Proof of Relationship

[luckystar]

Well, I don't really know how to prove that I meet him other than pictures, but that's secondary evidence(not that I have any with me at the moment). I lived at my grandma's house when I went to Guangzhou from Hong Kong, so it's not like I have hotel receipts. I threw away all the train tickets already and Guangzhou is not a receipt based culture, most receipts are handwritten. (I didn't shop in any big mall type places)

 

I feel like giving up now because I found out that I can't find my passport so I don't even have entry stamps to prove that I went from Hong Kong to China. All I have is proof that I went to Hong Kong. Just been really depressing for the last few days.

[Jaseball]

You want to file a K1 already? Find the passport. You really shouldn't be without that. May want to try contacting the airline and getting your itinerary or ask if there is anyway to show you were on the flight from HK to the mainland.

 

My first trip to China was for a vacation. I had no plans to meet my now wife, nor did I have a clue about the K1 process. For that first trip I don't remember having much, except passport stamps, my boarding stub from the flight from the US to Taipei and some pictures.

 

I just asked for her phone number and email and said she seemed to be a great girl and I planned on staying in contact.

 

Got a phone card that lists out call day/time/number and printed out monthly sheets of us talking.

 

Used QQ and snapped a pictures each time we went online to chat.

 

Had her write me letters and wrote letters and kept those.

 

I did make a second trip back to visit and propose as well as meet her family and see where she worked and that time I kept everything.

 

Filed the K1 after that second trip.

 

Don't know how long you have been together or how well you documented your relationship so far, but it may not be a bad idea to take the time and a few months to document everything and save up for a plane ticket for another visit.

[david_dawei]

are you the chinese national or the US citizen?

 

If the former, then you don't need any receipts really of having meet him, he should produce the proof of having gone to china to meet you.

 

If the latter, then you just need receipts for having gone to china and some proof you meet. If it's really impossible to come up with something, then visit again.

[luckystar]

You want to file a K1 already? Find the passport. You really shouldn't be without that. May want to try contacting the airline and getting your itinerary or ask if there is anyway to show you were on the flight from HK to the mainland.

 

My first trip to China was for a vacation. I had no plans to meet my now wife, nor did I have a clue about the K1 process. For that first trip I don't remember having much, except passport stamps, my boarding stub from the flight from the US to Taipei and some pictures.

 

I just asked for her phone number and email and said she seemed to be a great girl and I planned on staying in contact.

 

Got a phone card that lists out call day/time/number and printed out monthly sheets of us talking.

 

Used QQ and snapped a pictures each time we went online to chat.

 

Had her write me letters and wrote letters and kept those.

 

I did make a second trip back to visit and propose as well as meet her family and see where she worked and that time I kept everything.

 

Filed the K1 after that second trip.

 

Don't know how long you have been together or how well you documented your relationship so far, but it may not be a bad idea to take the time and a few months to document everything and save up for a plane ticket for another visit.

 

He popped the question practically right before I left for the US this month, and so none of this visa gathering evidence stuff was even in my mind.

 

I did study abroad in Hong Kong for half a year and visited my grandma every week (there is absolutely no need to fly to Guangzhou, when taking the train takes about an hour and a half and getting to the Hong Kong airport takes about that long), that's where I met him. (My grandma was meddling and this time it worked, haha). Then this summer my family flew back to China to meet him(okay not the main reason but they did it while they were there) Alas I kept none of those tickets. I have an ititinerary from ORD-HKG, but only a boarding pass from HKG-ORD. Without my passport, I can't prove that I was in Mainland China. Urgh... no pictures were ever taken as well because our camera just stopped working, and frankly, none of else wanted to take pictures I didn't think the process would be this complicated. He hated pictures, I hated pictures, and no working camera so ... I just talked to last night on QQ and I thinking about documenting that, but being that the program is in chinese and I speak only cantonese and not read it, that was fail.

I feel the problem about not finding my passport, it's not a statement that I want to make lightly because I've already tossed the house upside down looking for it. If I get a new one, I would have none of the previous stamps of having meet him earlier twice in this past year. I did plan on flying back over there to make arrangements, but wouldn't the USIC count from this point and not the eariler date? I'm worried about this.

[david_dawei]

I now understand a little better.

 

You can say you meet at back then, but they an always ask for proof. You could get some people to write letters that they spent time with you two in GZ, in the previous two trips. But I think another trip is really needed to gather solid evidence of being together. Even if you get a new one and suddenly find the old one, then you've got your stamps; so just get a new one and keep looking for the old.

 

Do you have a chinese background yourself? If yes, one issue they may want explained is exactly how you meet...

[Jaseball]

You just have to start documenting now. Not having pictures and not having the passport with stamps already raise red flags. There is no way to check to see if your story is real or even if you two have ever met in person as it stands.

 

The best thing to do is just consider what you need going forward and collect evidence.

 

Doesn't matter if you are camera shy. Take photos with relatives on both sides. Take photos with the daily paper's date showing, in front of a date display a restaurant's specials, in front of a stock ticker with date/time. Having only a few pictures in the same clothes and in front of the same places is also a concern. Having zero pictures is really suspicious. I made sure to snap as many photos as possible of my then fiancee because I knew we would be separated for many months and would only have short visits together when I could go back.

 

When dealing with USCIS it is unfortunate, but we have to think like them and try our best to eliminate their ability to doubt our relationship, our intent, our partner's intent and you have to approach things from the viewpoint that if your case were brought in front of an impartial jury would USCIS win or would you win?

 

The good news is I have been reading and hearing many new filings taking 6-8 months. When I was filing it was at least 12 months and with a delay, like we experienced it took 18 months.

 

If you want to go through with the filing and feel the match is good, it is worth the hassle, wait, and effort.

 

 

On QQ - Use the video chat. That way you can just talk and see each other and can capture a screen shot of him or you both online. If he doesn't have Internet or the capability to use video, then you have to arrange time for him to go to an internet cafe for video chat. It is worth it, not only for documentation, but being able to see and hear your partner helps a little with being separated. It did in our situation.

Edited September 7, 2009 by Jaseball (see edit history)

[Guest jin979]

time to get organised

[luckystar]

Thank you everyone for your advice! I found my passport and I found a train ticket from Shenzhen to Guangzhou, and I gathered some receipts of from when I was in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. (Uh, they're in Chinese though for the Guangzhou ones). Should I wait until I go back to China and get some pictures taken before I turn in the I-129F or get the process going?

 

Also another question I have with the form is that people have said not to leave ANY blanks, but parts of the questions are like If you said Yes or been in the United States, which he hasn't, should I still put none ?

 

He doesn't have a webcam unfortunately and lately we just been talking using QQ chat and the mic(which he has). Is there a option to do the chat log /voice recording on QQ? I don't know how to read chinese.. haha, mainly got the problem to talk to him.

 

Yes, I am Chinese, and I was actually born in China, but I came over when I was one so.... my grandmother introduced us. It's one of her friend's grandchildren who needed a place to stay in Guangzhou and her place had extra space... so when I came over to Guangzhou to visit her, volia! instant matchmaking insues.. haha, it's kinda hilarious now that I think about it.

[Jaseball]

That is an excellent start. Glad you found your passport and train tickets.

 

Perhaps asking him to get a camera and using it would be a good investment. My girl had no computer, except at an Aunt's house, so she had to go to the smoke filled Internet cafe's about 1-2x a week for us to use the video chat. Make sure to get a screen capture program.

 

I don't think they will listen to voice recordings. I also think the pictures of two people in QQ on video conference is highly effective. I had about 80 or so different sessions recorded by pictures.

 

It's a tough call regarding filing now. You can now prove you were in country and made a trip, but without photos the question would be how to prove you were in country and met each other?

 

You could always go about preparing the package and evidence, since you'll have to do it sooner or later.

 

Depending on when you may be able to make another trip back to visit you may hold off a bit. You have to have him sign off on some forms before filing too.

 

When the question did not apply I just put NONE or N/A

 

We have similar backgrounds and stories. I came here from Taiwan while only 1 year old. I also speak Mandarin, but can't read or write.

 

Met my then fiancee by a stroke of luck and we got along pretty much right away. I also had no clue about this entire visa process until I started to research after the first time I met my now wife.

 

Best of luck on your journey and relationship. Plenty of folks here who will be happy to help guide you along the way.

[luckystar]

Thanks! This makes me slightly less nervous. I guess I'll force him to get a webcam so we can do video qq. I just need screenshots everytime we video chat? Or something? Sorry, not too knowledgeable about technology. As long as it works, I don't complain.

 

I can't decide whether to send the packet off as is with the stuff I have now(wait, did everyone send the EOR with the first packet?) or just make another trip to get those pictures then send the packet off. But then it would be delayed for another 6 months before I gather enough funds for another plane ticket and get time off work.... Arghhh, I don't know what to do! He of course is going to say up to you. ; Guys are so nonchalant sometimes.

 

On a side note, the G25a is killing me. How do you make the form boxes a little longer? I can't even see the year of my parents birthdate, and that can't be right.

Edited September 10, 2009 by luckystar (see edit history)

[warpedbored]

Front load your petition with as much evidence as you can muster but the main thing is to prove you have actually met. The web cam is a necessity to endure the long wait and at least a little helpful as evidence. Include any photos of you two together and if you have any of you and his family include those.

[Jaseball]

Thanks! This makes me slightly less nervous. I guess I'll force him to get a webcam so we can do video qq. I just need screenshots everytime we video chat? Or something? Sorry, not too knowledgeable about technology. As long as it works, I don't complain.

 

I can't decide whether to send the packet off as is with the stuff I have now(wait, did everyone send the EOR with the first packet?) or just make another trip to get those pictures then send the packet off. But then it would be delayed for another 6 months before I gather enough funds for another plane ticket and get time off work.... Arghhh, I don't know what to do! He of course is going to say up to you. ; Guys are so nonchalant sometimes.

 

On a side note, the G25a is killing me. How do you make the form boxes a little longer? I can't even see the year of my parents birthdate, and that can't be right.

 

 

 

If you are still on XP, the do a google search for 'Captura.' It's a free screen capture program where you can select portions of the screen to capture.

 

We used QQ video chat. It's well known in China and many folks have accounts on there. I had a heck of a time registering because it was all in Chinese, but English support is far better now.

 

What you do is you start a video chat and then you have his video in one corner, your video in another area, a center portion for text and you can use captura to capture jpg images of the two of you chatting.

 

It is a hassle and takes a bit of work to set up, but I guarantee that having 50+ screen captures of both of you with different clothing, hair styles, and other differences together, online, chatting is an excellent piece of evidence and a good souvenir as well.

 

How long have you two been officially together? Did he already propose?

 

I personally think it would be good to take it a bit slow and let everything sink in and see how you two develop. Love is a powerful emotion and has driven many people to do extreme things and it may be a good move to let the neurotransmitters and Oxytocin to level out on your side a bit.

 

Also, it is critical to make sure your partner is with you 100% and keeping up his end.

 

Believe me, guys are not all 'whatever.' I've handled the bulk of the preparation, practice, and other aspects of our entire process, but I made sure my girl was aware of what I was doing, why, and that she was also involved and eager for things to proceed. She did her research, provided information, and we supported each other, so it was a team effort as it should be, but I did handle the brunt of it.

 

You just have to tweak the form a bit. I don't think we can or should mess with the form itself. At worst, print out the form and pen in the dates.

[chineseguy626]

HI i'm new to this forum, i'm about to file my K-1 visa, sending my fees and the USCIS.