Clarification on what needs to be translated for I-129F and the format

[Adam1122 0]

I'm in the process of compiling evidence of having met within 2 years for my I-129F petition.  Some of the things I'll be submitting are copies of:

• Movie tickets with the date visible
• Flight boarding passes
• High speed rail tickets
• Ferry tickets
• Hong Kong landing slip (it's what they give you instead of stamping your passport)

 

These documents all have Chinese language writing on them.  Most of them also already contain English translations for everything, although some do not.  I can provide the translations myself if necessary, but wasn't sure if USCIS actually expects you to do that since:

• They aren't "official" documents like a birth certificate.  I saw some posts here where people said you shouldn't translate these types of things and some where you should.
• (For some) they already contain an English translation of all or almost all of the content.  It may not be obvious to a reader that the English that does appear is a translation, so providing an explicit translation separately still seems reasonable.

If they don't expect you to translate them, is it detrimental if I do provide translations?

 

Also plan to include some WeChat chat logs as evidence of relationship, which are in Chinese and will be translated by me.  With chat logs or with any other documents like the ones mentioned above, are there any specific expectations about the format of the translated version?  The text is mostly scattered around.  I was going to use image editing software to just provide an identical copy of the document but with the foreign language parts replaced with the English translation so it's clear what matches up with what.  Is that what other people have done, or is it better to just provide a text only translation?

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

Boarding passes and passport stamps are good evidence.  Those other things, not so much.    I would also consider a CR-1.

Edited May 23, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[powerpuff 6,697]

Yes, you need to provide translations of everything that’s not in English, I’d still provide a translation of those items that have a mix of Chinese and English.

 

I’m against providing chats as evidence of relationship, I do not think they provide any meaningful value. I’ve gone through K1 and AOS once in the US with zero chats. 

[Adam1122 0]

27 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

Boarding passes and passport stamps are good evidence.  Those other things, not so much.    I would also consider a CR-1.

I see.  We met in Hong Kong and unfortunately Hong Kong doesn't stamp the passport so all I have is a copy the entry document that they give you in lieu of that.  The rail tickets show her traveling from her town in mainland to Hong Kong, and have her name and the date.  The ferry tickets (from Hong Kong to Macau) don't have either of our names but do have dates.   We also have a photo of us holding a newspaper with the current date, as well as other photos.  We have a photo of us holding those same movie tickets as well, where you can see the date, which is what I was hoping to show as proof of having met. 

 

Edit: Also have hotel receipts from the trip, which are all in English .

 

We've only met once in person so far, so I'm just trying to provide all that I have that could possibly help.

 

CR-1 means we would get married somewhere else first instead of waiting for K-1 to go through right? Do you recommend that because the K-1s are taking too long to process right now?

Edited May 23, 2023 by Adam Fitzgerald

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

7 minutes ago, Adam Fitzgerald said:

Do you recommend that because the K-1s are taking too long to process right now?

K-1s are taking about the same time as CR-1s.

Every couple has their own priorities, and each couple must decide which visa is better for their situation.

K-1        
    More expensive than CR-1    
    Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)    
    Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 6-8 months)    
    Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 6-8 months)    
    Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period    
    Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.
    A K-1 might be a better choice when 18-21 year old children are immigrating also
    In some situations, marriage can affect certain Home country benefits, making a K-1 a better choice   
    A denied K-1 is sent back to USCIS to expire
    

CR-1
    Less expensive than K-1    
    No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) required.    
    Spouse can immediately travel outside the US    
    Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival.    
    Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US    
    Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.
    Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.
   

 

[Adam1122 0]

19 minutes ago, powerpuff said:

Yes, you need to provide translations of everything that’s not in English, I’d still provide a translation of those items that have a mix of Chinese and English.

 

I’m against providing chats as evidence of relationship, I do not think they provide any meaningful value. I’ve gone through K1 and AOS once in the US with zero chats. 

Okay, thanks.

 

What do you suggest other than chat logs?  

 

Mostly we talk via on phone (still over WeChat), so the chat messages tend to be terse anyway, but it's the longest running record of our relationship history showing messages and calls every day for 3 years.  I figured adding some excerpts wouldn't hurt.

 

We have photos of each other together.  None with each other's families though.

[powerpuff 6,697]

Best and strongest evidence is time spent together in person (I.e. multiple visits, travels together).

 

This is your petition, if you want to include that, you’re free to do so. Just my two cents that it’s rather weak evidence.

[powerpuff 6,697]

I agree with @Crazy Cat. CR-1 is the way to go, K1 is not worth it at all anymore. If I was faced with the choice of which one to pick today, there is no way I’d go with K1.

[Adam1122 0]

We've only got one trip together so far, but I'm planning to visit her country later this year.  It is possible we could get married at that time, or if not that would help strengthen the evidence for K-1.

I'll definitely give some thought to CR-1, thanks for your input.

[Redro 4,611]

33 minutes ago, Adam Fitzgerald said:

We've only got one trip together so far, but I'm planning to visit her country later this year.  It is possible we could get married at that time, or if not that would help strengthen the evidence for K-1. - For initial filing of K1 all is needed is proof of ONE  visit in person the last 2 years. You can add more evidence but the more evidence you add (like chat records) the more questions the CO can ask--- e.g What type of movies does Adam like to watch? What does Adam like to do in the evening? - And they have something to match the answer against... 

I'll definitely give some thought to CR-1, thanks for your input. - You should have this conversation with your partner and decide together... Has your partner ever visited the US? Does she come from a big city or a place where you need a car to get from point A to point B? Is she okay with the possibility of not being able to work for up to 1 year after entry? Which state do you live in? Research if she is able to obtain a driver's license without EAD (work authorization)? Is your partner close to her family? If there was a family emergency and she had not yet obtained permission to travel outside the US without abandoning her green card application would she choose to remain in the US or go to see her family? 

Do not just consider speed. If you are planning on spending the rest of your life with this person... a few more months getting to know her and preparing to marry before she comes over might seem like an eternity now but will be nothing in comparison with the decades you'll be with her in the future. 

[SteveInBostonI130 3,434]

1 hour ago, Adam Fitzgerald said:

I see.  We met in Hong Kong and unfortunately Hong Kong doesn't stamp the passport so all I have is a copy the entry document that they give you in lieu of that.  The rail tickets show her traveling from her town in mainland to Hong Kong, and have her name and the date.  The ferry tickets (from Hong Kong to Macau) don't have either of our names but do have dates.   We also have a photo of us holding a newspaper with the current date, as well as other photos.  We have a photo of us holding those same movie tickets as well, where you can see the date, which is what I was hoping to show as proof of having met. 

 

Edit: Also have hotel receipts from the trip, which are all in English .

 

We've only met once in person so far, so I'm just trying to provide all that I have that could possibly help.

 

CR-1 means we would get married somewhere else first instead of waiting for K-1 to go through right? Do you recommend that because the K-1s are taking too long to process right now?

 

The highlighted text is odd.  Staged evidence like that is highly suspicious. 

 

If I was a case officer at USCIS and I saw that, I would want to take a deep look into your backgrounds.  It's like hostage photos from a kidnapper.

 

Normally people show boarding passes, passport stamps and photos of them together at the destination - Hong Kong in your case.  USCIS can determine the date(s) of the meeting from the boarding passes.

 

 

[Adam1122 0]

3 minutes ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

 

The highlighted text is odd.  Staged evidence like that is highly suspicious. 

 

If I was a case officer at USCIS and I saw that, I would want to take a deep look into your backgrounds.  It's like hostage photos from a kidnapper.

 

Normally people show boarding passes, passport stamps and photos of them together at the destination - Hong Kong in your case.  USCIS can determine the date(s) of the meeting from the boarding passes.

 

 

Lol, I didn't think of it in that way, I hope they would not interpret it as such.  Showing a dated newspaper was suggested to me by an immigration lawyer that I talked to previously, as an example of what could count as evidence of meeting within 2 years.

 

We have other photos from our time in Hong Kong, I just thought something that shows the date would be the strongest evidence since the photos could be from any time.  It sounds like this may not be necessary, although neither of us have passport stamps, so it would just be the Hong Kong entry document and my boarding pass.

[Adam1122 0]

50 minutes ago, Redro said:

Do not just consider speed. If you are planning on spending the rest of your life with this person... a few more months getting to know her and preparing to marry before she comes over might seem like an eternity now but will be nothing in comparison with the decades you'll be with her in the future. 

Thanks for these insights.  We've discussed these topics a lot previously and definitely have some big decisions to figure out. I'm in a suburb of Dallas, Texas.  She lives in a moderate sized city and has never left her country before.  She knows what my city is like (yep, need cars to get anywhere and will be an adjustment for her) and what life here is like generally and insists that she's capable of adapting. But of course it's impossible to really know what it's like to live somewhere without experiencing it firsthand.  That will be a challenge we'll have to work through together when the time comes.

 

She won't be needing to work immediately, so that part of going with CR-1 versus K-1 would not be super important.  However the aspect of being unable to return to her country in the event of an emergency as you pointed out is one the biggest deterrents from us wanting to go with K-1.

[Vulpis 26]

3 hours ago, Adam1122 said:

Thanks for these insights.  We've discussed these topics a lot previously and definitely have some big decisions to figure out. I'm in a suburb of Dallas, Texas.  She lives in a moderate sized city and has never left her country before.  She knows what my city is like (yep, need cars to get anywhere and will be an adjustment for her) and what life here is like generally and insists that she's capable of adapting. But of course it's impossible to really know what it's like to live somewhere without experiencing it firsthand.  That will be a challenge we'll have to work through together when the time comes.

 

She won't be needing to work immediately, so that part of going with CR-1 versus K-1 would not be super important.  However the aspect of being unable to return to her country in the event of an emergency as you pointed out is one the biggest deterrents from us wanting to go with K-1.

With the K-1 processing times still being ridiculous (no chance of total wait times going below 12-14 months) you're better off doing the CR-1 from the get go. Even if the CR-1 process takes longer, the ability for the beneficiary to work, travel abroad, hold a REAL ID make CR-1 THE superior choice. K-1 should only be considered if there are specific circumstances that you know would be bothersome (like either kids or drawbacks for either party having a spouse overseas when it comes to government matters like taxes). I'd also say take the time and gather as much STRONG evidence you can to prevent an RFE; rushing into getting engaged or married is a RED flag for USCIS adjudicators. As a I-129F filer with an NOA1 of Jan 2023 (likely to see NOA2 before the New Years), I'm still debating whether to withdraw, get married and file I-130. Being apart isn't a big issue for the two of us, and we'd be OK even if the process took years. The internet is a thing.

Edited May 24, 2023 by Vulpis

[Redro 4,611]

9 hours ago, Adam1122 said:

Thanks for these insights.  We've discussed these topics a lot previously and definitely have some big decisions to figure out. I'm in a suburb of Dallas, Texas.  She lives in a moderate sized city and has never left her country before.  She knows what my city is like (yep, need cars to get anywhere and will be an adjustment for her) and what life here is like generally and insists that she's capable of adapting. But of course it's impossible to really know what it's like to live somewhere without experiencing it firsthand.  That will be a challenge we'll have to work through together when the time comes.

 

She won't be needing to work immediately, so that part of going with CR-1 versus K-1 would not be super important.  However the aspect of being unable to return to her country in the event of an emergency as you pointed out is one the biggest deterrents from us wanting to go with K-1.

Have your partner read this for some understanding on 1.) what it is like to move to the US without work authorization 2.) Dealing with boredom... 

There are some great ideas here and quite a few people shared their struggles and timelines.