Philippines - Submitting tomorrow! Need advice!!

[JQ85 0]

Nervous because we're submitting our visa packet tomorrow! I was told you do not need a ton for the initial submission - that "passport stamps/boarding passes etc" plus photos is best of all...

 

1. I was originally only going to include 5-6 photos along with my boarding passes/itinerary/passports stamps.. No emails etc.. What do you guys think? I was actually advised against loading too heavy submitting first to Texas (lockbox)..

 

2. Photos - just attach with... Tape? (I wrote brief captions of the dates/places)... 

 

*Im nervous because every submission is so different.. Some people go nuts, include 30 emails and 9 pages of photos... I was told a few photos and my passport stamps (hard proof of being together in the last 2 years) is what theyre really after (before the interview)...

 

I have it organized and Im just going to paperclip it together.. Will this be fine?

 

thank you guys, appreciate the advice!!

[shayden10 78]

Are you applying for the K1?

 

I applied for the K1 Visa back in August of last year. I included 5 photos from different times in our relationship (first trip together, engagement, etc) and ensured the photos and evidence I submitted matched with my evidence of meeting statement. For example, I said we took a trip to Niagara Falls for NYE where we stayed at a Marriott and had dinner at a fancy restaurant, got engaged next to the falls, and visited tourist attractions in my statement - I included one photo from right after we got engaged and wrote on the back who it was, date it was taken, where it was taken, and the circumstances; I also included our hotel/dinner reservation and tourist attraction tickets. 

 

I included boarding passes and itineraries, as well as receipts/reservations/tickets from stuff we did while we were visiting. I never included passport stamps. I put my photos in a plastic ziploc bag and attached it with a paperclip to the rest of my evidence. 

 

My then-fiance and I communicated mainly via Facebook Messenger, and we talked A LOT. I included two weeks of messages from our time apart discussing our plans for building a house/wedding plans/vacation plans and the two weeks before we submitted our application discussing our next visit, our application, and our future (which was about 70 pages, but the CBP officers at my POE acted out our messages when processing our package so it gave us a good laugh). I didn't include pointless ramblings or small talk. I also included our skype call log, which wasn't a lot because we visited frequently and we were busy when we were apart. I didn't include our call log from my phone because we called too much and it wouldn't have been useful. 

 

I attached different sections of my application using paperclips and used a large binder clip to put it all together. I did include quite a bit of information, but I tried not to go too over the top. This was the most important package I ever submitted, I did everything I could to avoid getting an RFE or denial. I included extra information that was strong evidence of our relationship, not just extra information that made my package huge. 

 

If you have any questions, I'm happy to help any way I can!

[snowcat 58]

2 hours ago, JQ85 said:

Nervous because we're submitting our visa packet tomorrow! I was told you do not need a ton for the initial submission - that "passport stamps/boarding passes etc" plus photos is best of all...

 

1. I was originally only going to include 5-6 photos along with my boarding passes/itinerary/passports stamps.. No emails etc.. What do you guys think? I was actually advised against loading too heavy submitting first to Texas (lockbox)..

 

2. Photos - just attach with... Tape? (I wrote brief captions of the dates/places)... 

 

*Im nervous because every submission is so different.. Some people go nuts, include 30 emails and 9 pages of photos... I was told a few photos and my passport stamps (hard proof of being together in the last 2 years) is what theyre really after (before the interview)...

 

I have it organized and Im just going to paperclip it together.. Will this be fine?

 

thank you guys, appreciate the advice!!

Don't be so nervous, you'll be fine!

 

I also am from the Philippines and helped my fiance arrange our visa packet while I was in the U.S. a week before heading back to Manila. I just attached 6 total pictures (don't send in too many - I think they only want 5 pics max, but I put another extra one just in case - I was as paranoid as you are now lol). Pick the best pictures you have together. I personally chose ones that showed we were both in the U.S. or the Philippines (tourist attractions and what not) to show that we have been in each other's countries together. I also attached some boarding passes and copies of the pages of our passports with the stamps. I don't think I put any emails or texts - they usually don't care as long as your other pieces of evidence (photos, travel docs, etc) are legit enough. I paperclipped the photos together, as well as the documents. No staples or tape.

 

Just make sure you have ALL the required documents! Have you been checking the guide visajourney has for the packet? There's a checklist there that I made sure to follow when assembling our packet last year: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide and it served me well! Be sure to have all those items + the check for the fee in your packet!