Didn’t send Letter of Intent to marry

[_carollyd3118 11]

Hey,

 

I hope you can guys help us. We sent our application in August 30th, 2022nd, and got the NOA1 in September 1st, 2022nd.Since then, I’ve been reading a lot of these forums, and see how IMPORTANT the letter of intent to marry is. 
 

However, we only gathered the documents our lawyer told us to get, and the letter wasn’t within them. We even asked him afterwards, and his answer was: ”For my first 15 years of practice, such a statement was not required”

 

We’ve been together for 5 years, and have been visiting back and forth, so we provided many pictures, flight tickets, call/video calls and all possible evidence of a bona fide relationship. 

What do you think we could to fix that based on your experience? Has any of this ever happened to you? 

[powerpuff 6,598]

Another story of attorneys being incompetent even in the most simple of cases. The letters of intent is not just important, it’s a requirement.

 

You have two options:

 

1. Try to send both letters of intent to the service center processing the petition. This is not guaranteed to work but worth a shot. If it doesn’t work, you’ll just wait for an RFE.

 

2. Wait to receive an RFE. 

 

 

[_carollyd3118 11]

4 minutes ago, powerpuff said:

Another story of attorneys being incompetent even in the most simple of cases. The letters of intent is not just important, it’s a requirement.

 

You have two options:

 

1. Try to send both letters of intent to the service center processing the petition. This is not guaranteed to work but worth a shot. If it doesn’t work, you’ll just wait for an RFE.

 

2. Wait to receive an RFE. 

 

 

Definitely agree with you. Thank you so much, I appreciate it. I’ll see if it’s possible to send them now, before getting an RFE. Do you know when do people usually get the RFE? 

Edited June 2, 2023 by _carolinabautista

[powerpuff 6,598]

Just now, _carolinabautista said:

Definitely agree with you. Thank you so much, I appreciate it. I’ll see if it’s possible to send them now, before getting an RFE. Do you know when do people usually get the RFE? 

RFEs can be received at any time in the process. If they haven’t sent it yet means your file wasn’t looked at/didn’t get in the hands of the immigration officer. Unfortunately, these petitions lay around for 15-16 months (or however long the estimate is) just for someone to adjudicate them in a matter of 20 minutes. 

[Crazy Cat 41,594]

31 minutes ago, _carolinabautista said:

Hey,

 

I hope you can guys help us. We sent our application in August 30th, 2022nd, and got the NOA1 in September 1st, 2022nd.Since then, I’ve been reading a lot of these forums, and see how IMPORTANT the letter of intent to marry is. 
 

However, we only gathered the documents our lawyer told us to get, and the letter wasn’t within them. We even asked him afterwards, and his answer was: ”For my first 15 years of practice, such a statement was not required”

 

We’ve been together for 5 years, and have been visiting back and forth, so we provided many pictures, flight tickets, call/video calls and all possible evidence of a bona fide relationship. 

What do you think we could to fix that based on your experience? Has any of this ever happened to you? 

There are very few required items to file an I-129F.  Letters of intent are one of those requirements.  Fire the attorney today, and prepare to see an RFE or a denial. 

Edited June 2, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[_carollyd3118 11]

1 minute ago, Crazy Cat said:

There are very few required items to file an I-129F.  Letters of intent are one of those requirements.  Fire the attorney today, and prepare to see an RFE or a denial. 

We thought it was going to be better to hire him hopefully looking for the best of our case, even though many said it wasn’t even necessary as it was such a “simple” case, as we’re both the same age, almost same backgrounds, have been together since 5 years. Do you think that even with all the evidence, like the engagement pictures we sent, him asking for my hand to my dad, our engagement pictures, could we still face a denial because of the letter? 

[Crazy Cat 41,594]

Just now, _carolinabautista said:

Do you think that even with all the evidence, like the engagement pictures we sent, him asking for my hand to my dad, our engagement pictures, could we still face a denial because of the letter? 

You will receive either a denial, a rejection, or an RFE.  I can't say which one will be issued...but it will not go forward missing letters of intent. 

[_carollyd3118 11]

Just now, Crazy Cat said:

You will receive either a denial, a rejection, or an RFE.  I can't say which one will be issued...but it will not go forward missing letters of intent. 

I’ll see if we can probably send them the letters, and proof of the venue receipt for our future wedding, showing enough evidence we do intend to marry! Thanks again. 

[_carollyd3118 11]

33 minutes ago, powerpuff said:

RFEs can be received at any time in the process. If they haven’t sent it yet means your file wasn’t looked at/didn’t get in the hands of the immigration officer. Unfortunately, these petitions lay around for 15-16 months (or however long the estimate is) just for someone to adjudicate them in a matter of 20 minutes. 

Thank you so much! I appreciate it.

[Mike E 11,739]

30 minutes ago, _carolinabautista said:

I’ll see if we can probably send them the letters,

Why probably? The U.S. citizen  needs to send these letters, today.  Neither of you need permission to write these letters.

[_carollyd3118 11]

1 minute ago, Mike E said:

Why probably? The U.S. citizen  needs to send these letters, today.  Neither of you need permission to write these letters.

Great, should we address the whole i-129 F application, or only both letters? 

[SalishSea 17,736]

1 hour ago, _carolinabautista said:

Hey,

 

I hope you can guys help us. We sent our application in August 30th, 2022nd, and got the NOA1 in September 1st, 2022nd.Since then, I’ve been reading a lot of these forums, and see how IMPORTANT the letter of intent to marry is. 
 

However, we only gathered the documents our lawyer told us to get, and the letter wasn’t within them. We even asked him afterwards, and his answer was: ”For my first 15 years of practice, such a statement was not required”

 

We’ve been together for 5 years, and have been visiting back and forth, so we provided many pictures, flight tickets, call/video calls and all possible evidence of a bona fide relationship. 

What do you think we could to fix that based on your experience? Has any of this ever happened to you? 

Fire that attorney.   The letter of intent is mandatory.

[Mike E 11,739]

 

 

@_carolinabautista

 

 

Send a cover letter with the intent to marry statements stating:

 

* case number

* reason for letter

* name of petitioner

* name of beneficiary

 

The address you send this to is the USCIS address listed on the I-129F receipt.

 

Sample letter of intent:

 

https://www.visajourney.com/examples/Fiance_Letter_of_Intent.doc

Edited June 2, 2023 by Mike E

[SalishSea 17,736]

48 minutes ago, _carolinabautista said:

I’ll see if we can probably send them the letters, and proof of the venue receipt for our future wedding, showing enough evidence we do intend to marry! Thanks again. 

I think you’re misunderstanding the importance of establishing intent to marry via statements of both parties. 
 

One of the downfalls of using a lawyer is that it’s easy to defer to them instead of owning your own process.  

 

Going forward, you will want to make sure you know the requirements for each step of the process.   It is long and expensive, and no one cares more about your visa than you do.   In fact, lawyers get paid more for making mistakes….

[_carollyd3118 11]

13 minutes ago, Mike E said:

 

 

@_carolinabautista

 

 

Send a cover letter with the intent to marry statements stating:

 

* case number

* reason for letter

* name of petitioner

* name of beneficiary

 

The address you send this to is the USCIS address listed on the I-129F receipt.

 

Sample letter of intent:

 

https://www.visajourney.com/examples/Fiance_Letter_of_Intent.doc

Thank you so much, we really appreciate it! We’ll be moving forward with it. Do you know if they send a notice of receipt? Just to kind of have an idea with what to expect. Also, should we also send with it our wedding venue receipt, or something like that? We didn’t send it with the i-129 F as we hadn’t done it yet, but we already booked a venue. 

Edited June 2, 2023 by _carolinabautista