traveling with documents

[Little_Vixen 1,869]

 

I've just read the Molly Hill topic* and it stuck out to me that she was detained cause she traveled with her birth certificate ect. Well, I planned a holiday with my soon-to-be-fiance coming December and we will file for our K1 then. I am the one who has prepared most of the paperwork (being a government official and archivist it kind of comes natural to me) and I will be taking all of the documents with me so we have everything in one place when we file. I never even thought about this as being a bad idea. I mean, I will be traveling to see him anyway so why go through the trouble of sending the documents by mail and run the risk of losing it (like my Christmas card last year was never received by him). I'm having second thoughts about this now.

 

Just to be clear. I fully intend to go this the legal way and go back to the Netherlands when my holiday is up. I will be there for three weeks and go back on the 9th, my work expects me back on the 13th and I have school on the 11th. I hope I will have my house sold by then (remnant of a divorce, I can't afford it by myself and it has to be sold no matter what the situation was) and might be living with my parents at the time being between my old house and a new rental.

 

Am I just being paranoid here?

 

 

 

 

*The topic I was referring to

 

Edited October 11, 2017 by Little_Vixen

[JFH 12,191]

What documents do you plan on bringing? 

 

For the I-129F all that is required is proof that the petitioner is a US citizen and proof that you have met in person within the last two years. The only document that could possibly be needed from you is proof that any previous marriages that you had ended lawfully through either divorce or death of the spouse. So at most you will be carrying a divorce decree or a death certificate. Your birth certificate is not required at this stage. You must also submit a letter of intention to marry but you can do that when you get here.

 

Note that a petition is not a visa application. All a petition does is establish that there is a legal route for the beneficiary to apply for a visa. All it does is establish eligibility to apply. 

Edited October 11, 2017 by JFH

[EandH0904 1,184]

I travel with documents all the time, I'm sure that's a rarity not the norm.  

 

Having said that, if you are the beneficiary all he needs is your letter declaring your intention to marry, no other documents right now. 

[Little_Vixen 1,869]

Thanks for your answers, both of you.

I understand I only need my marriage/divorce papers and my intention to marry for the petition. But I was thinking of frontloading and adding my birthcertificate ect. It kind of pleases my ocd side too you know, lol. One tab for him with his intention to marry, birth certificate, marriage/divorce papers ect, one tab for me with the exact same documents. It just makes the whole package complete and clear.

It means I would be bringing my marriage/divorce papers, birth certificate, printed chat- and phone logs between him, me and our family, pictures, my old plane tickets from last summer, receipts for purchases I made while being there last summer, ect.

 

I'm overthinking this ain't I...?

[jayjayj 571]

She apparently had other red flags pop up during her immigration interview - suspect journal entries, possible conflicting information, etc.  The documents she was travelling with only added to the suspicion that she was attempting to misuse the Visa Waiver Program.  Unfortunately, we'll never know the entire story, since CBP won't be coming on here to explain their side, nor do they need to.  They deal with this kind of thing daily and if their judgement was that she was inadmissible, I'll take that over her version of events.

[jayjayj 571]

8 minutes ago, Little_Vixen said:

Thanks for your answers, both of you.

I understand I only need my marriage/divorce papers and my intention to marry for the petition. But I was thinking of frontloading and adding my birthcertificate ect. It kind of pleases my ocd side too you know, lol. One tab for him with his intention to marry, birth certificate, marriage/divorce papers ect, one tab for me with the exact same documents. It just makes the whole package complete and clear.

It means I would be bringing my marriage/divorce papers, birth certificate, printed chat- and phone logs between him, me and our family, pictures, my old plane tickets from last summer, receipts for purchases I made while being there last summer, ect.

 

I'm overthinking this ain't I...?

Aren't you going to need those original documents at your K1 visa interview in your home country?  

[JFH 12,191]

11 minutes ago, Little_Vixen said:

Thanks for your answers, both of you.

I understand I only need my marriage/divorce papers and my intention to marry for the petition. But I was thinking of frontloading and adding my birthcertificate ect. It kind of pleases my ocd side too you know, lol. One tab for him with his intention to marry, birth certificate, marriage/divorce papers ect, one tab for me with the exact same documents. It just makes the whole package complete and clear.

It means I would be bringing my marriage/divorce papers, birth certificate, printed chat- and phone logs between him, me and our family, pictures, my old plane tickets from last summer, receipts for purchases I made while being there last summer, ect.

 

I'm overthinking this ain't I...?

Adding your birth certificate is not frontloading. All you are going to do is frustrate the person handling your case that you have sent unnecessary paperwork and show that you have not read the instructions. 

 

Why not not scan all the plane tickets, phone records etc and upload them onto something like Google drive and then print them when you get here? That way you will:

a. Have everything the same paper size (if you print them in Europe the paper size will be different)

b. Have less weight to carry on your travels

c. Not have to worry about them being lost if your luggage goes missing 

d. Not have to worry about awkward questions and secondary inspection 

Edited October 11, 2017 by JFH

[Little_Vixen 1,869]

 

Just now, jayjayj said:

Aren't you going to need those original documents at your K1 visa interview in your home country?  

Yes, but would be in my own folder too. We'll have three folders. One for him, one for me and one for the application

 

1 minute ago, JFH said:

Adding your birth certificate is not frontloading. All you are going to do is frustrate the person handling your case that you have sent unnecessary paperwork and show that you have not read the instructions. 

 

Why not not scan all the plane tickets, phone records etc and upload them onto something like Google drive and then print them when you get here? That way you will:

a. Have everything the same paper size (if you print them in Europe the paper size will be different)

b. Have less weight to carry on your travels

c. Not have to worry about them being lost if your luggage goes missing 

d. Not have to worry about awkward questions and secondary inspection 

You have different paper size too? Christ you really are determined to do everything different aren't you? 

But seriously. You might have a point here.

[JFH 12,191]

5 minutes ago, Little_Vixen said:

 

Yes, but would be in my own folder too. We'll have three folders. One for him, one for me and one for the application

 

You have different paper size too? Christ you really are determined to do everything different aren't you? 

But seriously. You might have a point here.

I'm British and we have the same size paper as you. But here in the US the paper size is different. 

 

The I-129F is not your application. It's a petition by the USC to request permission for you to be invited to apply for a visa. All it involves is a USC saying "I'm a USC, here's the proof that I am, and I would like my fiancé to be allowed to apply for a K-1 visa and we are eligible marry, and here's the proof of that". 

[Little_Vixen 1,869]

4 minutes ago, JFH said:

The I-129F is not your application. It's a petition by the USC to request permission for you to be invited to apply for a visa. All it involves is a USC saying "I'm a USC, here's the proof that I am, and I would like my fiancé to be allowed to apply for a K-1 visa and we are eligible marry, and here's the proof of that". 

Thank you for pointing that out to me again. With all the hassle and paperwork one easily forgets that its not our application but his.

I'll go with your suggestion and make scans of everything. I'll be taking my laptop along anyway so I'll have everything on hand.

 

It's so much to think about it's nice to have some experienced people like you looking over your shoulder. Thank you.

[MollyHill 18]

Hey @Little_Vixen

Please don’t take that chance! 

I thought I was organised bringing documents I might need for things like car loan payments, my dog’s insurance, my birth certificate and an old copy of my passport (I’ve lost/misplaced a passport before and needed these two things to get a replacement). So even though most of the documents actually proved ties to my home country they picked out things like my birth certificate and university papers (tbh I forgot they were even in there, it was a generic folder of things I might need)..

they will try to find something they don’t like. And I wasn’t even engaged so I just wouldn’t risk it. X

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

to anyone that needs to know this:  

probably not as important to a non high fraud country

on the paper size my lawyer copied documents from Morocco for NVC (you will not have to do this)

and the size was American size

NVC said "not originals" send in originals with correct size paper

just letting u all know that some high fraud countries undergo this type of challenges

being from Netherlands I would think not a big deal but still take originals to interview

[C-ma'am 684]

No need to front load for the Netherlands, don't listen to your OCD side.

 

If you can't help but listen to it... you know you can just scan the documents, save them in your Google docs and print them here, right? USCIS does not ask for originals unless explicitly requested. Coming with folders of information that could jeopardize your stay, when you are looking to do everything by the book is silly, really.

[Dutchster 1,107]

If you want to front load, I'd suggest to front load with pictures, boarding passes, logs etc and that isn't even necessary. Save your birth certificate for the interview at the Consulate because the I-129F is mainly focused on the US citizen and proof of having met in the past two years.

Edited October 11, 2017 by Dutchster

[mallafri76 1,012]

I’m also the administrator in our family.  

 

I filled out the i-130 and brought that and various documents with me while visiting my husband, so we could file the I-130 while I was over visiting. I had never had trouble with CBP before, always a couple of questions and off I went. Of course the one time I bring all these papers, I get a new CBP officer who didn’t believe my story, so I was sent to secondary where they went through my bags and once they saw all the papers... Well they had a bunch of questions.... Luckily for me, I had a long history of visiting the US and only staying a week or two, so in the end they let me in but it was nerve wrecking. My advice is to never bring any papers that could be seen as you moving over or planning on staying and adjusting status.