phone records question

[Corbin]

Does the phone record have to be a print out from the phone company or can it be a log kept of the phone calls made? The reason I ask this is the prepaid card I use they do not have a way to print a record of calls made.

[david_dawei]

according to Murphy's law... the VO will want whatever you cannot provide

 

While a log may be ok to review at an interview, a blue slip will want printouts...

 

BTW: I think Murphy was once a VO

[Guest Tony n Terrific]

according to Murphy's law... the VO will want whatever you cannot provide

 

While a log may be ok to review at an interview, a blue slip will want printouts...

 

BTW: I think Murphy was once a VO

I have called my SO a few times through these .01 discount phone companies. We use the web cam for our comunictions and of course e-mails. I have the records that I purchased phone time but no record of who I called. What can I do to rectify this?

[clayton2103]

Corbin,

 

I would certainly feel more comfortable presenting a printout from the phone company of your calls. I knew this early on in the process and although other companies were a bit cheaper than the one I chose, at least it provided me with a printed log of my calls.

We used OneSuite.com as many here do. Charges to China are 2.2 cents per minute.

 

Viewing your timeline, it would seem that you have time to amass many a phone call with a company that can provide you with an official printout.

If using a company that does offer a great price at a much cheaper rate, take your hand written log and don't let it worry you too much. Our VO didn't look at a single page other than my financials and our photos in the entire "kitchen sink".

 

Best of luck to you!

 

Clayton

Edited March 8, 2008 by clayton2103 (see edit history)

[georgeandli]

Tony, Bad luck for you. GUZ will not accept phone cards because, as you point out, no record of number called. I wasted 6 months of recording correspondence time on them myself. Letters, cards for holidays, money orders, email print outs and I sent copies of phone bills. Two calls straight up ran about $75. I highlighted them and made a notation about the cost to call. I used a service, not sure of the name, but dialed 10-10-987 then the China #. All of the numbers and duration time came listed on the home phone bill as a separate line item. Checked an old bill 14 minutes was $2.24. Document everything. They want your number/address to her number/address.

[Corbin]

They want your number/address to her number/address.

What do you mean buy this line here?

[Sebastian]

[i have called my SO a few times through these .01 discount phone companies. We use the web cam for our comunictions and of course e-mails. I have the records that I purchased phone time but no record of who I called. What can I do to rectify this?

 

I would suggest you switch phone card companies.

 

There is one (maybe more?) that keep transaction logs for you, are viewable/printable from your ONLINE ACCOUNT with them. I can't recall the name, but was referenced here on CFL.

 

I use VOIP service, my call cost is 2.1 cents/minute, but absolutely keeps track of all my calls.

[Finer in China]

They want your number/address to her number/address.

What do you mean buy this line here?

Yes, my phone bill shows my number and my address but it only shows her phone number. I don't think I've ever seen a phone bill that shows the recipient's address. Is that what you mean?

[Sebastian]

Does the phone record have to be a print out from the phone company or can it be a log kept of the phone calls made? The reason I ask this is the prepaid card I use they do not have a way to print a record of calls made.

 

Hey Corbin -

 

is my understanding that it must be some print out from a company.

Phone Company, Phone CARD Company, whoever you are paying money to.

 

A 'manual log' kept by you is not sufficient, as is no way to prove you DID make those calls.

 

Call Detail Records are what yer chasing after, reflected in your PHONE BILL / PHONE CARD LOGS.

 

I suggest you switch phone card companies -there is at least ONE that keeps a record of them for you in their online portal - it was referenced here on the CFL site - but I not know which topic here that it was discussed. I remember it was RECENTLY.

[rogerinca]

Corb, it seems this type question comes up here every few months and as David is really saying.....you really need the official printouts.

 

Since I first met Lao Po, and even before, I have continuously used a company called ecallchina.com They are a Chinese/American owned company and their office is on the CA/NV border at Lake Tahoe.

 

This is what I get from them: 1.6 cent per/min calls. Crystal clear connections. Local access number. Can use from my home phone or cell phone. Can call her home phone or cell phone. On line recharging of card. And, most importantly, on line retrieval and printout of phone logs. The log is available in spread sheet format, and provides all of the data they will want; including the date, time, originating phone number, called phone number, minutes each call, and cost each call. I print this out every month, and the record is available/accessible for 180 days at a time.

 

Their customer service is excellent. One time I found I was missing three months from the year before, and I e-mailed them in that regard. The next day they e-mailed me the data for the missing months.

 

Again, while there may be some of the new internet based systems which are a little cheaper, 1.6 cents per/min is not a deal breaker, considering the quality of the connection, convenience, and the customer service offered.

 

Also as Clayton stated, while this is a definite kitchen sink item, I don¡¯t recall any problems in this regard from any of those members in the past couple of years, who have provided post interview critiques. I actually included a synopsis (random printout page for each month I had known my wife) with my I-130 as a component of the new ¡®evidence of the bona fides or marriage/relationship section of the file.

 

I will also have this in a folder, along with the rest of the crap, available if needed; even though my expectation is they will only ask to see the I-134 package of financials, as Clayton found to be the case.

[lostinblue]

I am a bit old fashioned . I used sprint international. Bill is like an old phone bill. It was 16 / minute. I had sprint for my national plan so I just upgraded. Yan and I had a web cam with voice so I would call her and talk for about $1-2 Dollars worth to maintain a call history for GUZ and then we switched over to web cam . Then we kept a history of some of our chats sessions on Yahoo for example. Every month I would xerox the phone bill . Kept it for my records. Bought yan a card and mailed her the original. This killed 2 birds with one stone. We had a stamped letter from me to her and an actual phone bill with my name and address and time we called on it.

[georgeandli]

Sorry I wasn't clear. Number to number and address to address as in phone number to her phone number. Letters and cards to each other. I believe VO wants documents of a long term relationship. Save everything and then assemble kitchen sink.

[Jeikun]

Onesuite will give printouts as well. Your number and her number will be part of it. I used them almost exclusively way back when. Though the service rogerinca used sounds the same, and seems less expensive also.

[Smitty]

It looks like with ecallchina, you can only get a call record on the "Rechargeable Pinless Speed Dial Phone Card" card.

 

Onesuite, as mentioned by Clayton and Jeikun, well, I found that site somewhat confusing, and not as well laid out as the more commercial site for ecallchina. Just not sure what Onesuite is making available.

 

Then there is also that USB deal that was mentioned here, the Magic Jack.