I-129f, evidence of in person meeting

[Beauie & Hangie 0]

The I-129f insteuctions asks us to submit "evidence of an in person meeting" which may include a written statement stating the circumstances of our meeting. 

 

How involved should that statement be? Should we be "frontloading" the packet at this point in time with a more in depth discussion of our relationship, or is it best to keep it simple with only the facts of the visit (dates, places etc..)?

 

Thanks!

[Crazy Cat 42,307]

@payxibka is an expert on this subject.

[payxibka 10,047]

21 minutes ago, Bhill said:

The I-129f insteuctions asks us to submit "evidence of an in person meeting" which may include a written statement stating the circumstances of our meeting. 

 

How involved should that statement be? Should we be "frontloading" the packet at this point in time with a more in depth discussion of our relationship, or is it best to keep it simple with only the facts of the visit (dates, places etc..)?

 

Thanks!

Depends,  which interviewing consulate?

 

My normal advice is that the circumstances of meeting should be able to fit in the space provided on the form.   If it doesn't,  then rethink your answer. 

[Pitaya 2,577]

16 minutes ago, Bhill said:

The I-129f insteuctions asks us to submit "evidence of an in person meeting" which may include a written statement stating the circumstances of our meeting. 

 

How involved should that statement be? Should we be "frontloading" the packet at this point in time with a more in depth discussion of our relationship, or is it best to keep it simple with only the facts of the visit (dates, places etc..)?

 

 Thanks!

Written statements are at best considered weak secondary evidence. The VJ K1 Step-by-step Guide says it best about the types and amounts of preferred evidence to present :

Quote

Documentary Proof of Having Met in Person in the Past Two Years and an Ongoing Relationship:

Use as many of these items are possible. There is no minimum, but the more you can provide the less likely you are that you will receive an RFE. Additionally, please note that providing proof of your ongoing and genuine relationship in this package may benefit you by allowing the consulate to have access to this information prior to them formally contacting the non US Citizen fiance. Many high risk consulates approach cases with a skeptical eye and providing this information early on in the original I-129F package will help them in their preliminary review of your case. 
 

1. Copies of all airline boarding passes, train passes, itineraries, hotel receipts, passport stamps (make sure you can read the dates on the stamps), and other documentary evidence that you have met within the last two years. You may want to highlight or place post-it notes indicating the dates and locations on the copies (to make the adjudication easier) for the person reviewing your file. 2. Color Photo's of you and your fiance together. Make sure you write your names, date, and location on the back of every photo. Provide two to five photo's. If you only have a single copy of the photo, then make a color copy and send that. If it is a digital photo, have it printed at a local photo store such as Walgreens (if at all possible) or if not on a high quality printer. Place photo's in a plastic bag or photo sheet and label the sheet. Note that you may not receive originals of photo's back. 3. The following items will not typically show proof of having met in the last two years however will show proof of an ongoing relationship: Copies of land line and cell phone bills, appropriate letters and emails, stamps on the letters (to document the date they were sent), and other written documentary proof. Provide a reasonable amount; two to four of each type. Pick a range of dates up to and including the present. You can also include a copy of engagement ring receipt (this is something that is a big optional - do not worry if you do not have a ring yet!)

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

 

Front loading of petition packets is generally recommended for high-fraud countries. For example, London would not be considered high-fraud, however, Lagos would. Since you neglected to include where your beneficiary's home country is, that recommendation may not be appropriate without more information from you.

 

Good luck on your immigration country.

[Pitaya 2,577]

Keep your statement short and sweet. It should fit in the lines provided on the petition form. A love story is not necessary.

 

Good luck on your immigration journey.

[payxibka 10,047]

2 minutes ago, Pitaya (火龙果) said:

Keep your statement short and sweet. It should fit in the lines provided on the petition form. A love story is not necessary.

 

Good luck on your immigration journey.

Exactly, if they wanted the gory details they would not have provided any response space and simply indicated "Attach love story essay to the end of the form."

[Beauie & Hangie 0]

25 minutes ago, Pitaya (火龙果) said:

Written statements are at best considered weak secondary evidence. The VJ K1 Step-by-step Guide says it best about the types and amounts of preferred evidence to present :

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

 

Front loading of petition packets is generally recommended for high-fraud countries. For example, London would not be considered high-fraud, however, Lagos would. Since you neglected to include where your beneficiary's home country is, that recommendation may not be appropriate without more information from you.

 

Good luck on your immigration country.

Great info!! Thanks so much Pitaya. It's Vietnam, so we'll assume front loading will be best.

[Pitaya 2,577]

3 minutes ago, Bhill said:

Great info!! Thanks so much Pitaya. It's Vietnam, so we'll assume front loading will be best.

Hey, you are welcome. Good of you to provide more info.  Yea, as I recall HCMC can be a tough consulate, front-loading may be warranted. You know, to find out consulate-specific information you should really check in at the Vietnam Regional Forum: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/136-vietnam/ . There are folks there are have likely been in your same situation, and may have some good info to pass on.

 

Good luck on your immigration journey.

[LaBeach 29]

5 hours ago, Bhill said:

The I-129f insteuctions asks us to submit "evidence of an in person meeting" which may include a written statement stating the circumstances of our meeting. 

 

How involved should that statement be? Should we be "frontloading" the packet at this point in time with a more in depth discussion of our relationship, or is it best to keep it simple with only the facts of the visit (dates, places etc..)?

 

Thanks!

I kept our statement bare bones. 1-2 sentences on how we met , including the date and each date on which we next saw each other, it all fit on space provided on the application. In the packet I also included photos of us together and with our families and friends, copies of my flight itineraries and passport pages with stamps, we message each other all day long so when I downloaded the chat record it was almost 8,000 pages for a 2-year period. I selected only a few pages before and after each trip where we discussed the trip. 

[AndrewF 69]

I'm currently in Vietnam - just had a successful interview this last Tuesday for my fiance's K1 visa.  Has been approved and issued.  Just waiting to get it delivered.

 

On the I-129F I wrote about a paragraph with some continuation sentences in Section 8 explaining the circumstances of our meeting in person.  In addition, I attached 18 pages of supporting documents.  2 pages of copies of my flight tickets (actual tickets), and receipts from the hotels/airbnb.  Then I also front-loaded by including 16 pages of screen shots from my FB and her FB pages which traced the progress of our relationship (posts of when we were together, declaring we were in a relationship, declaring we were engaged).  

 

Here's what I found as many other people have noted.  If you provide enough evidence up front, the Consulate Officer will pretty much approve you before the interview based on what's in the I-129F.  During the interview, the CO asked me what I did for work, how we met, and how many times I had traveled to Vietnam.  Then she had me sit down and asked my fiance only 3 more cursory questions before approving her visa.  She did not dig into the additional evidence we had brought beyond looking at some more FB print outs.  The whole interview took about 5 minutes.  So, I would definitely advocate for front loading.

[Beauie & Hangie 0]

6 hours ago, AndrewF said:

I'm currently in Vietnam - just had a successful interview this last Tuesday for my fiance's K1 visa.  Has been approved and issued.  Just waiting to get it delivered.

 

On the I-129F I wrote about a paragraph with some continuation sentences in Section 8 explaining the circumstances of our meeting in person.  In addition, I attached 18 pages of supporting documents.  2 pages of copies of my flight tickets (actual tickets), and receipts from the hotels/airbnb.  Then I also front-loaded by including 16 pages of screen shots from my FB and her FB pages which traced the progress of our relationship (posts of when we were together, declaring we were in a relationship, declaring we were engaged).  

 

Here's what I found as many other people have noted.  If you provide enough evidence up front, the Consulate Officer will pretty much approve you before the interview based on what's in the I-129F.  During the interview, the CO asked me what I did for work, how we met, and how many times I had traveled to Vietnam.  Then she had me sit down and asked my fiance only 3 more cursory questions before approving her visa.  She did not dig into the additional evidence we had brought beyond looking at some more FB print outs.  The whole interview took about 5 minutes.  So, I would definitely advocate for front loading.

Andrew, that's great news! Congratulations!

 

I'm a little worried because I didn't keep my boarding passes and stayed in $15 hotels most of the time where I paid with cash and didn't ask for receipts. 

 

I do have my e-receipts for the plane tickets, copy of custom stamps in my passport, copy of my e-Visa, e-receipt for a homestay for 2 nights, 30 pictures of us together in different locations in VN - including some with her family - all labeled and dated on the back, bank statements to show ATM withdrawals and 50ish Grab (VN Uber) rides while I was there. And, to "frontload" we can include snippets from a year's worth of messaging on Zalo (VN messaging app) along with a more detailed statement of the relationship if necessary.

 

I wish I would have kept the boarding passes and asked for hotel receipts, but wasn't aware of all this beforehand.

 

I am also planning another trip to VN in Sept. Andrew and Pitaya - do you think what we have is enough? Thanks in advance for your help!!!

[payxibka 10,047]

It's more than enough for the petition 

[Pitaya 2,577]

47 minutes ago, Bhill said:

 

I am also planning another trip to VN in Sept. Andrew and Pitaya - do you think what we have is enough? Thanks in advance for your help!!!

I would defer to those folks, like Andrew and other folks in the Vietnam Regional Forum, who have actually gone through the HCMC consulate. They have first-hand experience, that is invaluable.

 

Good luck on your immigration journey.

[TBoneTX 46,125]

A hijack post has been removed.

[AndrewF 69]

When I submitted my I-129f I had 2 trips to Vietnam for a total of about 25 days in the country and the relationship was about 4 months long at that point.  I think what was good about most of our relationship being captured on FB was that it provides a public narrative over time that's pretty hard to fake as her posts got a lot of responses from friends and dialog etc.  

 

My fiance have several other friends who have gone through the process with varying degrees of success.  Where it looks like they may require more evidence is if the beneficiary already has a lot of relatives in the US or where they got married but then the petitioner didnt come back to visit that often.   Then it can appear as though she may be using marriage as a pretext to get to the US.  Also, I think it helps tremendously if you can attend the interview with her.  When we went to my fiancee's interview, I was the only US citizen accompanying their significant other out of approx 12 fiance/spouses getting interviewed.  My fiancee was chatting some.of.them up and she told me that many of them got blue slips requesting more evidence .