Time to Take the Plunge
Ok, Forms all collected, Documents all collected. Time for the final check list.
I-129F, Filled out, signed and dated. Check
Additional items per instructions on back of I-129f
-Passport style pictures of both of us taken withen last 30 days. Check
-Names written on the back of said photos with felt pen. Check
-Proof of US citizenship, Check (copy of birth certificate) I-129 states copies are acceptable. One of front and back. No request for original/certified copy.
-Original Statement of Intent from both of us, Check
-Filled out G-325a forms for both of us, Signed and Dated, Check
-Additional evidence of relationship, meeting in person, Check
-One Check in the amount of $170 made out to The Department of Homeland Security, Check.
Double Checked, Check
Triple Checked, Check
Some additional stuff I added.
-Copy front and back of my Drivers License, SS card.
-Copy of Both of our Passports and Pass Port Stamps.
My Forms, Documents, Evidence etc are all in slip covers arranged in a 3 ring Binder. Incidently one of the odd things you hit when doing something like this is the different paper sizes in the UK and the US. All of her stuff is comming on A4 sized paper which is like a hybrid between US letter and Legal. Also, being a Girl she wrote her statement of intent on a notepad sheet. Hmmmm one wonders if this might get lost in the shuffle. *ducks* sorry honey, not that there is anything wrong with using a notepad for a note. Absolutely silly requirement anyway. But hey its all done.
In case anyone is wondering, for evidence of relationship we are including detailed evidence of our travel to see each other. E-ticket reciepts, boarding passes (ones that we could find), Credit card statements with cost highlighted. Additionally I happend to have several event tickets we went to... minor league baseball game, play in the west end etc... that I put in there. Of Course several pictures from our various visits. A reciept for the stones I bought to go in the engagement ring. Finally our correspondence. Well in the end I decided not to include any personal correspondence because... well its personal. I did print out a directory of our AOL instant messenger logs (I use GAIM which has an automatic logging function). This shows the date and size of the file generated. I put a brief explination of what the listing was and said if they wanted to see some actual file printouts I would be glad to send some examples. The whole set of logs printed out would be some 1800 pages of LOL and ROFL and mundane daily chat with the occasoinal *censored* and *censored* here and there. Hopefully that much proof they exist will be enough. If not I have already selected a few of the more benign examples to forward to them at a later date if need be.
In the end I hit a few things that irked me.
One- The original statement thing. Come on. I have mentioned this one to several people and they all get the same incredulous look on their faces I had when I first realized what it was. The Form is all about the intent to marry. No mention of it is made on the web site. The only place I have found any mention of it is the request that appears in section 5b of the instructions for the I-129f.
Two- General lack of sepcifics. The instructions are so vauge in palces as to be useuless. For example. "Include any other evidence of a relationship you care to submit". Ok.... do I have to submit anything? Is there anything in particular you expect to see? How should it be arranged? Heck that goes for everything. I am sending 3 forms, pictures, a requested document (birth certificate) and an unspecified amount of evidence along with a check. Are there any guidelines for how this should be arranged to limit the chances of the paperwork being mishandled ?
Three- The need for proof of relationship. Theoretically what does it matter if there is a relationship or not? Legally I can get drunk and marry a complete stranger in the little chapel of love in vegas and it is a legally binding and recognized marriage. I imagine this means that technically I need not actually include any evidence. However this should be explicitly stated on the forms if that is the case. If legally it dosn't matter beyond the intent of the two people involved to get married then the issue should be are we allowed to wed. Not do we have a relationship. Now obviously we do have one, and because I understand the request for such evidence is there to provide a means for them to reject an application on the grounds that it is a sham. Thus evidence needs to be included... and damn it would be nice if they could provide some examples of stuff they would find usefull in establishing that we do indeed have a relationship and that this is not a sham arrangement for immigration purposes only.
Four- The check. Its a tired saw... but jeezus. I pay income tax, sales tax, luxury taxes, gas tax, vehicle registration tax and god knows what all else. In the end something approaching 40% of the money I earn each year goes to the governments coffers. Yet I have to fork out more money to ask permission to marry a forigner? This is getting to be a bit much. Either charge me for the services I require from the government, or tax me. DO NOT DO BOTH. Its bad enough that I have income AND sales tax to deal with.. but to then have to pay to recieve what supposedly I have already paid for with is just plain insult to injury.
I-129F, Filled out, signed and dated. Check
Additional items per instructions on back of I-129f
-Passport style pictures of both of us taken withen last 30 days. Check
-Names written on the back of said photos with felt pen. Check
-Proof of US citizenship, Check (copy of birth certificate) I-129 states copies are acceptable. One of front and back. No request for original/certified copy.
-Original Statement of Intent from both of us, Check
-Filled out G-325a forms for both of us, Signed and Dated, Check
-Additional evidence of relationship, meeting in person, Check
-One Check in the amount of $170 made out to The Department of Homeland Security, Check.
Double Checked, Check
Triple Checked, Check
Some additional stuff I added.
-Copy front and back of my Drivers License, SS card.
-Copy of Both of our Passports and Pass Port Stamps.
My Forms, Documents, Evidence etc are all in slip covers arranged in a 3 ring Binder. Incidently one of the odd things you hit when doing something like this is the different paper sizes in the UK and the US. All of her stuff is comming on A4 sized paper which is like a hybrid between US letter and Legal. Also, being a Girl she wrote her statement of intent on a notepad sheet. Hmmmm one wonders if this might get lost in the shuffle. *ducks* sorry honey, not that there is anything wrong with using a notepad for a note. Absolutely silly requirement anyway. But hey its all done.
In case anyone is wondering, for evidence of relationship we are including detailed evidence of our travel to see each other. E-ticket reciepts, boarding passes (ones that we could find), Credit card statements with cost highlighted. Additionally I happend to have several event tickets we went to... minor league baseball game, play in the west end etc... that I put in there. Of Course several pictures from our various visits. A reciept for the stones I bought to go in the engagement ring. Finally our correspondence. Well in the end I decided not to include any personal correspondence because... well its personal. I did print out a directory of our AOL instant messenger logs (I use GAIM which has an automatic logging function). This shows the date and size of the file generated. I put a brief explination of what the listing was and said if they wanted to see some actual file printouts I would be glad to send some examples. The whole set of logs printed out would be some 1800 pages of LOL and ROFL and mundane daily chat with the occasoinal *censored* and *censored* here and there. Hopefully that much proof they exist will be enough. If not I have already selected a few of the more benign examples to forward to them at a later date if need be.
In the end I hit a few things that irked me.
One- The original statement thing. Come on. I have mentioned this one to several people and they all get the same incredulous look on their faces I had when I first realized what it was. The Form is all about the intent to marry. No mention of it is made on the web site. The only place I have found any mention of it is the request that appears in section 5b of the instructions for the I-129f.
Two- General lack of sepcifics. The instructions are so vauge in palces as to be useuless. For example. "Include any other evidence of a relationship you care to submit". Ok.... do I have to submit anything? Is there anything in particular you expect to see? How should it be arranged? Heck that goes for everything. I am sending 3 forms, pictures, a requested document (birth certificate) and an unspecified amount of evidence along with a check. Are there any guidelines for how this should be arranged to limit the chances of the paperwork being mishandled ?
Three- The need for proof of relationship. Theoretically what does it matter if there is a relationship or not? Legally I can get drunk and marry a complete stranger in the little chapel of love in vegas and it is a legally binding and recognized marriage. I imagine this means that technically I need not actually include any evidence. However this should be explicitly stated on the forms if that is the case. If legally it dosn't matter beyond the intent of the two people involved to get married then the issue should be are we allowed to wed. Not do we have a relationship. Now obviously we do have one, and because I understand the request for such evidence is there to provide a means for them to reject an application on the grounds that it is a sham. Thus evidence needs to be included... and damn it would be nice if they could provide some examples of stuff they would find usefull in establishing that we do indeed have a relationship and that this is not a sham arrangement for immigration purposes only.
Four- The check. Its a tired saw... but jeezus. I pay income tax, sales tax, luxury taxes, gas tax, vehicle registration tax and god knows what all else. In the end something approaching 40% of the money I earn each year goes to the governments coffers. Yet I have to fork out more money to ask permission to marry a forigner? This is getting to be a bit much. Either charge me for the services I require from the government, or tax me. DO NOT DO BOTH. Its bad enough that I have income AND sales tax to deal with.. but to then have to pay to recieve what supposedly I have already paid for with is just plain insult to injury.
Comments
I'm Evelyn and I'm currently looking into filing a K-1 visa for my fiance. I'm wondering if you have ANY info or advice that you believe would be helpful to me in this complicated process. Thanks and I'd really appreciate it.