Signal Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Well I just got back from China on the 11th...It was the best two weeks of my life!...Everything went wonderful and even better than I expected!...We are now engaged and very soon I would like to begin the K-1 visa process...I have been reading some topics and will continue to read the info on the board as this seems to be the best place for information on this long and difficult journey...I was just wondering if anyone had any sort of tips before I submit the I-129F package...I have not been on the boards much since I signed up but I have heard of a new law that is causing some terrible delays in our applications...I did not go through an agency to meet my SO and I have never been convicted of anything before...Is there anything I need to worry about other than this?... I'm currently most worried about the "proof of having met and ongoing relationship" part of the application...I have MANY emails from her, however because she does not speak the greatest English we did not talk on the phone too many times over the past few months...Mostly it was email and Yahoo IMs with webcam where she could read what I said slowly and be able to respond at her own pace...Although I do have a FEW phone and cell phone bills that showed we have spoken over the phone...I also only have one or two hand-written letters from her with no stamps on the letters because we mostly sent things to each other in larger boxes with gifts for each other...Do you think this will be a big problem?... On the other hand, I do have many things to show such as boarding passes, hotel receipts and the receipt from the engagement ring I bought for her while I was there...And we do have quite a few photos of us taken during my trip out there... I'm just really nervous about this whole process...I feel that I have finally met the woman of my dreams and we are crazy for each other!...She's dying to come to the US to be with me and I really do not want to mess this application up and have to start over...So any helpful tips will be greatly appreciated!...And as I said, I'll continue to do my reading!... Thanks!... Link to comment
Kalli and Greg Oveson Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Well I just got back from China on the 11th...It was the best two weeks of my life!...Everything went wonderful and even better than I expected!...We are now engaged and very soon I would like to begin the K-1 visa process...I have been reading some topics and will continue to read the info on the board as this seems to be the best place for information on this long and difficult journey...I was just wondering if anyone had any sort of tips before I submit the I-129F package...I have not been on the boards much since I signed up but I have heard of a new law that is causing some terrible delays in our applications...I did not go through an agency to meet my SO and I have never been convicted of anything before...Is there anything I need to worry about other than this?... I'm currently most worried about the "proof of having met and ongoing relationship" part of the application...I have MANY emails from her, however because she does not speak the greatest English we did not talk on the phone too many times over the past few months...Mostly it was email and Yahoo IMs with webcam where she could read what I said slowly and be able to respond at her own pace...Although I do have a FEW phone and cell phone bills that showed we have spoken over the phone...I also only have one or two hand-written letters from her with no stamps on the letters because we mostly sent things to each other in larger boxes with gifts for each other...Do you think this will be a big problem?... On the other hand, I do have many things to show such as boarding passes, hotel receipts and the receipt from the engagement ring I bought for her while I was there...And we do have quite a few photos of us taken during my trip out there... I'm just really nervous about this whole process...I feel that I have finally met the woman of my dreams and we are crazy for each other!...She's dying to come to the US to be with me and I really do not want to mess this application up and have to start over...So any helpful tips will be greatly appreciated!...And as I said, I'll continue to do my reading!... Thanks!...225389[/snapback]Two suggestions: First, submit your I-129F as soon as possible to establish your place in line. There is so much confusion about impact of IMBRA on the process that it is safe to say that no one knows exactly what will happen. But I don't think anyone will dispute that the earlier you get in line, the sooner you will get the visa. Second, get a screen capture program for your computer and save images of both of you on YIM video together. And YIM will let you archive all your chats and you can print them later if you wish. My version of overkill is a printout of each days chat session(s) with the screen capture showing both of us, the date, and some of the chat text on the screen, stapled to the front. Fortunately, I am a K1/K2 so my fiancee will have someone to help her carry all this. And if it drags along much longer, we will buy some sort of wheeled cart. Link to comment
MRMC Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 I think the main thing will be pictures of the two of you when you were in China. Yes I would also print out transcripts from your webcam chats. Also consider being there for her at the interview. It will give you a chance to once again meet and a photo opportunity in GZ. You can take a cruise on the Pearl River, etc. and have some fun. Link to comment
Signal Posted June 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Thanks guys!!...Yes, I will definitely get the I-129F submitted as soon as I can...I have not quite started yet but I've read a lot of what I need to do so I'm hoping I'll be somewhat prepared...I will have to send out a few things to her to have her sign and send back to me though...I should have taken them with me when I was there so that we could look at them together... MRMC--Yes, I will definitely consider being there for her at the interview...This whole thing is going to take SO long that I have already figured I would be going back at least once to see her...Even though I hate flying I can't imagine going the whole time without seeing her... Again, thanks for the info guys!!!... Link to comment
frank1538 Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 On the other hand, I do have many things to show such as boarding passes, hotel receipts and the receipt from the engagement ring I bought for her while I was there...And we do have quite a few photos of us taken during my trip out there...225389[/snapback]To me, these are the more important documents at this stage. Pictures of you together in China and, if possible, pictures with her and her family, are very helpful. Also, don't forget the "intent" documents - "...original statements from you and your fianc¨¦(e) whom you plan to marry within 90 days of his or her admission, and copies of any evidence you wish to submit to establish your mutual intent.." (from the I-129F instructions). For this, I used correspondence. Some people created a special "intent" statement. Link to comment
Guest pushbrk Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 On the other hand, I do have many things to show such as boarding passes, hotel receipts and the receipt from the engagement ring I bought for her while I was there...And we do have quite a few photos of us taken during my trip out there...225389[/snapback]To me, these are the more important documents at this stage. Pictures of you together in China and, if possible, pictures with her and her family, are very helpful. Also, don't forget the "intent" documents - "...original statements from you and your fianc¨¦(e) whom you plan to marry within 90 days of his or her admission, and copies of any evidence you wish to submit to establish your mutual intent.." (from the I-129F instructions). For this, I used correspondence. Some people created a special "intent" statement.225405[/snapback]It sounds so elementary but do make sure you use the May 23, 2006 version of the I-129F with all the IMBRA related updates. You don't mention G325A's. Those are pretty important too. Link to comment
RLS Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Welcome. I don't know your name so I will call you Signal. I agree with Frank that emails and actual pictures are important. Not all of us have the capability of "capturing" screen shots, etc. Not all of our SO's have computers or have the time to use one. My SO, for example, works 12 hours a day, everyday, so she does not have that convenience. Anyway, don't worry about meeting on line. Most all of us did. Make sure you get the I-129F filled out correctly. Ask questions here. You will get answers from those who are experienced. Good Luck! Link to comment
Guest pushbrk Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Welcome. I don't know your name so I will call you Signal. I agree with Frank that emails and actual pictures are important. Not all of us have the capability of "capturing" screen shots, etc. Not all of our SO's have computers or have the time to use one. My SO, for example, works 12 hours a day, everyday, so she does not have that convenience. Anyway, don't worry about meeting on line. Most all of us did. Make sure you get the I-129F filled out correctly. Ask questions here. You will get answers from those who are experienced. Good Luck!225419[/snapback]If you have a windows based computer and WORD you have the capability to capture screen shots. Have a blank Word document open. When your screen appears as you wish it to, press the Print Scrn button on your keyboard, then place your curser in the Word doc and press "paste". Your screen shot will then appear in the Word document and you can type date and description or anything you want in addition. Simply save the document and print when ready. Link to comment
yuehan123 Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 ...I was just wondering if anyone had any sort of tips before I submit the I-129F package... 225389[/snapback]Keep copies of everything you submit. It doesn't end with the I-129 submission. Get one of the telephone calling cards that lets you print out the call details. Send some letters to each other in stamped, postmarked envelopes. Why do this in the age of instant message? It's romantic. You can prove you met once, next you must be able to prove an on-going relationship. Link to comment
MRMC Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 I used a calling card and had very few records of our calls, but I had plenty of pictures and made a small album for her to bring to the interview in a small album. The pictures could be easily removed to show the interviewer. I think get the phone records; however, a picture is worth a thousand words. As to fear of flying I had that too but love will make you get over it or at least under control. Link to comment
RLS Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Welcome. I don't know your name so I will call you Signal. I agree with Frank that emails and actual pictures are important. Not all of us have the capability of "capturing" screen shots, etc. Not all of our SO's have computers or have the time to use one. My SO, for example, works 12 hours a day, everyday, so she does not have that convenience. Anyway, don't worry about meeting on line. Most all of us did. Make sure you get the I-129F filled out correctly. Ask questions here. You will get answers from those who are experienced. Good Luck!225419[/snapback]If you have a windows based computer and WORD you have the capability to capture screen shots. Have a blank Word document open. When your screen appears as you wish it to, press the Print Scrn button on your keyboard, then place your curser in the Word doc and press "paste". Your screen shot will then appear in the Word document and you can type date and description or anything you want in addition. Simply save the document and print when ready.225421[/snapback]I wish I could do that, Mike, but Ivy doesn't have a computer. I'm looking into getting one for her, but I don't know if I can afford it. If I can, I will do that. Thanks for that info. I didn't have a clue on how to do it. Link to comment
jim_julian Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 With respect to phone calls and records Skype is very inexpensive (about 2 and a fraction cnets per minute to China) and provides an excellent call record that you can print from the Internet. With Skype you call from your computer to her cell or fixed phone. Link to comment
tonado Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...tom&page=guides Checkout the K1 links. Link to comment
Signal Posted June 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 tonodo--Thank you. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...om&page=k1guide That is the guide that I have bookmarked to use as my main reference to start the I-129F package... jim_julian--I'll look into that skype, thank you very much!... MRMC--I was pretty much terrified to ever fly but I knew I had to overcome that fear if I wanted to be with my Xiang...I struggled for the first flight and a half but soon figured out what I needed to do to cope...Two Dramamine seem to do the trick pretty well...*lol*...I'd usually catch about ten or fifteen minutes of each of the movies... RLS--Thanks for the great advice...Yes, my SO works 12-13 hour days as well most of the time since she got her new job so talking with her live on the phone or even computer is not always easy...So email has been our main way of communication...Stupid me though, I was deleting the emails for the first two months that we talked!...Doh!...But I have been saving them since December so I'm not worried too much about that...I hope like you say, the pictures and proof that I actually saw her will be the main things they will look at...For now, I will just provide as much as I can for the I-129F package... yuehan123--Yes, I was thinking that since we will have a lot of time until the actual interview, I can ask her to send me regular letters and I will send her some more letters too...I sent her a few but again because her English is not fluent it is probably very time consuming and difficult to write hand written letters so it was mostly emails...In the beginning she was even having a friend translate emails to send to me but I told her I didn't care about perfect English and that she could just send the best emails that she could do...She's been doing that since and I love those letters more than the longer ones translated by someone else... pushbrk--You know I was always kind of wondering about doing something like those screen shots that you were talking about...Thank you, I wil definitely look into doing that!...One more thing, I should be safe with the updated forms as long as I'm using the ones from the Vermont Service Center, correct?...Thanks again!... frank1538--I was sure to take quite a few photos while I was there...We took some while we were in a park, on the street walking, at dinner with her friends and also some with her family...For the intent to marry, can I just use the outline given at visajourney or do you think that they may want to see a more personalized letter?...I want to follow all of this to the letter as much as possible but I also do not want it to look like I'm just copying and pasting a bunch of stuff and thowing it together... I just had one other question for anyone who may still be reading this...For the I-129F package should I be including just the emails and letters I have received from her or do they also want material that I have sent to her also???...I feel like a dumb newbie even asking the question but again I want to hopefully do this only once and do as good of a job as I can with this!...Thanks for all the help guys!...You guys all sound like you really know what you are doing and every time I look at this stuff my head starts spinning!...*lol*... Link to comment
Guest pushbrk Posted June 21, 2006 Report Share Posted June 21, 2006 (edited) tonodo--Thank you. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...om&page=k1guide pushbrk--You know I was always kind of wondering about doing something like those screen shots that you were talking about...Thank you, I wil definitely look into doing that!...One more thing, I should be safe with the updated forms as long as I'm using the ones from the Vermont Service Center, correct?...Thanks again!...225540[/snapback]You will be safe only if you use the new I-129F form with a revised date of 5/23/2006 found at this link. http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/for...iles/I-129F.pdf It is quite possible to get an out of date form from a service center, since the correct form was only released last week. Using the fillable pdf forms is so much easier than filling them out by hand. Who wants to hand fill 4 copies of each G325a. The fillable ones fill the other three copies for you. Edited June 21, 2006 by pushbrk (see edit history) Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now