engagement No proposal/engagement, would that be something negative?

[cedrichadjian 7]

I live in a homophobic society where being gay is not a norm, it wasn't really possible for us to have an engagement, would this be a negative thing for my interview when the CO asks about our engagement?

There also was no "official" proposal date between us, our relationship just happened, we felt like we're a perfect match for each other and got into a relationship, would this also affect negatively?

[jesserz 73]

Since the CO lives in your country, I'm sure they'll understand the cultural stigma around being gay. And all relationships are different, so just explain it just as you did here. What's more important is the showing off time spent together, meeting, talking, planning a life together. 

[cedrichadjian 7]

4 minutes ago, jesserz said:

Since the CO lives in your country, I'm sure they'll understand the cultural stigma around being gay. And all relationships are different, so just explain it just as you did here. What's more important is the showing off time spent together, meeting, talking, planning a life together. 

Yes, he visited me for a week, we took around 15 photos which include photos with my mom, my friends, us, etc and we video call on facetime, chat on whatsapp, etc everyday. Luckily I have a very lovely accepting Mom. 

Edited May 22, 2018 by cedrichadjian

[jesserz 73]

1 minute ago, cedrichadjian said:

Yes, he visited me for a week, we took around 15 photos which include photos with my mom, my friends, us, etc and we video call on facetime, chat on whatsapp, etc everyday. Luckily I have a very lovely accepting Mom. 

That he met your mom is a really good thing! That you have photos is even better. Submit your call logs too and even some chats talking about the wedding plans. How you do your marriage is up to you, the government just wants to make sure you are going to really do it and that you will be supported financially. Good luck!

[cedrichadjian 7]

Just now, jesserz said:

That he met your mom is a really good thing! That you have photos is even better. Submit your call logs too and even some chats talking about the wedding plans. How you do your marriage is up to you, the government just wants to make sure you are going to really do it and that you will be supported financially. Good luck!

Thank you!!

Sadly we both have lost all our call logs, apparently, facetime deletes history (gotta love iPhones smh). So we're taking screenshots now before it's too late!

[x_driven_x 1,778]

43 minutes ago, cedrichadjian said:

I live in a homophobic society where being gay is not a norm, it wasn't really possible for us to have an engagement, would this be a negative thing for my interview when the CO asks about our engagement?

There also was no "official" proposal date between us, our relationship just happened, we felt like we're a perfect match for each other and got into a relationship, would this also affect negatively?

Engagement doesn't have to be anything fancy; but there does have to be intent to marry. This is not a "dating" visa, so you both should have agreed to get married, which is basically an engagement.  Just talk about the discussion you guys had about getting married... and if you didn't discuss that yet, well then you are not ready for this visa I guess. You will also need to prove you've met within the last 2 years and have proof of that, passport stamps are one of the best ways to do that, add on to that showing airplane boarding passes (the actual passes not just receipts / booking confirmations), add on to that with photos dated and signed on to the back, etc...

Edited May 22, 2018 by x_driven_x

[cedrichadjian 7]

Just now, x_driven_x said:

Engagement doesn't have to be anything fancy; but there does have to be intent to marry. This is not a "dating" visa, so you both should have agreed to get married, which is basically an engagement.   You will need to prove you've met within the last 2 years and have proof of that, passport stamps are one of the best ways to do that, add on to that showing airplane boarding passes (the actual passes not just receipts / booking confirmations), add on to that with photos dated and signed on to the back, etc...

Yes, he kept his airplane boarding passes and I requested the hotel to give us a receipt under both our names and of course there are his passport stamps.

Should I also sign the photos? I read somewhere that I should put the dates on the photos, signing is also necessary?

[x_driven_x 1,778]

3 minutes ago, cedrichadjian said:

Yes, he kept his airplane boarding passes and I requested the hotel to give us a receipt under both our names and of course there are his passport stamps.

Should I also sign the photos? I read somewhere that I should put the dates on the photos, signing is also necessary?

I don't know if signing them is necessary, but my lawyer advised it. I wrote the names of everyone in the photo, the location, the date, and signed it.  To me it only takes a few extra seconds and is worth the extra effort than not doing it. It doesn't hurt, and might help just to confirm I am putting my signature on this information, if that makes sense. I know a bunch of people who used this specific lawyer and she's never been denied a K-1 visa so I just went with her suggestions.

Edited May 22, 2018 by x_driven_x

[cedrichadjian 7]

5 minutes ago, x_driven_x said:

Engagement doesn't have to be anything fancy; but there does have to be intent to marry. This is not a "dating" visa, so you both should have agreed to get married, which is basically an engagement.   You will need to prove you've met within the last 2 years and have proof of that, passport stamps are one of the best ways to do that, add on to that showing airplane boarding passes (the actual passes not just receipts / booking confirmations), add on to that with photos dated and signed on to the back, etc...

Also, I found a way to recover the old facetime history (about 100 facetime logs! ),  do you think it would be ok if I print the logs from the software? Or it should be phone screenshots directly from the facetime app?

 

[geowrian 22,337]

3 minutes ago, cedrichadjian said:

Should I also sign the photos? I read somewhere that I should put the dates on the photos, signing is also necessary?

No signing of photos is needed. Just a label a is helpful (who/where/when/what).

[x_driven_x 1,778]

Just now, cedrichadjian said:

Also, I found a way to recover the old facetime history (about 100 facetime logs! ),  do you think it would be ok if I print the logs from the software? Or it should be phone screenshots directly from the facetime app?

 

I copied  the logs into a word doc, edited it down and printed that.... we had several hundred pages, and I pared that down to I think 15 pages by picking basically one day a week or something like that. Don't overthink it. Chat logs themselves don't prove anything they need by themselves, it's just secondary evidence of an ongoing relationship.