?

[earthboundchild 1]

If you read my post, you'd understand we lived in the same city in Canada for the entirety of our relationship. It was only in the past few months that I (the US citizen) have relocated to the US.

[NAT2016 18]

6 minutes ago, earthboundchild said:

If you read my post, you'd understand we lived in the same city in Canada for the entirety of our relationship. It was only in the past few months that I (the US citizen) have relocated to the US.

Man, calm down, my bad.  Glad to know you crossed the border and moved back to U.S.  

[yuna628 9,687]

Just to clarify and make sure, did you live together under the same roof at any point? (I think the answer is yes if I'm reading you right, apologies in advance). Do you have any proof of bills being in both your names or any evidence of living together other than photographs? Bank withdraws? Ticket stubs for two? Receipts for two?  Anything placing you in the same place at the same time. The problem with photographs is this is secondary evidence. You need something to back this up. My suggestion would be to write a more detailed and signed explanation letter, making sure to note dates and the circumstances of your living arrangement with supporting evidence - any you can think of that is tangible and valid. The proof of meeting within two year is the pretty big requirement for the form. For us, I had met my husband well over 10 years ago by that time - but we still had to make sure we had evidence proving we had met the two-year requirement.. so we provided evidence of each meeting over the entire period (there were a lot of passports/stamps) including the two year and made sure to point out the most recent with sticky notes, and linked this all back in the more detailed explanation letter.

Edited February 21, 2017 by yuna628

[earthboundchild 1]

Thanks for your response.
Unfortunately, no, we did not live together throughout the duration of our relationship while in Canada. We both lived in the same city, but not under the same roof. Seeing that we lived about 10 minutes away from each other for the past 9 years up until October 2016, we simply have no passport stamps or airline tickets because they were not necessary. This is what makes it difficult. How can I ultimately prove that I have been with her? It's unclear at this point. I was thinking of writing a more detailed explanation letter to send in with my RFE, and that's about all I can do it seems. It's clear that our situation is unique, that's for sure!

[LionessDeon 2,060]

Maybe have friends and family write affidavits for you.  Can you come up with any proof of your addresses in the past two years to show that you lived so close to each other?  Then add in the google map to show your house and the distance to hers.  Maybe all that along with your explanation letter will suffice. I would be inclined to submit a timeline with that also.  

We met XX-XX-XXXX

We lived within 4 kg of each other from XX-XX-XXXX to XX-XX-XXXX

Etc

 

Still include pics particularly those at any landmarks.

[earthboundchild 1]

I thought of the same thing regarding friends and family writing affidavits. However, upon re-reading the RFE form I received, they state that letters do not constitute as formal evidence. I can absolutely prove our addresses from that time period, as well as proving they are close using Google Maps. The trouble is that only proves that we lived near each other. It doesn't exactly prove our relationship using any primary evidence though. That is some great advice though, thank you.

[LionessDeon 2,060]

True, but you can only give them what you have.  I'd choose affidavits, as at least it is something, since your formal evidence isn't available.

 

[earthboundchild 1]

That's true. Anything to help at this point, I suppose!

[LionessDeon 2,060]

Right.  And in your letter just explain it all to them.  Use their wording back to them  "we are unable to submit primary evidence because we lived nearby each other and did not have to take planes or cross borders"  etc, etc.

Good Luck!

Edited February 21, 2017 by LionessDeon

[earthboundchild 1]

Will do. Thank you very much!

[Cryssiekins 976]

Our story is very similar. 

 

I lived in Beamsville and he lived in Buffalo... just a super quick drive across the bridge and 0 evidence of that thanks to vwp.

 

What we used (as corny as this

sounds) was a picture of us holding a dated newspaper, as well as tickets from a show we went to out of town and the copy of the hotel receipt (which I had to

ask them to put both our names

on.)  Additionally, we wrote a letter that "told our story" explaining where and how we met and how we mainted a relationship.  No additional evidence was

requested.

[jenni17 36]

5 hours ago, earthboundchild said:

Hello again everyone,

 

We have just received an RFE requesting more proof of having met within the two year period immediately preceding the submission of the I-129F.

 

Most people it seems who apply for this visa are in a situation where the US citizen is living in the US, and the Fiance(e) is living in their home country. For us though, I (the US citizen) and my Fiancee were living 4 Kilometers away from each other in Ontario, Canada. When we decided we wanted to move to the US, I first made the move, and immediately filed for the K1 visa. When they asked for evidence from the last two years in the I-129F form, I figured, "We've been together for 9 years! I'll just give our passport stamps from 2008, and lots of pictures over those 9 years!" Apparently the passport stamps were invalid as they were beyond the two-year window preceding my submission of the application.

 

On the RFE they state only two types of primary evidence:

- Copies of airline tickets with the date on them

- Copies of passport pages showing the stamps and date

 

Obviously we didn't have a need to fly to see each other, as we would just walk or drive to see each other every single day in the two years prior to this application. The only evidence we have are digital pictures which don't have date stamps, and the RFE states that pictures are considered secondary evidence.

 

Has anyone else been in this situation? We are scared we will get denied for lack of evidence. I tried calling the USCIS today to ask them, but they sidestepped the question and said I need to either contact an immigration attourney (can't afford it), or request an appointment at my nearest office using their InfoPass website (nearest office is a 4 hour drive away, with no appointments available).

 

Should I provide photocopies of my drivers license or T4's with my old Canadian address? Should I print a Google Map showing how close the distance was between our two addresses? I'm at a loss for what more we could provide them with. We gave them as much evidence as we thought we had in the original I-129F application.

 

We need to submit this additional evidence by May 9th. I hope someone can shed some light on this sticky situation.

Did you go on any trips together within Canada during the time period? My husband and I both lived in Peru prior to filing, we submitted a lot of copies of boarding passes from domestic flights showing we traveled on the same day and with seats together, same for bus tickets. If you don't have that maybe any kind of tickets to events that have your names on them? Hotel reservations with both of your names on them? Credit card statements with consistent use could also perhaps prove that you were in Canada the whole time and explain the lack of passport stamps. 

 

Aside from those I second the affidavits, as many as you can get. Show the Drivers license to prove Canadian address for sure. If you can swing the 4 hour drive though it may be worth going to the info pass appointment prior to responding to the RFE, better a 4 hour drive than risking a rejection. Appointments can only be made up to 2 weeks in advance, if you check at exactly midnight you can usually get one as soon as the next day opens.

[KimchiLumpia 315]

My fiance and I are in similar situation.  She lives in Vancouver BC and I'm in Seattle - which is about a 2.5 hour drive.  

We have been together 2 years, and in our K1 Visa application - we provided copies of airlines boarding passes for trips we took to Hawaii and California together.  We also provided copies of bus tickets for when my fiance took the Bolt Bus from Vancouver to Seattle.   We also added photos of us together in these cities with distinguishable landmarks in the background (Waikiki Beach, Golden Gate Bridge, etc).

If you have taken a flight together on holiday, provide copies of the boarding passes and photos you took together at the destination.  If you have bus passes, provide those.       

 

Edited February 22, 2017 by KimchiLumpia