Filing Next Week - Need Advice

[KozmicBlues 592]

I promise this will be my last post with questions before filing!! I'm just so nervous and don't want to mess anything up. My fiance is mailing me his documents this weekend and I want to be sure I'm not forgetting anything since it's so expensive to mail. Am I missing anything that needs his actual "wet" signature or is this everything I need to have an original of from him?

• G-325A, Biographic Information
• Passport Photo
• His fiance letter of intent

 

And lastly, I'm having a hard time deciding if I should include anything about the fact that me and my fiance got tattoos together on my last trip to visit him. We each got a design that has each other's names written in his native language. I mentioned this briefly at the end of my "how we met" page as a supplement to the petition form and was thinking about including pictures of the tattoos in the support for proof of meeting or ongoing relationship. I'm the worst at remembering to take photos so sadly I don't have any of us together getting them at the tattoo shop! But then I got to overthinking it and wondered if that is maybe too much to include? Will they see it as us maybe trying too hard or something?

 

I have a bunch of tattoos already and we decided to get them before we even looked into what support is needed for the K1 process, so it was definitely not something done to have evidence to show, but I'm worried someone else might think that. Should I just leave out the tattoos completely and not even mention them? We didn't have a formal engagement or anything so I didn't mention anywhere about how we got engaged since it was literally just him asking me and me saying yes. I thought including the tattoos would help in lieu of having traditional engagement support, but I'm not sure. Looking for other's opinions to help me decide what I should do. 

[Unshakable Faith 493]

8 minutes ago, Traceratops said:

I promise this will be my last post with questions before filing!! I'm just so nervous and don't want to mess anything up. My fiance is mailing me his documents this weekend and I want to be sure I'm not forgetting anything since it's so expensive to mail. Am I missing anything that needs his actual "wet" signature or is this everything I need to have an original of from him?

• G-325A, Biographic Information
• Passport Photo
• His fiance letter of intent

 

And lastly, I'm having a hard time deciding if I should include anything about the fact that me and my fiance got tattoos together on my last trip to visit him. We each got a design that has each other's names written in his native language. I mentioned this briefly at the end of my "how we met" page as a supplement to the petition form and was thinking about including pictures of the tattoos in the support for proof of meeting or ongoing relationship. I'm the worst at remembering to take photos so sadly I don't have any of us together getting them at the tattoo shop! But then I got to overthinking it and wondered if that is maybe too much to include? Will they see it as us maybe trying too hard or something?

 

I have a bunch of tattoos already and we decided to get them before we even looked into what support is needed for the K1 process, so it was definitely not something done to have evidence to show, but I'm worried someone else might think that. Should I just leave out the tattoos completely and not even mention them? We didn't have a formal engagement or anything so I didn't mention anywhere about how we got engaged since it was literally just him asking me and me saying yes. I thought including the tattoos would help in lieu of having traditional engagement support, but I'm not sure. Looking for other's opinions to help me decide what I should do. 

First of all, save your money and scan those documents.  None of them need wet "original" signatures.  they used to before 2013 but the wording has changed since then and they no longer need original signatures.  I had all the documents I needed from my fiance scanned and emailed to me.   We were approved without issue.   That's a common misconception that wet signatures are needed. 

 

Secondly,  I don't think tattoos or no tattoos makes a difference. Slow down and breathe, I think you're thinking too much it.

 

Get the documents scanned to you, read over everything to make sure everything is correct, and submit!

 

Well wishes to you!

[KozmicBlues 592]

Just now, FN&KO said:

First of all, save your money and scan those documents.  None of them need wet "original" signatures.  they used to before 2013 but the wording has changed since then and they no longer need original signatures.  I had all the documents I needed from my fiance scanned and emailed to me.   We were approved without issue.   That's a common misconception that wet signatures are needed. 

 

Secondly,  I don't think tattoos or no tattoos makes a difference. Slow down and breathe, I think you're thinking too much it.

 

Get the documents scanned to you, read over everything to make sure everything is correct, and submit!

 

Well wishes to you!

Thank you so much!! But what about the passport photo? My thought was he's going to have to send those anyway so might as well just have him send the papers also. 

[Unshakable Faith 493]

2 minutes ago, Traceratops said:

Thank you so much!! But what about the passport photo? My thought was he's going to have to send those anyway so might as well just have him send the papers also. 

I just had him take a photo that met the standards and email it to me, then I sized it and printed it.   Saved us about $100 and we didn't lose time waiting on a package to arrive!

 

Edited March 16, 2017 by FN&KO
.

[KimchiLumpia 315]

First FN&KO, I have to respectfully disagree with not providing a "wet signature".  According to the I-129F instructions provided by the USCIS under the "General Instructions" section, it clearly states: A photocopy of a signed petition or a typewritten name in place of a signature is not acceptable.

https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-129finstr.pdf?download=1

 

Maybe a photocopy of your I-129F worked for some, but, that could have been an oversight specific to that persons application.  To err on the side of caution, I recommend following the USCIS instructions and provide "wet signatures" on all original submitted forms requested.

 To the OP, I  over-thinking can be good.  It means you are thorough and want to be prepared.  But, don't let it drive you crazy with doubt and fear.  You're in good company here at VJ, and most everyone here has gone through what you are going through right now.

Include the photos of your tattoo won't hurt your case.  And not having a lavish traditional down-on-one-knee engagement won't hurt your case either.  What you want is to establish a timeline of your relationship, backed up by proof.  

 

If you guys met in June 2015: provide airlines tickets dated June 2015, passport stamps dated June 2015, photos together, ect

If you guys met again in December 2016: provide airlines tickets dated December 2016, passport stamps dated December 2016, photos together, etc

 

Its pretty simple when you don't over-think the process.  

 

Just make sure everything is double checked, signed, and in order before sending out.  

Good luck!

 

[Unshakable Faith 493]

8 minutes ago, KimchiLumpia said:

First FN&KO, I have to respectfully disagree with not providing a "wet signature".  According to the I-129F instructions provided by the USCIS under the "General Instructions" section, it clearly states: A photocopy of a signed petition or a typewritten name in place of a signature is not acceptable.

https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-129finstr.pdf?download=1

 

Maybe a photocopy of your I-129F worked for some, but, that could have been an oversight specific to that persons application.  To err on the side of caution, I recommend following the USCIS instructions and provide "wet signatures" on all original submitted forms requested.

 To the OP, I  over-thinking can be good.  It means you are thorough and want to be prepared.  But, don't let it drive you crazy with doubt and fear.  You're in good company here at VJ, and most everyone here has gone through what you are going through right now.

Include the photos of your tattoo won't hurt your case.  And not having a lavish traditional down-on-one-knee engagement won't hurt your case either.  What you want is to establish a timeline of your relationship, backed up by proof.  

 

If you guys met in June 2015: provide airlines tickets dated June 2015, passport stamps dated June 2015, photos together, ect

If you guys met again in December 2016: provide airlines tickets dated December 2016, passport stamps dated December 2016, photos together, etc

 

Its pretty simple when you don't over-think the process.  

 

Just make sure everything is double checked, signed, and in order before sending out.  

Good luck!

 

That is talking about the petition itself (which the US citizen signs).  If you continue reading the instructions, it states that photocopies are accepted of supporting documents.

 

All supporting documents can be scanned copies.  This is an age-old debate but you can search it on here and see that original signatures are not needed.   There have been no RFE's since 2013 for wet signatures. 

[KimchiLumpia 315]

12 minutes ago, FN&KO said:

That is talking about the petition itself (which the US citizen signs).  If you continue reading the instructions, it states that photocopies are accepted of supporting documents.

 

All supporting documents can be scanned copies.  This is an age-old debate but you can search it on here and see that original signatures are not needed.   There have been no RFE's since 2013 for wet signatures. 

This is where we can agree to disagree.

I stand by what I said earlier. All ORIGINAL forms require "wet signatures".  Supporting documents can be copies unless originals are requested.  This means: tax transcripts, tax returns, W2's, bank statements etc can be photo copies.  The original forms must have pen to paper signatures.

I took your advice and did a Visa Journey search using the term "wet signature", and this issue isn't 100% agreed on.  Some got away with sending copies, and others didn't.  It all depends on the adjudicator:
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/528791-is-g325a-needed-with-i-129f-filling/

Did a web search too, and even lawyers can't agree on this issue:
https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/does-my-fiance-have-to-sign-the-g325a-form---per-t-2105593.html

As I said earlier, we can agree to disagree.

I personally err on the side of caution.  My Canadian fiance lives about a 2 hour drive away, so attaining wet signatures was not a problem for us.  But if someone feels comfortable sending copies, then that is up to them.  If they get an RFE, its not the end of the world.  It can be remedied.  And if they don't get an RFE, then no harm.     

  

 

[Unshakable Faith 493]

12 minutes ago, KimchiLumpia said:

This is where we can agree to disagree.

I stand by what I said earlier. All ORIGINAL forms require "wet signatures".  Supporting documents can be copies unless originals are requested.  This means: tax transcripts, tax returns, W2's, bank statements etc can be photo copies.  The original forms must have pen to paper signatures.

I took your advice and did a Visa Journey search using the term "wet signature", and this issue isn't 100% agreed on.  Some got away with sending copies, and others didn't.  It all depends on the adjudicator:
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/528791-is-g325a-needed-with-i-129f-filling/

Did a web search too, and even lawyers can't agree on this issue:
https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/does-my-fiance-have-to-sign-the-g325a-form---per-t-2105593.html

As I said earlier, we can agree to disagree.

I personally err on the side of caution.  My Canadian fiance lives about a 2 hour drive away, so attaining wet signatures was not a problem for us.  But if someone feels comfortable sending copies, then that is up to them.  If they get an RFE, its not the end of the world.  It can be remedied.  And if they don't get an RFE, then no harm.     

  

 

To each his own!

By instructions though, wet signatures are not needed. 

[KozmicBlues 592]

3 hours ago, FN&KO said:

To each his own!

By instructions though, wet signatures are not needed. 

I'm just going to be cautious and have him send me actual forms with the "wet signature" since I really don't want to fuss around with printing a photo in the right size anyway. Sounds to me like scanned copies would probably be fine though. He has a friend who may be travelling here next week and can probably bring the docs for us so that saves us the shipping anyway. Thanks for the inputs, much appreciated.  

[TheSkywalkers 143]

3 hours ago, Traceratops said:

I'm just going to be cautious and have him send me actual forms with the "wet signature" since I really don't want to fuss around with printing a photo in the right size anyway. Sounds to me like scanned copies would probably be fine though. He has a friend who may be travelling here next week and can probably bring the docs for us so that saves us the shipping anyway. Thanks for the inputs, much appreciated.  

Hello, with regards to wet signatures, I was the beneficiary of a K1 visa petition and I did not send him originals of my forms. I just scanned the forms with my signatures on them and emailed them to my fiance. We got approved just last January and the whole process was so smooth it just took us 4months from filing to approval. I have been here iin the US for 3 weeks now an going to file for AOS soon.

 

As for tattoos, USCIS does not care about it, as long as the relationship is legit.  

 

Best of luck!

[Scandi 4,192]

FN&KO is correct, beneficary can scan and email everything. They don't give RFEs for wet signatures since a few years back since it's not a requirement anymore.

[Scandi 4,192]

10 hours ago, KimchiLumpia said:

I took your advice and did a Visa Journey search using the term "wet signature", and this issue isn't 100% agreed on.  Some got away with sending copies, and others didn't.  It all depends on the adjudicator:
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/528791-is-g325a-needed-with-i-129f-filling/
 

Old thread. Scans are perfectly fine.

[KimchiLumpia 315]

Like I said, one should do whatever makes them feel confident about their application. 

 

VJ should purge some of their old information.

Scan or original signature, good luck @Traceratops ! 

Cheers! 

[KozmicBlues 592]

On 3/16/2017 at 9:43 AM, FN&KO said:

I just had him take a photo that met the standards and email it to me, then I sized it and printed it.   Saved us about $100 and we didn't lose time waiting on a package to arrive!

 

@FN&KO Hi again! Can you help me with how you printed the passport photo? I've asked various photo stations like Walgreens and Fedex/Kinkos but they keep telling me there's no way to print a digital photo in passport size, only to use their passport photo service. Obviously I know there is a way, but I don't have a photo printer and I want to make sure it's the right quality for the application. How did you go about printing your fiance's photo?

[Unshakable Faith 493]

1 minute ago, Traceratops said:

@FN&KO Hi again! Can you help me with how you printed the passport photo? I've asked various photo stations like Walgreens and Fedex/Kinkos but they keep telling me there's no way to print a digital photo in passport size, only to use their passport photo service. Obviously I know there is a way, but I don't have a photo printer and I want to make sure it's the right quality for the application. How did you go about printing your fiance's photo?

He sent me a photo that met the requirements and I sized and resized on the paint application on my computer, it took a few tries.  I got it to the correct dimensions and just sent it to the walgreens print center.  The passport pictures are supposed to be 2inx2in so I made two columns of 3 pictures of the passport photo.  So one 4x6 print gave me 6 passport photos.  I spent around 29 cents.