October 2017 I-129F Filers, Part II

[dkmfan85 832]

59 minutes ago, ElieSon said:

I did send passport stamps, plane tickets and photos of my trips in June 2017 and September 2017. Do they want further detail like that we WhatsApp every night?

I think they want information about how you met as @Dave_and_Jessa said. For example, I wrote on my I-129F that I met through a mutual friend of my fiancee who I've known for many years. I went into a bit more detail with dates and things, but this shows that we did not meet through a dating website, service, application or other online platform which would then be open to questions about whether the IMBRA applies to our case.

[GP1977 288]

1 hour ago, dkmfan85 said:

You only need to send what they ask for. Just send the letter of intent to marry within 90 days. It must have a wet ink, original signature, no copies.

 

Where does it say that in the instructions that it must be a wet original signature? I don't see it.

It is my understanding that the USCIS accepts forms with signatures which are photocopied, scanned, faxed, emailed, etc

[GP1977 288]

1 hour ago, dkmfan85 said:

You only need to send what they ask for. Just send the letter of intent to marry within 90 days. It must have a wet ink, original signature, no copies.

 

actually i found the instructions.

Petition (I-129F form itself) signatures must be original.  That includes the signature of the petitioner, translator or preparer.

 

All evidence included to support the petition consist of legible photocopies unless an original is SPECIFICALLY requested.

In the instructions for the statement of intent it does NOT specifically request original signed documents by either party just that the statements be signed

If by default evidentiary signatures were required to be original,  then this would also include original signatures by the translators for translated documents as well.

[dkmfan85 832]

1 minute ago, GP1977 said:

actually i found the instructions.

Petition (I-129F form itself) signatures must be original.  That includes the signature of the petitioner, translator or preparer.

 

All evidence included to support the petition consist of legible photocopies unless an original is SPECIFICALLY requested.

In the instructions for the statement of intent it does NOT specifically request original signed documents by either party just that the statements be signed

If by default evidentiary signatures were required to be original,  then this would also include original signatures by the translators for translated documents as well.

You can play the legalese game with them. This was the advice given me by both an immigration attorney and another entity that helps with processing hundreds of these petitions per month. They have seen RFEs come back asking for the original statement of intent and this other entity will not process a petition without an original statement of intent, just to make their job of dealing with all the possible known RFEs much easier.

[JoelThai 313]

1 hour ago, dkmfan85 said:

You only need to send what they ask for. Just send the letter of intent to marry within 90 days. It must have a wet ink, original signature, no copies.

A wet signature is no longer required.   Scanned/copied documents which contain an original signature are fully acceptable.  This is true for all documents submitted to the USCIS unless a wet signature is specifically spelled out as required.  See the topic linked below for specifics.

 

 

Edited April 7, 2018 by JoelThai

[GP1977 288]

3 minutes ago, dkmfan85 said:

You can play the legalese game with them. This was the advice given me by both an immigration attorney and another entity that helps with processing hundreds of these petitions per month. They have seen RFEs come back asking for the original statement of intent and this other entity will not process a petition without an original statement of intent, just to make their job of dealing with all the possible known RFEs much easier.

Not playing the legalese game I am only reading the petition instructions and they are quite clear. 

 

What you were told is old news.  The USCIS stop requiring a wet signature for letter of intent to marry along time ago. Show me an example here where someone recently received a RFE because of that.  Or ask your immigration attorney or entity to cite an example. They wont be able to and neither will you.

 

[dkmfan85 832]

1 minute ago, JoelThai said:

A wet signature is no longer required.   Scanned/copied documents which contain an original signature are fully acceptable.

 

 

This is brand new guidance from mid February of this year. People that filed before then and didn't include a wet signature are saved.

[Sarac9 1,122]

37 minutes ago, ElieSon said:

Are they looking for a specific date or just "within 90 days."

Just within 90 days because you dont know when your fiance will be issued a Visa 

I also submitted info about the venue for my wedding. But just like @Dave_and_Jessa said that you need to be careful with the wording. 

[JoelThai 313]

1 minute ago, dkmfan85 said:

This is brand new guidance from mid February of this year. People that filed before then and didn't include a wet signature are saved.

Yes, and there is certainly noting wrong with submitting a wet signature.  But no one in recent history has received an RFE if the document submitted is a copy of a document containing the wet signature.   Either way you will be ok.  

[dkmfan85 832]

3 minutes ago, JoelThai said:

Yes, and there is certainly noting wrong with submitting a wet signature.  But no one in recent history has received an RFE if the document submitted is a copy of a document containing the wet signature.   Either way you will be ok.  

There were some cases last year, actually, which is why I know about this and brought it up, but thank you for clarifying the new policy as they still haven't updated the nebulous instructions which were the entire point of contention.  Some adjudicators interpreted them as I did. Some interpreted them as others here have, and now we have a final answer from the people that actually make that determination.

[rachelgreen 27]

1 hour ago, benson4922 said:

Received a RFE,  issued the 3rd. they want police report and court records from misdemeanor conviction from 1985. 33 years ago. are you kidding me! I called the Police dept and the court. all records have been destroyed. Now I need to get the court to issue certified letter stating no records exist.

how about a ten year limit on misdemeanors. Make sure you get the records and send them in with your app. and if the records no longer exist, then don't bring it up....the one good thing is that's all they asked for, so getting movement but now probably 30 days more delay. 

 

You wrote on the application about this misdemeanor or you didnt bring it up and they found out?

[benson4922 29]

I listed it on the application.

[Naes 12,205]

5 hours ago, Sarac9 said:

I dont think so. There are usually no updates on the weekends. Not that I am aware of. @Daniel P and @Naes can answer that since they run daily scans

They don't really work on weekends. I've seen a day or two that there were serious movement. 

Confirmations I had on these dates: no approvals.

Today's movements has no connection with someone working on a weekend and I will explain that with this next comment.

 

5 hours ago, Sarac9 said:

 

As a person who works with servers;

 *The new system updates comes at 4 am to 6 am mostly. 

 *Both scannable updates and new system updates usually comes in bulks not a one by one level.

These actually shows that even if they update information when a movement occurs that would be done in an internal website base, and the website they show to the public or on your accounts would have a bulk update. (we actually heard from USCIS that people who does the website update is different than the adjudicators/ hence the validation errors on December cases and bulk updates)

 

I believe these are database updates that happen after the servers are free. So in our terms it comes out after working hours. (New website updates)

However scannable updates mostly happen during work hours or overwork hours.

 

[ElieSon 212]

2 hours ago, dkmfan85 said:

I think they want information about how you met as @Dave_and_Jessa said. For example, I wrote on my I-129F that I met through a mutual friend of my fiancee who I've known for many years. I went into a bit more detail with dates and things, but this shows that we did not meet through a dating website, service, application or other online platform which would then be open to questions about whether the IMBRA applies to our case.

Just for clarification I had put in the original application that we were introduced by a mutual friend and that person also sent a notarized letter stating he introduced us and witnessed the engagement. I had put information on how we started communicating and my two trips to Togo along with passport stamp copies, airline tickets and such. I had not included and call logs or specifics as to the nature of how the relationship blossomed so I'm guessing that's the part I'm missing. So I think I just need to go into more detail. Thanks everyone for your support. I have yo say I was a bit bummed to receive the RFE because is means further delay but at least it means they have gotten to my case! 

[ElieSon 212]

1 hour ago, dkmfan85 said:

There were some cases last year, actually, which is why I know about this and brought it up, but thank you for clarifying the new policy as they still haven't updated the nebulous instructions which were the entire point of contention.  Some adjudicators interpreted them as I did. Some interpreted them as others here have, and now we have a final answer from the people that actually make that determination.

Ok so I can have him get a notarized letter and scan and email it to me right?