First-Person P.O.V. and Labeling Petitioner, Beneficiary in Cover Letter, Etc.

[ItchyKneeSon 4]

Forgive me if I'm being excessive with regard to details, but...
Question 1:  Is it necessary to use the third-person point of view in the cover letter accompanying the i-130 for my spouse?  I feel like the cover letter is a personal address to the USCIS agent(s) who handle the case and should, therefore, be written in first-person, making it more personal.

Question 2: Should the petitioner and beneficiary be labeled every time they're mentioned in the i-130 packet?  For example, I'm including a photo album with descriptions and thought simply using my wife and my first names in the descriptions would be fine.  Should it be assumed that the USCIS agent handling our application has the sense to figure out who's who in the pictures or should it be over-detailed to the point of redundancy like legal documentation?


Regards,

Itchy

[Ryan H 3,812]

***Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.***

 

**Moderator hat off**

 

Answers:

• How you wish to word the letter is up to you; it makes no difference in the outcome.
• To get the semantics out of the way first, you are submitting a petition, not an application.  My answer to your question is the same as my previous answer; however, the case I would make for using both names would be if a page were to inadvertently become separated from a file, the chances of it being placed back in the file instead of discarded are better with both names.

[NikLR 13,227]

Also to note  a photo album WILL be disassembled so that I can fit in the folders. To label or not is your choice, but on VJ we recommend it for the reasons stated by Ryan_H. 

[ItchyKneeSon 4]

Thanks to you both.
So, the cover letter can be personal.

My apologies for not clearly phrasing the second question.
I wanted to know if it's alright to simply refer to the petitioner and beneficiary by their first names, without tagging on (petitioner)/(beneficiary) next to their names every time they appear in the packet.

 

Which of the following is the best label under a picture showing travel together?

a.  M. J. S. (petitioner) and Y. S. (beneficiary) at the Taj Mahal, 2012.
b.  M (petitioner) and Y (beneficiary) at the Taj Mahal, 2012.
c.  M and Y at the Taj Mahal, 2012.
[Assuming that (d.) is not a good idea based on Ryan H and NikLR's responses above...]
d.  Petitioner and Beneficiary at the Taj Mahal, 2012.

Edited October 9, 2017 by Ryan H
Reason for edit: to remove names.

[inQuisitive1 1]

21 hours ago, ItchyKneeSon said:

Thanks to you both.
So, the cover letter can be personal.

My apologies for not clearly phrasing the second question.
I wanted to know if it's alright to simply refer to the petitioner and beneficiary by their first names, without tagging on (petitioner)/(beneficiary) next to their names every time they appear in the packet.

 

Which of the following is the best label under a picture showing travel together?

a.  M. J. S. (petitioner) and Y. S. (beneficiary) at the Taj Mahal, 2012.
b.  M (petitioner) and Y (beneficiary) at the Taj Mahal, 2012.
c.  M and Y at the Taj Mahal, 2012.
[Assuming that (d.) is not a good idea based on Ryan H and NikLR's responses above...]
d.  Petitioner and Beneficiary at the Taj Mahal, 2012.

Keep it simple. I will attach what I did for my cover letter. Sent on 09/27 FedEx. Received 09/28. Received acceptance email from USCIS on 10/04.

Edited October 9, 2017 by Ryan H
Reason for edit: to remove names in quote.

[mallafri76 1,012]

21 hours ago, ItchyKneeSon said:

Thanks to you both.
So, the cover letter can be personal.

My apologies for not clearly phrasing the second question.
I wanted to know if it's alright to simply refer to the petitioner and beneficiary by their first names, without tagging on (petitioner)/(beneficiary) next to their names every time they appear in the packet.

 

Which of the following is the best label under a picture showing travel together?

a.  M. J. S. (petitioner) and Y. S. (beneficiary) at the Taj Mahal, 2012.
b.  M (petitioner) and Y (beneficiary) at the Taj Mahal, 2012.
c.  M and Y at the Taj Mahal, 2012.
[Assuming that (d.) is not a good idea based on Ryan H and NikLR's responses above...]
d.  Petitioner and Beneficiary at the Taj Mahal, 2012.

I think you’re overthinking it. 😊 My husband simply wrote “my wife and I”, what we were doing and the date. 

 

If you have pictures of you with each other’s families, send a few of those too. They love seeing co-mingling with family. 

 

Also, send boarding passes of your visits to each other. The boarding passes, or passport stamps, are good, strong evidence of you seeing each other.

Edited October 9, 2017 by Ryan H
Reason for edit: to remove names in quote.

[ItchyKneeSon 4]

I just finished putting together our photo album.  25 pages with 2 photos per page showing the progression of our relationship, various events with friends and family on both sides (some of whom will write affidavits), and trips/flights we took together reinforced with boarding passes.  We're filing from Japan, where joint accounts and shared financial resources are unheard of.  So, I'm providing other evidence of shared domicile and genuine interaction together and with family.  I may be overdoing it a bit, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist.  I've got quite a bit in the packet and am only using about half of what I thought could be useful.

Thanks for all of the input and help!

Itchy

[Ryan H 3,812]

Don't bother with the affidavits, they are not required and carry little to zero weight in the overall evaluation of a file.  You have plenty of evidence of time spent together in-person, focus on that, that is your strongest evidence.

[ItchyKneeSon 4]

Thanks for all the help, everyone.  
I've got my inch-thick packet paper clipped, clamp-clipped, Post-It tabbed, and protected in an easy-open clear plastic case from the 100yen shop.

Sending the package out to my parents in the US to attach the $535 check and send off to the Chicago Lockbox later today!

I ended up using an odd tense in the photo album to identify my wife and I.  
For example, below a picture of us in the park on our first anniversary: 'Tom and Yuki in the park to celebrate our first wedding anniversary.'
I hope they'll get the picture.


Kind Regards,

ItchyKneeSon