Getting "Testimonial Letters" about Your Relationship

[TBoneTX 45,536]

An alarming number of VJ members appear to consider the consular phase (quick interview & provision of information, with issue of the visa with no problems) to be perfunctory -- a "slam-dunk," so to speak. This is not always the case. Some consulates require more than one interview; some refuse to accept evidence that has been brought to the interview and then claim that "insufficient evidence exists"; some put interviewees through intense grilling; and some will kick the interviewee out after a couple of questions and order the U.S. citizen to appear for a second "joint" or "marriage" interview (which may very likely be a Stokes interrogation).

Even consulates that are currently considered "easy" should not be taken for granted. The U.S. Department of State can transfer new Section Chiefs and other personnel anywhere overseas at any time, without our knowing, and interview standards & policies can change overnight. And, of course, any individual consular officer can be having a very bad day when our fiance(e) or spouse shows up. It behooves us to be aware of this and to prepare for worst-case situations.

An excellent idea (suggested by several experienced immigration attorneys) is to be prepared with supporting testimonial letters from family members, friends, and respectable community members (especially ex-military personnel and religious ministers who know you) who can attest to the validity of the relationship. As many letters as possible should come from the U.S. citizen's people, and fewer (2 to 4) from the foreign partner's people.

Once you have these letters, they can be taken to the interview by the foreign partner, sent on if the consulate requires additional proof but not the U.S. citizen's physical presence, or (for those who have learned here that they will be dealing with a tough consulate) included in the initial I-129F or I-130 petition to USCIS. (Note: It is true that USCIS does not care about these letters as supporting evidence, but the consulate cannot deny in good faith that the letters exist, if the consulate knows that USCIS has seen them and is in fact sending them to the consulate with the rest of the approved fiancee or spousal petition!) At the least, these letters are a good insurance policy in case you need them; at best, they can result in an issued visa when all otherwise seems lost.

Below is a sample request that has been used to get such supporting letters. You can use it almost word-for-word when you write to your people, changing only the details of your particular circumstances.

*** Anyone who wishes to respond to this post should please not (NOT!) (NOT!) copy the entire thing in reply! ***

The sample request:

==================

To: Relative <my e-mail address>

From: Me <my e-mail address>

Date: _____

Subject: (#2 send) [Your Name & Her Name's] fiancee visa

Cc: [left blank -- crucial because the importance to each reader is thus heightened]

Bcc: [everybody's e-mail address from whom I want a letter]

(ORIGINALLY SENT ON [date]. IF YOUR LETTER IS IN THE MAIL, PLEASE DISREGARD THIS AND ACCEPT MY DEEPEST APPRECIATION!)

Dear family member:

I need your prompt help, if you can offer it.

On April 29, my fiancee [name] visited the U.S. Consulate in [city, country] for her interview, the outcome of which was supposed to be the issuance of the fiancee visa that would enable her to enter the U.S. and subsequently marry me. All of our paperwork was as "in order" and complete as it could be. Nevertheless, the consul refused to issue her the visa, stating that "more proof" of the validity of the relationship was required.

Even though the consul does NOT have official legal authority to demand that I appear in person to be interviewed, the visa can be withheld -- even with the provision of copious additional evidence -- unless I travel to [country] again for a joint and separate interview at the consulate.

Two attorneys -- one a premier immigration attorney, and the other with personal career experience as a consul -- state that I must comply. There is a good chance that the visa will be issued if I visit, they say, but a far lesser chance (or zero chance) if I do not. Furthermore, we must overwhelm them with evidence.

Both attorneys strongly endorsed my additional idea of providing TESTIMONIAL LETTERS from people who are aware of the validity of the engagement and the relationship. The advice (paraphrased) is:

"Have people write letters on your behalf. The idea is to tell the Consul that the relationship appears genuine and that it merits approval.

"In addition to YOUR family and friends, also include letters from HER family and friends. Have people vouch for your character and sincerity. Anyone whom you met or spent time with together when you were together will be helpful. Having family and friends supporting you both is equally or maybe even more important than mounds of evidence, to dispute any assumption of fraud on the Consul's part. The letters don't have to be LONG, and they don't have to be notarized, but they should include how they met you, how happy you seem together or what event/situation you met in, etc. -- basically something to illustrate familiarity with you as a couple. The letters should also include how each person can be contacted."

Since you have obviously never met [fiancee's name], you would have to state (in your own words) at least these things:

- your relationship to me;

- your knowledge of the ongoing engagement

- its official announcement from me in [month/year] after my visit to [country];

- the continuing updates that you (may) have asked for and received;

- my determination that this marriage must happen; and

- how you can be contacted.

Feel free to add anything else that you may think of, but please put things into your own words. Avoid criticism of the Consul and "telling" him what "should" be done.

Everything that you say needs to be true, because it's a Federal offense to be untruthful to an agent of the U.S. government. Do not make anything up -- and, don't write a letter at all if you cannot in good conscience say anything that is listed above.

Your letter should be mailed or e-mailed to me (see coordinates below), but "addressed" to: U.S. Consul - [city, country].

If you are willing to help, I would like something in my hands by [day, date]. You can provide, at your option:

- a regular first-class letter (do not resort to FedEx, etc.); or

- a PDF or other "scan" attached to an e-mail; or

- a letter in a Word attachment to an e-mail;* or

- a letter like what you're reading (a typed e-mail message).*

* The slight disadvantage to these two methods is that such letters cannot be signed, unless you have a digital signature. The presence or absence of a signature is likely of little consequence. Whatever you can provide will be of value.

If you need details about the timing of the relationship or about the relationship itself, holler to me for answers. If you plan to mail me a regular letter, please let me know when it is on its way.

My address:

[first name last name]

[street address]

[city, state ZIP Code]

E-mail: _____

Many thanks for what I hope is your prompt action. If you cannot in good conscience or good faith write a letter, that's absolutely OK; just please do so if you can.

Love,

[your name]

[Dakine 26]

More ammo on hand the better!!

More peeps are "front loading" now also.

Edited August 23, 2009 by Haole

[Minya's wife 25]

Good post! Great info here!

[TBoneTX 45,536]

Thanks, dude & dudess (dudette?), si man. I don't believe that any harm whatsoever can come from front-loading... and I do believe that much good can result.

[pushbrk 12,979]

Thanks, dude & dudess (dudette?), si man. I don't believe that any harm whatsoever can come from front-loading... and I do believe that much good can result.

Particularly true for Ecuador. I'm aware of a case with red flags where the couple was asked to come back the next day for a stokes interview. They messed up at least two seemingly slam dunk questions, (one was where they first had sexual relations) and are overdue for their answer on the visa. I advise at least a little front-loading on every case and a lot more on cases with red flags or with difficult consulates.

[Hopeful786 0]

More ammo on hand the better!!

More peeps are "front loading" now also.

what is front loading?

[Leo&Farah 0]

Used here, front-loading is including additional evidence above and beyond what is requested by the initial petition.

ie. If a fiance petition merely asks for proof of meeting the past two years to be sent initially, front loading would be to include proof of a bonafide relationship with the original petition which can encompass phone records, emails, snail mail, chat logs, screen shots of video calls etc. It is believed that proof sent with the original petition this way cannot be denied by the embassy later at the consular interview stage and is particularly important with consulates that are tough and famous for asking for more proof but refusing to accept any proof you bring to the interview.

In a nutshell.

[TBoneTX 45,536]

Particularly true for Ecuador. I'm aware of a case with red flags where the couple was asked to come back the next day for a stokes interview. They messed up at least two seemingly slam dunk questions, (one was where they first had sexual relations) and are overdue for their answer on the visa. I advise at least a little front-loading on every case and a lot more on cases with red flags or with difficult consulates.

Eerie... I'm aware of a case (before the time of mine) in which the same question was asked. For the record, every immigration attorney to whom I've spoken says that questions about sexual relations are inappropriate in K-1 interviews, and that such questions are borderline harassment and are illegal in the public and private sector. Of course, Guayaquil (Ecuador) is in a class by itself when it comes to such... and those of us who re-interviewed last year were not informed that our "joint" "marriage" interview was to be a Stokes.

Leo&Farah gives an excellent and concise definition of front-loading, and pushbrk's last quoted sentence above is wisdom well worth following.

Edited August 24, 2009 by TBoneTX

[TBoneTX 45,536]

bump

[Maverick64 0]

A terstimonial letter is an idea that I came up with several months ago. Based on advice from an immigration lawyer who replied here on VJ (Thank you so much for the advice!), I changed it to a sworn statement. Here is what it looks like:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES

CONSULAR OFFICER , US EMBASSY - PANAMA

Declaration Of (my mothers name) In Support Of

Form I-129f, Petition For Alien Fiancé Of (my name) On Behalf Of (my fiancees name)

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I do hereby declare as follows:

1. My name is xxxxxxx, and I am the mother of xxxxx xxxxx . I am a US citizen currently residing at (address); my telephone number is 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx . I make this declaration in support of my son xxxxxx’s petition for alien fiancée on form I-129f on behalf of (fiancees name).

2. Both myself and xxxxx’s father (my fathers name) have been corresponding with xxxx through email and telephone beginning in December of 2008. Attached hereto as Exhibit A are copies of selected emails evidencing our communication with xxxxxx.

3. Through our correspondence we have found xxxxxx to be a wonderful, thoughtful and mature woman who sincerely desires to marry our son xxxxxx.

4. My husband and I have told xxxxxx that we have not seen our son this happy in many years. Likewise we told her, that we can see the love and happiness she also has for him. We are anxiously awaiting meeting our future daughter-in-law.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief. I also encourage the consular officer to contact me at the above telephone number should he or she have any questions.

Dated: (city, State)

August 27th 2009

Signed:_____________________

(mothers name)

In addition to this sworn statement, my father and sister who both regularly email my fiancee, have written persinal testimonials. I think this will work in addition to the sworn statement from my mother. A good piece of advice is to make sure your fiance(e) USES the evidence during questioning in the interview. As an example: what does your fiance's parents think about your relationship? Well, they seem very happy about our relationship...here look at this letter they wrote about our realtionship, and here are emails we have exchanged. As much as possible refer the to the evidence to help answer the questions. Mav

[TBoneTX 45,536]

This is largely good, in concept, assuming that the consulate will accept such things in the interview. Optimally, folks should front-load their I-129F or I-130 petition with letters like this, and take "fresh" ones to the interview.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES

CONSULAR OFFICER , US EMBASSY - PANAMA

Incorrect. The embassies are part of the Department of State, not Homeland Security. Recommend keeping just the third line.

2. Both myself and xxxxx’s father (my fathers name)

Poor grammar lends a poor impression and distracts the reader from the message. Reword to "Xxxxx's father (father's name) and I..." Otherwise, good concept. Consider, though, that if every such letter has the same text "and only the names are changed," this could imply to the consul that the effort is contrived, with resultant reduced or negative effect. I personally believe that letters written in the individual's own words (such as the additional testimonials suggested by Maverick) will be more effective. Edited August 26, 2009 by TBoneTX

[Maverick64 0]

This is largely good, in concept, assuming that the consulate will accept such things in the interview. Optimally, folks should front-load their I-129F or I-130 petition with letters like this, and take "fresh" ones to the interview.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES

CONSULAR OFFICER , US EMBASSY - PANAMA

Incorrect. The embassies are part of the Department of State, not Homeland Security. Recommend keeping just the third line.

2. Both myself and xxxxx’s father (my fathers name)

Poor grammar lends a poor impression and distracts the reader from the message. Reword to "Xxxxx's father (father's name) and I..." Otherwise, good concept. Consider, though, that if every such letter has the same text "and only the names are changed," this could imply to the consul that the effort is contrived, with resultant reduced or negative effect. I personally believe that letters written in the individual's own words (such as the additional testimonials suggested by Maverick) will be more effective.

Which is exactly why I have done it like this... ( 1 sworn statement and the 2 others being personal testimonies), as I feel the same if they were all worded the same and/or sworn statements. I personally thought the written testimony of my mom was better. But the immigration attorney said a sworn statement carries more weight. So this way I have the best of both.

[TBoneTX 45,536]

So this way I have the best of both.

Very good, si man. Others here would do well to note that in many instances, just three letters (or sworn statements) will not be enough from the USC's side. Three sworn statements from the foreign partner's side, conversely, is probably the maximum optimal number; any more than that may raise suspicions in the consul's mind that the foreign relatives & friends will later try to "piggyback" their way into the U.S.

[Leo&Farah 0]

Does someone have a more generic example of a testimonial letter?

I'm thinking of asking his parents to sign one each so he can send them to me along with the stuff needed before my interview.

[TBoneTX 45,536]

Does someone have a more generic example of a testimonial letter?

If no one replies with one, you can likely alter the original example to suit your requirements.