Letters from relatives and friends to vouch?

[Tangelo5 1]

Hello all, I'm new to this site and just started the k1 visa journey. I would appreciate it if someone answered a couple questions. I looked on this website's checklist for the I-129F and didn't see any guidance about letters from relatives and friends vouching for the relationship. I actually heard from other people to do this. Are these types of letters optional? 

 

Also, is the USCIS strict about how recent the passport styled photos were taken? My fiance is mailing me such a photo but I doubt our packet will reach the USCIS within 30 days since it was last taken. Thank you!

[SalishSea 18,074]

8 minutes ago, Tangelo5 said:

Hello all, I'm new to this site and just started the k1 visa journey. I would appreciate it if someone answered a couple questions. I looked on this website's checklist for the I-129F and didn't see any guidance about letters from relatives and friends vouching for the relationship. I actually heard from other people to do this. Are these types of letters optional? 

 

Also, is the USCIS strict about how recent the passport styled photos were taken? My fiance is mailing me such a photo but I doubt our packet will reach the USCIS within 30 days since it was last taken. Thank you!

Please do a timeline, as many of our answers would be consulate-specific.

 

For the petition, 'affidavits' or letters from relatives are not useful.  You are better off focusing on providing evidence of the required one time meeting of the prior two years.  

 

Some of the info on VJ is dated.  I always recommend going straight to the source, and using the USCIS checklist as a guide.

 

USCIS really has no way of verifying how recent a photo was taken.  Obviously if it was so long ago that the age doesn't match up, that would raise questions.  30 vs 42 days won't make a difference.  Just make sure the size conforms to the guidelines.

[Mike E 11,742]

5 hours ago, Tangelo5 said:

Hello all, I'm new to this site and just started the k1 visa journey. I would appreciate it if someone answered a couple questions. I looked on this website's checklist for the I-129F and didn't see any guidance about letters from relatives and friends vouching for the relationship. I actually heard from other people to do this. Are these types of letters optional?

For I-129F, USCIS won’t be looking for this.  I-751 is when you might consider this evidence.  The evidence should be from US citizens familiar with the two of you as a married couple.  

5 hours ago, Tangelo5 said:

 

Also, is the USCIS strict about how recent the passport styled photos were taken? My fiance is mailing me such a photo but I doubt our packet will reach the USCIS within 30 days since it was last taken. Thank you!

She should email / text you a selfie now, and you should convert it to a passport photo. 
 

1. there are lots of free online photo croppers that will produce a photo with a 2 X 2 size ration with head, chin, face properly aligned 

 

2. open up something like MS word and insert the 2x2 image 6 times, arranged on a 2x3 grid

 

3. export the file to jpeg

 

.4. crop the Joey so that the margins are cut

 

Now you have a photo that you can upload to a one of Big 3 pharmacies’s websites and can have printed as a standard 4x6 for under 50 scents. 
 

5. pick up the photo and carefully cut out 6 photos, by making just 3 cuts.  

[JeanneAdil 6,606]

Affidaits have little to no effect and they will be filed under G -garbage can

[TBoneTX 45,873]

If we knew your consulate, we could comment on whether affidavits might be helpful.  They're typically not needed until the consular phase, and then only sometimes.

 

One correction to a post above:  USCIS is not supposed to trash anything that you send; they're to transfer everything in the petition to the consulate before the visa interview.  Therefore, if you include anything "not for USCIS's immediate needs/attention" (such as affidavits), cover them with a page that says, in big letters:  "USCIS:  Please retain the following ____ [affidavits, et al.] and send them to the consulate when the petition phase is completed."

[Tangelo5 1]

Thank you community for the guidance and humor! I will just submit thorough evidence of our meeting in the I-129F packet. I will be filing for my fiance in the Philippines and am looking forward to being together.
 

[Chancy 6,243]

57 minutes ago, Tangelo5 said:

I will be filing for my fiance in the Philippines

 

In that case, 3rd-party affidavit letters are not needed.  Focus on clear documented evidence of in-person meeting within 2 years of filing, along with the other required evidence for the I-129F.  3rd-party affidavits would just be clutter for a case intended for visa processing at the US embassy in Manila.