Translations and Document Intake

[chengkai]

I have a few questions while preparing everything for Document Intake and Interview day.

 

1. We have translations for all the important things, but we were wondering whether or not we needed to translate our lease and the signed form for opening our joint savings account. Both of these are very long and all in Chinese. However, both can be easily identified as to what they are. Is it necessary to get these translated? I can't imagine it would be cheap, given the amount of text. Has anyone had something like this translated before? Has anyone submitted these UNtranslated?

 

2. We have a lot of photos, which may or may not be looked at. Nevertheless, we're submitting them. How have you guys organized your photos to show to the VO? Did you lay them out on paper? Did you label them? Date them? Or did you just put them in a baggy and clip them to the packet?

 

3. I've seen in some forums not to include photos in document intake, and to leave some things out. But, on our P4, it seems as though all evidence and documents should be turned in for document intake. My assumption is to exclude the following: photos, lease, bank account, letters/cards from relatives, and other personal info. But this can get confusing because some of it is meant to support the forms that ARE required. Advice?

[Beachey]

I have a few questions while preparing everything for Document Intake and Interview day.

 

1. We have translations for all the important things, but we were wondering whether or not we needed to translate our lease and the signed form for opening our joint savings account. Both of these are very long and all in Chinese. However, both can be easily identified as to what they are. Is it necessary to get these translated? I can't imagine it would be cheap, given the amount of text. Has anyone had something like this translated before? Has anyone submitted these UNtranslated?

 

2. We have a lot of photos, which may or may not be looked at. Nevertheless, we're submitting them. How have you guys organized your photos to show to the VO? Did you lay them out on paper? Did you label them? Date them? Or did you just put them in a baggy and clip them to the packet?

 

3. I've seen in some forums not to include photos in document intake, and to leave some things out. But, on our P4, it seems as though all evidence and documents should be turned in for document intake. My assumption is to exclude the following: photos, lease, bank account, letters/cards from relatives, and other personal info. But this can get confusing because some of it is meant to support the forms that ARE required. Advice?

 

 

1. I think if it is going to be used as evidence it needs to be English and the advice here is generally to be overprepared rather than underprepared. That said, I think it is highly unlikely it will be asked for, or accepted so if money is an issue, you can not get it translated. What is more important to you - the possible delay due to a blue slip because you didn't have the translation or spending the money? Again, odds are highly on the side you won't need it.

 

2. All our photos were digital so I made a Microsoft Word Document. If you have actual physical photos, organize them to make the VO's life easier. We brought 14 pages(3 photos per page) and he looked at about 3 pages.

 

3. They will ask you for what they need. Note, they asked for both the DS-230 and I-864 from us again. Bring everything but they will probalby only ask for the items specifically in the P3 checklist and the I-864 support forms (tax returns, etc.) but be prepared.

 

You can read my report here: http://candleforlove...plenty-of-time/

[foobaz123]

Only thing I can speak to is the photos. I'm sending in 192 (probably overkill) pictures from all five trips. I'm going to number them and write an index saying where each one was taken, who is in it, when it was taken. That sort of thing. Since it is such a hideous number of pictures I'm also going to separate them by trip. I will also probably separate them by some kind of primary and secondary set with group and family pictures making up most of the primary set and "yes, we're really a couple" pictures making up most of the second set. It probably is overkill. Never let it be said I didn't include enough.

[chengkai]

overkill indeed, but it's never a bad thing to be too careful. I'm basically just trying to figure out how to put the pictures WITH everything else. You said you're going to associate each of them with an index and categorize them. Are you posting these pictures on A4-like paper? If not, how are you including them (physically speaking) with the rest of the documents that ARE A4 size? It's a stupid question, I know. But I'm just trying to think of the best approach and easiest way to present all this info.

[dnoblett]

overkill indeed, but it's never a bad thing to be too careful. I'm basically just trying to figure out how to put the pictures WITH everything else. You said you're going to associate each of them with an index and categorize them. Are you posting these pictures on A4-like paper? If not, how are you including them (physically speaking) with the rest of the documents that ARE A4 size? It's a stupid question, I know. But I'm just trying to think of the best approach and easiest way to present all this info.

 

 

A4 or 8.5"x11" is fine.

[Kyle]

We submitted roughly 40 pictures A4 paper @ the time of our I-130 submission in Beijing, two pictures per side. We organized our pictures into two categories "Before marriage" and "After Marriage" When I was in GUZ I noticed some folks trying to submit these huge photo albums and they weren't able to fit them through the VO window. If you've ever been to a bank in CHina, think of the teller window and you'll have an accurate idea of what to expect. Now, whether they will take pictures at your interview, well, who knows? Personally, I suspect that they would, but maybe not. Actually, now that I think of it, I think Jingjing was able to submit more photos at the time of the interview. We used the same method as above. I simply wrote captions under the pictures and put mm/yyyy as the date. If you have chicken scratch for handwritting, you might want to go the extra mile and type captions. As for me, I took the lazy way out

 

This isn't so much for you, but for future people reading this - it's always better to submit your photos/supporting docs when turning in your I-130.

Edited June 15, 2011 by Kyle (see edit history)

[bullmastiff]

That's correct . All those evidence are supposed to be turned in when filing I -130 . I 'd think that the Consular Officer has these and other documents in the file before interview.

However, in reading the appointment letter from NVC for electronic processing , it says to review correspondence list from the consulate or embasssy . So, in going thru GZ's " appointment instructions for immigrant visa applicants" one of the items required for the visa interview is " proof of relationship between applicant and petitioner . In proving a blood relationship , photos of the petitioner and applicant taken together, from.....

This makes me confused . Arent't these supposed to have been submitted already when filing I -130 ???

anyway, I ask my wife to bring the same photos to the interview just in case they are asked.

 

You can see in how many different places information are shown and you have to review them all in order not to miss out anything or else you may get a blue slip .

 

I thought I am so good at paper work but only to find out that I missed out scanning two passport photos of my wife. This added 3 weeks delay in the NVC stage.

 

I wish they put everything in ONE place concise and clear so any layman can do it !!!

[chengkai]

We did include the photos with the I-130, but due to what the P4 is alluding to, we just decided to go ahead and print out pictures to be safe. Besides, there are lots of newer photos with family and such that weren't included before. Maybe it will be worth something...maybe not. Just one more thing to check off. So, I guess we'll be pasting the photos on some paper with captions. Thanks for the advice guys!

[foobaz123]

overkill indeed, but it's never a bad thing to be too careful. I'm basically just trying to figure out how to put the pictures WITH everything else. You said you're going to associate each of them with an index and categorize them. Are you posting these pictures on A4-like paper? If not, how are you including them (physically speaking) with the rest of the documents that ARE A4 size? It's a stupid question, I know. But I'm just trying to think of the best approach and easiest way to present all this info.

 

 

Not stupid at all. I've wondered the same thing. In retrospect I probably wouldn't have had them all printed out. It wasn't cheap and presents presentation issues that I'm still not sure how to do. What I'm likely to do is write the index, working on it now, number the pictures and bundle them together. Now that I'm thinking about it I'll probably put each trip's index together with the associated pictures in a labeled zip lock bag. Had I thought more about it, and had a better printer at home, I probably would have gone with the method someone else mentioned of a word doc with the pictures inserted. In fact, maybe it's not too late. I'm sure I can come up with some use for those printed pictures.. haha

[foobaz123]

That's correct . All those evidence are supposed to be turned in when filing I -130 . I 'd think that the Consular Officer has these and other documents in the file before interview.

However, in reading the appointment letter from NVC for electronic processing , it says to review correspondence list from the consulate or embasssy . So, in going thru GZ's " appointment instructions for immigrant visa applicants" one of the items required for the visa interview is " proof of relationship between applicant and petitioner . In proving a blood relationship , photos of the petitioner and applicant taken together, from.....

This makes me confused . Arent't these supposed to have been submitted already when filing I -130 ???

anyway, I ask my wife to bring the same photos to the interview just in case they are asked.

 

You can see in how many different places information are shown and you have to review them all in order not to miss out anything or else you may get a blue slip .

 

I thought I am so good at paper work but only to find out that I missed out scanning two passport photos of my wife. This added 3 weeks delay in the NVC stage.

 

I wish they put everything in ONE place concise and clear so any layman can do it !!!

 

 

Damn right about a concise centralized list. I've thought about whether or not the checklists I'm writing for myself might work for the basis of such a list. I am intending on posting it soon to here so I guess we'll see. I'm interested in the feed back on it plus hopefully providing a service for everyone else.

[chengkai]

Haha, I'm sure GZ could use a lot of us, here at CFL, to help better their visa process and/or application paperwork. I can't count how many times I've seen questions regarding confusion with their wording and indirect wordage. Hell, I've posted such questions myself!

 

I thought about the ziplock back idea with an index. Only potential problem I see with that is them not wanting to sift through it when they see it. It's quite possible they would only see the first photo on the top of the stack in the bag. And I agree about the Word idea. I would feel horrible though because my wife already paid a lot of money to get the photos printed. It seems like a much cleaner approach to just print the pictures out on regular paper, laid out in a Word document. It doesn't add thickness to the packet when you hand it in; it's better organized; and it's easy to flip through. Hmm...Maybe I'll try it anyway. I talked myself into it!

[Beachey]

 

This isn't so much for you, but for future people reading this - it's always better to submit your photos/supporting docs when turning in your I-130.

 

 

We submitted about 12 pictures with the I-130, the Micorsoft Word document I prepared had those pictures plus about 30 others.

 

The P4 documentation is very exact about bringing pictures. They expect you to bring them. You don't hand them in at document intake but it seems almost every interview the next day they look at the pictures and hand them back.

[Kyle]

 

This isn't so much for you, but for future people reading this - it's always better to submit your photos/supporting docs when turning in your I-130.

 

 

We submitted about 12 pictures with the I-130, the Micorsoft Word document I prepared had those pictures plus about 30 others.

 

The P4 documentation is very exact about bringing pictures. They expect you to bring them. You don't hand them in at document intake but it seems almost every interview the next day they look at the pictures and hand them back.

 

My wife brought pictures to the interview and the VO said that she didn't need them b/c they already had them. I understand what you're saying about the P4, however, the P4 documents assume you didn't have the foresight to hand them in at the time of your I-130. The fact that they accept them (as well as other supporting docs) at the time of your I-130 allows the VO to make a stronger decision by the time of your interview as opposed to forcing the VO to make a snap judgement based on 3 minutes of conversation/presentation during the interview itself. The documents are "required" listed in the OF-171, if the VO deems they are necessary. The OF-171 is more of a blanket statement of required items. That being said, Jingjing had several items on that list that the VO didn't ask for. It's my impression that the VO interview is more of a fruition of preparation as it sometimes seems that the VO analyzes what you don't have then asks for that particular item. Of course, this is simply speculation based on my readings and discussions with people who have tried to tackle the GUZ machine. When Jingjing entered the US for the first time after the interview we noticed that the packet of documents that we gave the the Stateside border agent contained all of the documents/pictures that were previously submitted w/ the I-130.

Edited June 16, 2011 by Kyle (see edit history)

[xiaozhu]

1) You can include any self-translation. It works. But for bank account is better to be a bank statement from the bank. Banks provide Chinese and English statement. But in my view, these documents just are optional.

 

2-3) We prepared some print-out pictures in an album. But VO did not ask for them at my interview (I was a little disappointed since I spent a lot of time on it). We submitted only 4 print-out pictures in our I-130. How to prepare pictures for interview depends on your like, print-out, or in A4 paper etc. The key is to catch VO¡¯s eyes and exhibit your wonderful marriage/relationship. Pictures are not turned in at the hand-in day since it is not required documents. But you do need to prepare it in case VO asks for it at her interview. Pictures are necessary, not optional.

[Beachey]

My wife brought pictures to the interview and the VO said that she didn't need them b/c they already had them. I understand what you're saying about the P4, however, the P4 documents assume you didn't have the foresight to hand them in at the time of your I-130. The fact that they accept them (as well as other supporting docs) at the time of your I-130 allows the VO to make a stronger decision by the time of your interview as opposed to forcing the VO to make a snap judgement based on 3 minutes of conversation/presentation during the interview itself.

 

I certainly agree that frontloading the I-130 appears to be the most effective means of ensuring a smooth interview.

 

Keep in mind, they seem to have lost my DS-230 from the P3 packet so I have no idea if they even had the pictures I submitted with the I-130. We also submitted a certified copy of our marriage certficate with the I-130 and they asked for that again.

 

The Lesson Learned is Don't assume that they will have all the documents already submitted.