CR1 Visa application initial required documents (merged topics)

[Crazy Cat 41,291]

Get the English-version  marriage certificate which is available at your wife's household registration office.  I would get several certified copies.

[payxibka 10,045]

4 hours ago, portorusa said:

If I were you, I’d include 2 passport photos of your wife, as well even if they are NOT required. There are several couples here that got RFE for that reason.

Probably because most people don't know how to answer or answer incorrectly, Part 4, Item 46.a. to 50

[joykid7 2]

8 minutes ago, missileman said:

The best evidence you can provide is that of having spent time together, your marriage certificate, evidence of continued communication,  and any legal documents normally generated during a bona fide marriage.......you don't need a lot of photos......we also included 2 affidavits (although they don't carry much weight).

 

6 minutes ago, missileman said:

Get the English-version  marriage certificate which is available at your wife's household registration office.  I would get several certified copies.

Yes, we already have the marriage certificate in both Chinese and English(certified version) – I will be sending the copies of both version to the USCIS.

I am not aware of the affidavit thing, I thought it’s for fiancée visa only and we are applying for spouse visa so not needed. What kind of affidavit is it for this case?

Regarding continued communication, is it ok if I print out a copy of our chat transcript monthly or yearly, like back 2 years ago, last year, and present. It’s going to be a lot of print out pages and would be very thick bundle I think.

[Crazy Cat 41,291]

7 minutes ago, joykid7 said:

 

Yes, we already have the marriage certificate in both Chinese and English(certified version) – I will be sending the copies of both version to the USCIS.

I am not aware of the affidavit thing, I thought it’s for fiancée visa only and we are applying for spouse visa so not needed. What kind of affidavit is it for this case?

Regarding continued communication, is it ok if I print out a copy of our chat transcript monthly or yearly, like back 2 years ago, last year, and present. It’s going to be a lot of print out pages and would be very thick bundle I think.

The affidavits we sent were from 2 friends who testified to the legitimacy of our relationship.  They are most useful in the absence of other evidence.  We included screen shots of chat transcripts every few weeks over the whole period of our marriage.

EDIT:  We included a bout 2 or 3 conversations per month.

Edited June 18, 2019 by missileman

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

19 minutes ago, joykid7 said:

But how many are enough or the standard for the USCIS/NVC? 20 pcs? 30 pcs?

There is no standard. But 30 is probably the most you want to send. I would go with 20. Spread them out over the period that you started dating until today. Do the same with the printouts from chat logs. Do not send in 20,000 pages of love notes. No one wants to read or care about that, except you too. Just a few representations. 

[Crazy Cat 41,291]

Where, in Taiwan, is your wife?

[joykid7 2]

1 hour ago, missileman said:

Where, in Taiwan, is your wife?

In Kaohsiung, we went there before to get my single certificate before our wedding.

P.S.: for some reason it won’t allow me to send you a direct message, can you try to send a direct message to me?

[joykid7 2]

1 hour ago, USS_Voyager said:

There is no standard. But 30 is probably the most you want to send. I would go with 20. Spread them out over the period that you started dating until today. Do the same with the printouts from chat logs. Do not send in 20,000 pages of love notes. No one wants to read or care about that, except you too. Just a few representations. 

LOL you’re right, I will not print them all, just print one page but over 3-4 months span I guess.

 

Ok will send 20 pcs the most. Do we have to write down the date of the event and description on the back of every photo?

[Crazy Cat 41,291]

Just now, joykid7 said:

In Kaohsiung, we went there before to get my single certificate before our wedding.

P.S.: for some reason it won’t allow me to send you a direct message, can you try to send a direct message to me?

My was born in Kaohsiung.........My mailbox might be full.  I'll fix it....thanks.

[joykid7 2]

25 minutes ago, missileman said:

My was born in Kaohsiung.........My mailbox might be full.  I'll fix it....thanks.

Your wife also was born is Kaohsiung? Wow what a coincidence!!

 

I am confused what to fill in for the “State” and “province” of Kaohsiung as it doesn’t have those (please see attached screenshot). Any suggestion or what did you fill it with before?

[Crazy Cat 41,291]

18 minutes ago, joykid7 said:

Your wife also was born is Kaohsiung? Wow what a coincidence!!

 

I am confused what to fill in for the “State” and “province” of Kaohsiung as it doesn’t have those (please see attached screenshot). Any suggestion or what did you fill it with before?

Leave "State" blank.........Kaohsiung County is the province

[joykid7 2]

22 hours ago, givionte said:

Your checklist is either slightly out of date, or from the wrong type of filing, perhaps that checklist you obtained was for direct filing in an embassy.  payxibka above is right, you definitely don't need to send 10, 11, 12, that is for the NVC/interview stage.

 

Best way to prove your citizenship is a birth certificate copy, and then just include a photocopy of your biographical page in your passport. If you can't get access to a copy of your birth certificate, a photocopy of all passport pages front to back will also suffice.

 

21 hours ago, payxibka said:

ID page of passport is all that is needed.   All other pages front and back don't do anything for proof of citizenship 

 

8 hours ago, missileman said:

We were married in Taiwan in mid 2015, and we lived in Taipei until early 2016.  It took 13 months from filing to my wife's having her visa in hand. My wife entered the US via her CR-1 in June 2017.  The process was fairly smooth (other than receiving some poor information from our attorney).  Once we cleared the NVC stage, we received a very fast interview date......just be ready to get a lot of pictures......I think my wife needed 12 or 15 for the medical alone...LOL....but we were able to very easily obtain them in one of those picture booths.

 

8 hours ago, portorusa said:

If I were you, I’d include 2 passport photos of your wife, as well even if they are NOT required. There are several couples here that got RFE for that reason.

Thank you all, really appreciate and it helps to ease my anxiousness now.

I have a question, after we got married in Taiwan, I stayed for like 2 weeks at my wife’s place, does it count and has to be included in this section of 59.a. -60.b.?? I only stayed 2 weeks with her after married because after that I had to go back to US to work.

I wonder if I write “never lived together” it will lessen our chance to get approved since maybe USCIS or NVC will think it’s weird why we never lived together before (I hope not and maybe I'm being too cautious/paranoid about this due to anxiety/stress).

 

[givionte 138]

There's no question that if you physically lived together that it should be filled out in this section, regardless if it was 2 weeks or longer.  Not filling that part out accurately would be falsifying the document.

 

Even better if you can match up some passport stamps and/or anything to prove your timeline had moments in Taiwan, to help prove a bona fide relationship.

Edited June 19, 2019 by givionte

[carmel34 3,576]

5 hours ago, joykid7 said:

I am a US citizen and my wife is Taiwanese (she is in Taiwan now) and we are preparing the documents to apply for CR1 visa.

Regarding the proof of our bonafide marriage that we need to submit with our initial i-130 application, I did a research online beforehand and I know that most suggest something like below:

1.)    print-out/screenshots of chat history in Messenger/Whatsapp/email, etc.,

2.)    receipt of gift purchase (e.g, receipt of engagement /wedding rings)

3.)     Photos

 

What I am concerned about is about the photos, I know that photos showing me and my wife from dating, engagement, wedding, and honeymoon are good, also with families and friends from both sides as well. I have them and no issue with it. But how many are enough or the standard for the USCIS/NVC? 20 pcs? 30 pcs? I just don’t want to submit too much or too less.

 

Second is, do we have to write the date and description of the event on the back of the photos?

 

Thank you so much all for your help!

Here's what we sent with the I-130 petition:

 

a few photos of each visit together, date stamped, from multiple visits over time (4 before filing petition)

four or five photos from the wedding, date stamped, some with family and friends

passport stamps, boarding passes, hotel receipts, restaurant receipts as evidence of these 4 visits

joint credit card account statements showing that we are already co-mingling finances

documents showing my Brazilian husband as my beneficiary on life insurance, retirement accounts, investment accounts

evidence of my husband's health insurance, dental insurance based on my US employer's plan

evidence of my husband as my emergency contact at work, statement that he is my husband on employer's HR website

wills and living wills

Christmas cards addressed to both of us at my US address

copies of cards and letters we have exchanged since the beginning of our relationship

wedding ring receipts

email logs, phone call logs, video call logs to show continuous daily communication

representative chat records (only a few pages of sample chats) from WhatsApp, Messenger

printout of our Facebook relationship with a few photos, comments from friends and family, words of congratulations on wedding day

affidavits from family members attesting to the nature of our relationship

brief statement of relationship history, how we met, how the relationship developed over time

 

required civil documents, marriage certificate, proof of US citizenship for petitioner, passport photos, payment of fee, I-130 completed, everything stated on I-130 instructions, plus I-130A application

 

All of the above well-organized on plain paper, binder clips, with a cover letter/table of contents listing everything by page number, all pages clearly numbered for easy reference for the officers.

 

We uploaded additional evidence of three more visits since filing the petition, at the NVC stage.

 

We just finished the CR-1 process--my husband's visa is on its way to him this week by courier.  Time from filing the I-130 petition to visa approval was 11 months.

 

Good luck!

Edited June 19, 2019 by carmel34

[Ryan H 3,810]

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