Is it necessary to translate chat logs between you and your significant other w/ regards to proof of ongoing relationship?

[HarisB 2]

I've spoken with someone who told me that they didn't translate their chat logs when they sent them in and they were fine (this was 5 years ago however). Based on my own research it seems like the actual text isn't very important, it's more important that i be able to show consistent communication via random excerpts from each month or something like that.

 

Would someone else be able to confirm for me if it's fine to provide chat logs in my fiances native language?

[payxibka 10,045]

Feels like the fourth time just today this question has been asked.

 

Proof of ongoing relationship is not a requirement for the petition to be approved.  You might consider concentrating on providing better evidence that this

[HarisB 2]

4 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Feels like the fourth time just today this question has been asked.

 

Proof of ongoing relationship is not a requirement for the petition to be approved.  You might consider concentrating on providing better evidence that this

I have other evidence, i'm also looking to include this.

 

So your response doesn't exactly help me in any way, thanks though.

[payxibka 10,045]

1 minute ago, HarisB said:

I have other evidence, i'm also looking to include this.

 

So your response doesn't exactly help me in any way, thanks though.

It should because if it is not required why are you including it?  The only thing it will accomplish is making your petition longer to approve because they have to sort through all the unneeded stuff.  Be guided accordingly.

[Mezyan 149]

I've heard that it is just considered fluff and does not hold much merit, because chat logs can easily be faked.

Although, I included them in mine to a front load for a high fraud consulate, it probably isn't worth much.

Letters with stamps and dates are better if you have those.

Good luck.

[HarisB 2]

6 minutes ago, payxibka said:

It should because if it is not required why are you including it?  The only thing it will accomplish is making your petition longer to approve because they have to sort through all the unneeded stuff.  Be guided accordingly.

https://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

 

literally mentions including proof of ongoing relationship here as something helpful but alright.

Edited April 18, 2019 by HarisB

[payxibka 10,045]

1 minute ago, HarisB said:

https://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

 

literally mentions including proof of ongoing relationship here as something helpful but alright.

 

Check the actual instructions to the form.  The instructions make no mention of this for the petition.  Plenty of empirical and anecdotal evidence to prove that it is not a petition requirement.

[Crazy Cat 41,291]

If you send it to USCIS, it must be translated........I would not even send it initially......it is not needed, and you should never leave any room for ambiguity.....

Edited April 18, 2019 by missileman

[Crazy Cat 41,291]

34 minutes ago, HarisB said:

Would someone else be able to confirm for me if it's fine to provide chat logs in my fiances native language?

The people at USCIS don't translate documents.....what could your case benefit by including text message which the reviewer can not read?  It seems to me that I, as a reviewer, would either trash the foreign language documents, or send you an RFE !

I would advise against sending them at all.

[portorusa 431]

I added photos of screenshots of our Whatsap chats, and they are in French language, and I did not care to translate them. What the heck.

Their purpose is to show the ONGOING communication between the couple. Nobody at USCIS is going to read those chats, anyway.

If the chats do not carry any weight in proving a bonafide relationship, they are not going to harm our case, either.

[geowrian 22,337]

7 hours ago, HarisB said:

https://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide

 

literally mentions including proof of ongoing relationship here as something helpful but alright.

Frontloading relationship evidence is useful in certain circumstances. It is useless in others.

For completeness, it's not part of the I-129F petitioning process...it's only useful if the CO at the consulate reviews the case prior to the interview.

 

6 hours ago, portorusa said:

I added photos of screenshots of our Whatsap chats, and they are in French language, and I did not care to translate them. What the heck.

Their purpose is to show the ONGOING communication between the couple. Nobody at USCIS is going to read those chats, anyway.

If the chats do not carry any weight in proving a bonafide relationship, they are not going to harm our case, either.

To clarify, USCIS doesn't address the bona fide relationship aspect for an I-129F. Only the CO at the consulate will do that. USCIS just adjudicates the petition, which is about one's eligability to petition the beneficiary.

 

I would just add that it certainly is possible to submit chats that harm a case. I've seen it done. For example, submitting chats referring to each other as husband/wife, etc. can be used to determine that you are ineligible due to not establishing that you are free to marry.

The key is making sure you only submit evidence that helps your case. This is by far the most powerful tool you have as a petitioner or visa applicant...you decide a good portion of what they see.

[Cathi 5,715]

Any type of evidence you send to USCIS, anecdotal or not, must be translated if you expect them to read it. It's pretty self explanatory especially since USCIS asks that required evidence to be translated. 

 

As others have said, it is not a requirement to send this type of evidence. I know people who only sent the required documentation with their petitions and were approved. One of which is from Syria, who was approved before Trump's ban. Their petition was approved without any RFE. I know the couple personally, in fact when I traveled to Jordan for my own husband's interview, I hand delivered original documents to the husband in Amman because at the time Syrian interviews were taking place there. Her Syrian husband did not have an address in Syria to receive mail because of the war and it just so happened his interview was the day before my husband's. His visa was also approved the day of the interview. 

 

 

 

[O-J 174]

Seems like an awful waste of time to put together chat logs never mind go through the effort to have them translated. If you send them in not translated it just acts as further evidence USCIS does not read them as everything should be in English for them. If translated and at a rare chance someone does take the time to read them they could end up picking them apart. The way I see it is chats should remain private and it is pretty weak evidence. 

 

Focus on trips you have had together, passport stamps, boarding passes (stuff that is dated) and letters of intent to marry in 90 days. This is what they want to see. 

[bakphx1 789]

Hmmm.  I always took chats to be the 21st century version of letters they used to request as proof.

 

 I will go against the grain and say it’s not a waste of time necessarily but as always it depends on the consulate.

 

No don’t send every chat. Just a snapshot of an exchange per week.  I didn’t translate ours and the instructions for letters don’t say to translate them as they aren’t documents like civil documents.  They’re interested in the dates and not the content.  

[aaron2020 11,651]

From the I-129f instructions.  Feel like I am posting this every day.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-129finstr.pdf

 

Translations. If you submit a document with information in a foreign language, you must also submit a full English translation. The translator must sign a certification that the English language translation is complete and accurate, and that he or she is competent to translate from the foreign language into English. The certification should also include the date, the translator’s signature and printed name, and may contain the translator’s contact information.