I-219F Evidence of Relationship

[FaintSpartan 138]

Hi Everyone!

 

So far this website has been a huge help over the past couple of weeks, it's really enabled my US fiancee and myself (UK) to progress in getting our K-1 Visa petition complete and sent. 

 

But, we've reached somewhat of a crossroads, everything is done and ready apart from one major component, proof of ongoing relationship. We have over five years worth of Facebook chat logs (We became friends in June '13, entered into a relationship Dec 30th 2013), and we worked out we have just over ONE YEAR of video call hours on Skype over the course of our relationship. As you might imagine, this is an absolute plethora of messages and data to go over and analyse for relevant exerts etc etc 

 

How did everyone here prove their relationship for the I-219F petition? We're struggling to find a realistic way to go about this.

We have plenty of evidence prepared in the form of photos taken together, boarding passes, flight itineraries, hotel receipts, written statements from both of our families vouching for our relationships validity. I visit her in Florida every 3-4 months and have done so for the past four and a half years, we have hard evidence for each time we met. Last time was only two weeks ago. It's a total of 13 times meeting each other, and she's been to London to visit me twice. She also has each have our signed written statement of intent to marry. 

 

But would that be enough? We also have 10 or so screenshots from the past six to eight months of our text messages that we send each other while we're both in the US (I have a second SIM card with AT&T that I use while I'm over there visiting.)

 

Reading this back it does sound like we have a lot, but we're still not 100% confident! The last thing we want is a big delay because of an RFE. 

 

Any advice or reassurance that you guys can give would be a huge help! Thanks :) 

[met 106]

You are overthinking

 

Have you checked the I-219F instruction? It says:

Item Numbers 53. - 54. Have you and your fiancé(e) met in person during the two years immediately before filing this petition? Indicate whether you and your fiancé(e) have seen each other in person during the two year period immediately before to filing your petition. Select “N/A” if the beneficiary is your spouse.

If you respond “Yes” to Item Number 53., use Item Number 54. to describe the circumstances of your in-person meeting. Attach evidence to demonstrate that you were in each other’s physical presence during the required two year period. If you need extra space to complete this section, use the space provided in Part 8. Additional Information.

 

As you see, you should provide a proof of in person meeting during two last years. No-one wants you to make a portfolio of your relationship. Personally I don't think that sending screenshots of your chats is necessary if you do have flight itineraries, hotel receipts, photos, statements from the family. And remember, focus on most recent ones!

[FaintSpartan 138]

Ah I see! That makes more sense. We've included every single boarding pass and itinerary that we could find, and I've also pulled off my most recent I-94 record as more proof that I was there recently. 

 

So i guess having a few pictures + descriptions from the last two years worth of visits, combined with the flight records would do the trick?

 

Thanks for the reply also!  

[met 106]

That is what I would be doing. Although in general photos are consider a subsidiary evidence (most likely there will be no date on them) I think that in combination with tickets and recipes they proof that you have met. Plus you have testimonies from the family. 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

16 minutes ago, met said:

As you see, you should provide a proof of in person meeting during two last years. No-one wants you to make a portfolio of your relationship. Personally I don't think that sending screenshots of your chats is necessary if you do have flight itineraries, hotel receipts, photos, statements from the family. And remember, focus on most recent ones!

Great answer. I agree.

 

 

9 minutes ago, FaintSpartan said:

Ah I see! That makes more sense. We've included every single boarding pass and itinerary that we could find, and I've also pulled off my most recent I-94 record as more proof that I was there recently. 

 

So i guess having a few pictures + descriptions from the last two years worth of visits, combined with the flight records would do the trick?

 

Thanks for the reply also!  

It's really all about the criteria of meeting in person in the last two years and not how much you chat or how much in love you are. Six photos together are enough. No chats, Facebook, etc.

Edited September 12, 2018 by Wuozopo

[FaintSpartan 138]

Ah i see  Thanks!

 

Though, isn't it true that one of the criteria is to prove that the relationship is ongoing? Or did I somehow get that my head accidentally haha. 

 

That's where my worry about proving a successful, active and healthy relationship comes from.

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,092]

Evidence of a bona fide relationship is an issue at the consulate stage, not USCIS stage. For some consulates, it's helpful to include a lot of additional evidence along with what's required for the I-129F even though USCIS won't do anything with it but send it along to the consulate after your petition is approved. However, you're (presumably) going through London, not a high-fraud consulate.

[FaintSpartan 138]

Ah! That makes a lot more sense. 

 

Is there a point before or during the interview where they might ask for more evidence of our relationship then? Or would they be basing off of what is given in the I-219F packet? 

[WaterLeaf 200]

I'd like to throw in my thoughts.

 

At some point, if they want more information, they may ask for RFE and then whatever else is based on the packet. You can always include more photos, receipts/translated, and so forth during the interview.

[4A2 76]

It happened to us.
We pre-loaded our K-1 application with a ton of things. Result-RFE requesting for the same things we had sent.
They requested proof of meeting in the last 2 years. We are a 7 years relationship and living together at the time, so we took everything we had together exactly for the last 2 years and sent it. 10 days later we got approved and received NOA2.

We included a cover letter, made it easy for them to understand and find things. We sent:
 

A requirement that Beneficiary and Petitioner have met in person in the last 2 years:
a. A written statement with Circumstances of Meeting.
b. Copies of Airline ticket Stubs and Receipts – indicating day-month-year
c. Copies of Passport pages Beneficiary and Petitioner – Identification and entry stamps.
d. I94 - Official Website entries for Beneficiary.
e. Photographs of the Beneficiary and Petitioner together.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

10 hours ago, FaintSpartan said:

Ah! That makes a lot more sense. 

 

Is there a point before or during the interview where they might ask for more evidence of our relationship then? Or would they be basing off of what is given in the I-219F packet? 

For a LONDON interview, they will not want to look at any additional ongoing relationship. Nothing. 

 

My thoughts is don't overload with so much stuff that they can't find the real requirements. Quality vs quantity. Show you met face to face with documentation of being in each other's country/state/city and send 6 photos taken a different times or locations. Photos with friends/family are good too. It shows this isn't some secretive fraud scam. And they get to see your happy faces.

 

Screenshots of messages is probably of more value to those who have different native languages. It shows they can actually communicate with each other. You and your fiancé both speak English. (Same but different LOL) Ability to communicate is not such a concern. 

 

Pick out your best stuff and skip trip documentation that isn't in the last two years. You can summarize your relationship briefly (like half a page)..  "We have been together since 20xx and visited each other 25 times", but don't send boarding passes for 25 trips. People actually get their petition approved with one meeting. 

 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

Another piece of sage advice from a Brit who has done the whole journey from fiancé to US citizen.

If any submission for immigration won't fit in this cardstock mailer, it's too much stuff. 

[JFH 12,190]

The I-129F is the petition stage. It's not the visa application. All the petition is concerned with is the question "is this person legally eligible to bring a foreign fiancé to the USA?". The petitioner must be able to satisfy the eligibility requirements: 

 

- that they are a USC (which is why they must send a copy of their birth certificate, passport or naturalization certificate)

- that they are legally eligible to marry the beneficiary (they are old enough, they are not related in a way that makes marriage illegal, they are not currently married to anyone else or each other - that's why you send divorce decrees or death certificates for previous spouses

- that they have not committed crimes that exclude them from petitioning (USCIS does a background check for that)

- that they have met the beneficiary face-to-face at least once in the last two years

- that they are intending to marry within 90 days of the beneficiary's arrival (hence the letter of intent)

 

Satisfy all those, and you're good for the petition. USCIS is not interested in whether you make a good couple, are compatible, whether they think you look cute together - their manual specifically instructs them that they are not to base the approval or denial of the petition on their thoughts about the relationship. All they are concerned with is eligibility, legal requirements being satisfied. 

 

For London you absolutely do not need the full scrapbook of your relationship with every ice cream receipt, every phone call, every selfie.

Edited September 13, 2018 by JFH

[Sarah&Facundo 595]

When we were dating, my husband and I went to each other's countries to visit all the time. I included all of our flight itineraries and photocopied each of our passports in full to display our stamps. I included 7 or 8 photos of us in front of famous landmarks in each country and pictures with each of our families. We didn't include any chat/facetime evidence at all. That would only be necessary if you haven't spent a lot f time together and need to prove you're in a relationship, especially from a high fraud country. We had no issues and we are married in the US now. Good luck!

[TNJ17 1,329]

All the online stuff is unnecessary and not really evidence of anything. You need proof that you met in person in the last 2 years. Passport stamps, plane tickets, pictures, hotel receipts and the like. That’s what they need. No more no less. Pen on paper. And it’s called an i129F by the way.