Filling out the I-130. All caps?

[xiaohou]

Greetings all,

I'm going to China again on Sept 11th (3rd time now) but this time we will get married and spend our honeymoon in the Maldives for a week.

I want to prepare all the paperwork ahead of time, plus the W-7 form. I've looked at a few examples online for the I-130 and the G-325A forms but some are in all caps, some are just normal (first letter cap, rest lower case).

What's better?

My kitchen sink so far:

Cover letter
G-1145
the check
I-130
G-325A both her and myself
passport pictures
copies of our birth certificates (with translation in white book form)
copies of our divorce decrees (once again, hers in white book form)
copies of our passports
copy of our Chinese marriage certificate (with white book)
evolution of relationship letter (I'll be adding more when I get back)
3 pictures from each of the first 2 trips there (I'll be adding 3 more when I get back)
copies of my airline tickets and receipts of places we went to while I was there
a few emails from day one, and phone records
and a good friend of hers will write an affidavit to affirm having personal knowledge of our relationship and marriage.

Shwweee that's a lot of paperwork . . . . .

Thanks

[dnoblett]

Birth cert that is typically included with the petition is a US Citizen's to prove US Citizenship if not a citizen by birth in the states, naturalization cert or photo copy of US Passport. Foreign birth cert is requested later either by NVC or by the consulate for interview.

 

Yes is best to use all caps on all forms.

[Randy W]

Birth cert that is typically included with the petition is a US Citizen's to prove US Citizenship if not a citizen by birth in the states, naturalization cert or photo copy of US Passport. Foreign birth cert is requested later either by NVC or by the consulate for interview.

 

Yes is best to use all caps on all forms.

 

 

Why is that? Why would it make a difference on a computer-printed form?

[Randy W]

Someone posted this on immigration.com - seems to sum it up pretty well

 

It also depends if you're writing or filling out the forms electronically. The main reason forms ask for caps is that there is less ambiguity for certain letters. This is much less of an issue with typed fonts. As long as things are clearly legible there should be no problem.

Nevertheless, even though i filled everything electronically, where space permitted i used caps. If something wouldn't fit, changed it to sentence case (ALL CAPS TAKES UP A LOT OF EXTRA SPACE YOU KNOW ).

 

 

There are also suggestions to use all caps for the family name to clearly indicate which it is.

[xiaohou]

I was born in another country but both parents were american citz so I'm including the FS-240.

 

All the forms I'm doing are fillable PDFs so I'll just end up using lowercase, it looks like the whole form is screaming if in all caps.

 

Has anyone else done a W-7?

[tsap seui]

I used all caps on my wife's I-130. I also did a W-7 but that was in 2010 and I think the procedure has changed somehow since then, so I won't confuse you with those old details.

 

Good luck

 

tsap seui

[dnoblett]

Yes as for W-7 questions, study topics tagged:

Taxes
ITIN

 

In many cases it is simpler to file Married filing separately and then amend taxes after spouse is in the USA and has an SSN.

[Randy W]

For the W-7, her passport would need to be certified by a Certifying Acceptance Agent - see

Updated ITIN Procedure Changes Announced for current information as of April, 2014.

 

If you have her passport in the U.S. (or can have it mailed to you), it's fairly easy to do. In China, however, she will need to go to the IRS office in Beijing, or to one of the consulates (where it can be certified for use with the W-7 - this is different from notarization). THERE ARE NO OTHER ACCEPTANCE AGENTS IN CHINA, NOR CAN IT BE CERTIFIED BY THE ISSUING AUTHORITY (they will have no idea what you're talking about).

[xiaohou]

Thanks Randy W. I think the IRS has an office in the same building as the embassy where I need to get my affidavit of eligibility to marry.

[dnoblett]

Thanks Randy W. I think the IRS has an office in the same building as the embassy where I need to get my affidavit of eligibility to marry.

Yes they do.

 

 

Beijing U.S. Embassy Beijing

Internal Revenue Service

No. 55 Anjialou Road,

Beijing 100600

Peoples Republic of China

 

Walk-in assistance by appointment only.

Wednesdays 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

Call or e-mail to request an appointment.

 

Phone Service

Tel: [86] (10) 8531-3983

Fax: [86] (10) 8531-4287

E-mail: irs.beijing@irs.gov

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-My-Local-Office-Internationally