Good Place To Start?

[JackCassidyMusic 87]

Hi! I'm currently visiting my boyfriend in the US, and we're trying to gather and ready ourselves for the K-1 application, and I was just wondering if I could run a few things past the wonderful people on this forum to check that I'm in a good place to get started!

Things I have:
I-129F - (Filling out tonight as he's at work right now.)
I-129F supplement - I've already written about our visit for the past nearly three months to go in there.
Completed G-325A for myself (beneficiary), and a photo to be printed that should be fine for it. Cm
Not yet completed G-325A for him (petitioner), and we'll take a photo to be printed when he gets home. 
His Birth Certificate (US Born Citizen)
My letter certifying intent to marry (his to be written when he gets home.)
G-1145 for e-notification.
A nice cover letter that is heavily based on the guide from this site.

So, I'm trying to compile evidence to send, but am hitting a few bumps.

I have a boarding pass and passport stamp for my flight to the US (which was to Chicago before I got to my boyfriend's to attend an event), and then also a boarding pass for my flight to Pittsburgh where he picked me up before driving home to WV. Am I right in thinking I should photocopy these things? And once I do, is it acceptable to write on the photocopy explaining in brief detail what they are, the stamp isn't all that clear.

I have a couple of pictures from when we last visited (over 2 years ago) that are digital, so I understand I'm to print them out and write on the back. The question is can I print them onto one sheet of paper and write below what each picture depicts?
I also have email/e-tickets of my flight from San Francisco to Norfolk, VA, where he was living at the time. Would they be best screenshotted and put with this section?

I also have lots of selfies that I've forced him to take while I've been here (he's not a big picture person), could I, again, print these onto one piece of paper and write underneath them what the depict?

Finally, I'd like to include proof of ongoing relationship right of the bat, as well as past relationship, so are screenshots of Skype/Discord text conversation OK? Or should I copy and paste excerpts into Word and print them off that way?

****

I realize that was a LOT, and I thank anyone in advance for their advice! I just had to send a crying partner to work this morning because I'm going to be leaving the US soon, and it broke my heart. So I'd really like to get this ready to send before I leave, just to start this process ASAP!

Thank you again!

***

EDIT: I've realised that there's no record of the fact that we met online over three years ago, and have talked near enough every single day since! Should I put a separate sheet in the packet explaining this? Our third anniversary was on January 2nd 2017, so we have been together substantially longer than the packet would have them believe, if not physically.

Edited June 8, 2017 by JackCassidyMusic

[geowrian 22,337]

4 minutes ago, JackCassidyMusic said:

Things I have:
I-129F - (Filling out tonight as he's at work right now.)
I-129F supplement - I've already written about our visit for the past nearly three months to go in there.
Completed G-325A for myself (beneficiary), and a photo to be printed that should be fine for it. Cm
Not yet completed G-325A for him (petitioner), and we'll take a photo to be printed when he gets home. 
His Birth Certificate (US Born Citizen)
My letter certifying intent to marry (his to be written when he gets home.)
G-1145 for e-notification.
A nice cover letter that is heavily based on the guide from this site.

What edition of the I-129F are you using? As of tomorrow, only the latest (4/10/17) edition will be accepted. The edition is in the lower left corner. The latest I-129F is 13 pages.

 

The 4/10/17 edition does not requires the 2 x G-325As. The US passport style photos are still needed.

 

The birth certificate should be a copy. Expect that any supporting evidence you provide will not be returned to you.

 

4 minutes ago, JackCassidyMusic said:

I have a boarding pass and passport stamp for my flight to the US (which was to Chicago before I got to my boyfriend's to attend an event), and then also a boarding pass for my flight to Pittsburgh where he picked me up before driving home to WV. Am I right in thinking I should photocopy these things? And once I do, is it acceptable to write on the photocopy explaining in brief detail what they are, the stamp isn't all that clear.

Yes, photocopies are fine. As for me, I wrote descriptions on the back of the paper, but I don't believe that's a requirement for them.

 

4 minutes ago, JackCassidyMusic said:

I have a couple of pictures from when we last visited (over 2 years ago) that are digital, so I understand I'm to print them out and write on the back. The question is can I print them onto one sheet of paper and write below what each picture depicts?
I also have email/e-tickets of my flight from San Francisco to Norfolk, VA, where he was living at the time. Would they be best screenshotted and put with this section?

I also have lots of selfies that I've forced him to take while I've been here (he's not a big picture person), could I, again, print these onto one piece of paper and write underneath them what the depict?

You can (there is not a strict requirement for this supporting evidence), but the suggestion is to print the photos individually and label them.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

"Color Photo's of you and your fiance together. Make sure you write your names, date, and location on the back of every photo. Provide two to five photo's. If you only have a single copy of the photo, then make a color copy and send that. If it is a digital photo, have it printed at a local photo store such as Walgreens (if at all possible) or if not on a high quality printer. Place photo's in a plastic bag or photo sheet and label the sheet. Note that you may not receive originals of photo's back."

 

I don't see why not, but why not just print the emails/e-Tickets? A screenshot isn't really more or less verifiable than the printed document.

 

Same as above. However, I don't understand how they are different than the photos in your sentence paragraph above. Keep in mind photos are secondary evidence - proving a date and time with them is extremely difficult. I personally only included 2 photos of us in my I-129F...the rest was primary evidence (boarding passes, passport stamps, dated event passes with names on them, etc.).

 

4 minutes ago, JackCassidyMusic said:

Finally, I'd like to include proof of ongoing relationship right of the bat, as well as past relationship, so are screenshots of Skype/Discord text conversation OK? Or should I copy and paste excerpts into Word and print them off that way?

Yes, you can include those screenshots or a printout. That said, you're coming from a very low fraud embassy, so front loading isn't necessary. It's your choice to do so or not, but it  won't help your I-129F case and shouldn't have any impact on the interview either.

 

4 minutes ago, JackCassidyMusic said:

I realize that was a LOT, and I thank anyone in advance for their advice! I just had to send a crying partner to work this morning because I'm going to be leaving the US soon, and it broke my heart. So I'd really like to get this ready to send before I leave, just to start this process ASAP!

Thank you again!

Good luck!

[JackCassidyMusic 87]

Thanks for the reply @geowrian that's very very useful information!

I checked the version of the I-129F and it is, indeed, the 4/10/17 edition, so I can go ahead and delete the G-325A's. Thank you for informing me of that!

The reason I asked about screenshotting e-tickets and such is because they're very old now, and when I click on the link in the email that's meant to open my e-ticket, it's gone. So I have emails with travel itineraries. These are actually from my first (face-to-face) meeting with him a couple of years ago.

As far as primary evidence goes, I have boarding passes for flights from this trip, the stamp in my passport, and that would be about it. We probably have some fast food reciepts or something? I also ordered him something from Amazon for his birthday, and it came in a box addressed to me, at this current WV address, Would including a picture of that mail label work? Otherwise I'm at kind of a loss for what I could put.

But judging from what you've said so far, this is what I'm intending to include:
Photocopies of boarding passes and US Entry Stamp from this trip.
A couple of photos of us, one from when we were together over 2 years ago, and a couple from this trip.
A few screenshots from Skype (Specifically one of what our goodnight messages to each other look like every night.)

Is there anything else I could include to help bolster it at all?
Thank you again!

[Dashinka 24,513]

As usual Geowrian is right on it with some great advice. 

 

The only thing I would add is an alternative for displaying the photos.  When we did our K1 I copied the digital photos onto PowerPoint slides (two per page) and captioned/dated them underneath.  I submitted four photos all together and kept the rest for the interview (which no one looked at).  In my opinion either way works.

 

One additional item, when you complete the entire package I would suggest making two or three copies of the entire package.  One for you to take with you, one for your fiancé, and one more just in case (I tend to be a little obsessive with records).  There was at least two times during the K1 and AOS stages that I needed to refer back to the package.

 

Good Luck!

Edited June 8, 2017 by Bill & Katya

[JackCassidyMusic 87]

Thank you @Bill & Katya for the advice! 

Regarding the photos, I was planning on doing something like you described. To print them all out on one page and write captions underneath. So that's excellent news that worked for you!

And I agree with the advice on making copies of the whole package! That was certainly something I was thinking of doing, and now will definitely do it!

[geowrian 22,337]

4 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

As usual Geowrian is right on it with some great advice. 

 

The only thinki would add is an alternative for displaying the photos.  When we did our K1 I copied the digital photos onto PowerPoint slides (two per page) and captioned/dated them underneath.  I submitted four photos all together and kept the rest for the interview (which no one looked at).  In my opinion either way works.

 

One additional item, when you complete the entire package I would suggest making two or three copies of the entire package.  One for you to take with you, one for your fiancé, and one more just in case (I tend to be a little obsessive with records).  There was at least two times during the K1 and AOS stages that I needed to refer back to the package.

Ty~

 

Ooh, that's a good idea too!

 

Good advice, again! I personally made a digital copy and printed that out again for the interview, and then just refer back to that as needed (and documents I made with my notes along the way).

Edited June 8, 2017 by geowrian

[Wuozopo 4,293]

Two reasons for copying the entire package including the check and the addressed envelope:

1. If it got lost in the mail, you would have a duplicate package to follow to put together a new one without thinking it it all through again.
2. While you wait, you will read stories of people getting requests for evidence or something else they did wrong on the form and you will wonder "OMG, did I do that!?!" You can look at your copy and know exactly what you did instead of second guessing yourself. 

Anything older than two years is not actually important. You don't really get more points for knowing each other a long time. It's pretty cut and dried...one is a US citizen, you are free to marry, and you met face to face within the last two years. Older things don't meet the two year requirement so don't count toward approval. But if it makes you happy to include, then go ahead.  Just don't fret over it because they aren't that interested, except to find the required things to tick off. 

 

If you met online on a website, make sure you submit enough details about that. Somebody else  can explain it. They have gotten harder on that and need to know it was a paid marriage site. 

 

You can write on your photocopies to explain explain the evidence you are showing. My wife wrote all over our photocopies from K1 petition on.

 

 

[JackCassidyMusic 87]

6 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

Anything older than two years is not actually important. You don't really get more points for knowing each other a long time. It's pretty cut and dried...one is a US citizen, you are free to marry, and you met face to face within the last two years. Older things don't meet the two year requirement so don't count toward approval. But if it makes you happy to include, then go ahead.  Just don't fret over it because they aren't that interested, except to find the required things to tick off. 

So you'd suggest just not putting anything in to that effect? I was thinking I could maybe amend my Intent To Marry with a brief mention of the how long we've been together? 

I'm just worried that without anything about how we met, it's going to be fairly sparse.
Boarding passes and a US Entry Stamp and a few photos of us together from recently are basically all I have. Do you think that would be enough?

Thank you for helping!

[Wuozopo 4,293]

45 minutes ago, JackCassidyMusic said:

So you'd suggest just not putting anything in to that effect? I was thinking I could maybe amend my Intent To Marry with a brief mention of the how long we've been together? 

I'm just worried that without anything about how we met, it's going to be fairly sparse.
Boarding passes and a US Entry Stamp and a few photos of us together from recently are basically all I have. Do you think that would be enough?

Thank you for helping!

 

Why don't you write a summary of your relationship and stick that page in as a separate page, not in the cover letter which gets thrown out in the mail room. Not in your "free to marry and intend to marry within 90 days" statement. That way they see how you evolved and you will feel better. 

 

SUMMARY OF RELATIONSHIP

 

June 2013- became acquainted on blah, blah, blah.

Aug 2013- Began to talk daily via Skype.

Jan 2014- became a couple 

Aug  2014- Mary visits Joe in Orlando, FL for six weeks

Feb 2015- Mary visits Joe in Dallas, TX for ten days and meets his sister Susan Jones.

etc etc writing in significant things like when you decided to marry and finishing with this current trip.