Applying
We spent about a month gathering documents and putting together the application. On February 6, 2002, I sent the 1-129F application to the Nebraska Service Center via overnight mail. Nebraska is the service center for Michigan. I sent the application "return receipt requested" for an extra $0.40. It was signed for on February 8 - at 3:30 a.m.!
At the time I sent the application, the Nebraska center said it was taking between 70 to 100 days to process I-129F applications, but it seemed to have slowed down markedly in the past few months, so we decided to get our application in ASAP in early February, just in case. It didn't hurt that all the filing fees went up on February 18, either! :-)
Application Details
I submitted the following to Nebraska, for what it's worth:
- Cover letter and check for $95.00 (the fees have increased)
- In the cover letter, I wrote a little about our relationship and who we are (citizenship, work status, etc) and then listed all the items in the packet. I repeated the relationship info in the "statement describing our relationship" and included more details. See the link for more info.
- I-129F form and attachment answering Question 19
- Question 19 asks you to describe how you met; I wrote about a paragraph, and put it in the packet right behind the I-129F form.
- G-325A forms, attachments and ADIT photos for Kristin and Sergio
- I got our ADIT photos taken at Sears - I got WAY too many for myself. The US citizen only needs one, I think - but I got 6! Just being thorough. The foreign fiance is going to a need them at almost every step of the way - we got 8 for Sergio. Sent one photo of each of you with the I-129F submission.
- I wanted to make sure the ADIT photos wouldn't get lost or damaged, so I bought clear plastic business card "sheet protectors" (packet of 10 for $5 I think) and put them right behind each of our 325As. I wrote our names on the back, put the photo in one of the center pockets and put a address label sticker right next to the photo, indicating that it was the ADIT photo for me, or Serge, and for an I-129F original submission.
- Copies of our birth certificates
- These need to be the certified copy, but the seal that certified my copy was hard to read, so I copied it using the "darker" setting on the copy machine, until the seal could be seen. I used Serge's "long form" certified birth certificate, fyi, not the short one that most Canadians seem to carry in their wallets. The foreign fiance's birth certificate isn't required for the application, but I included it anyway - it also meant we had it well in advance of when we really needed it. FYI, you will need to have the originals of both certificates for the interview with the consulate.
- 5/3/02 update: We submitted a copy of my county-health department issued birth certificate, and got an RFE. I was born in Indiana, and apparently the INS reviewer in Nebraska didn't think that the county-health department BC was official enough. So I obtained a "state-issued" BC and submitted that. It took one week to get the RFE, one week to get the BC, and two weeks after the BC was received to be approved, so it added about 4 weeks to the whole process.
- Statements regarding exact copies of original documents
- "Copies of documents are exact photocopies of unaltered original documents and I understand that I may be required to submit original documents to an Immigration or Consular Official at a later date." Sign and date this. You need one for each of you.
- Proof of our relationship, in the form of:
- Signed statements describing our relationship
Serge and I both wrote a one page statement of our relationship, including how we met, when we had our first "face to face" meeting, the number of times we had seen each other, and what drew us together as a couple. Sign and date these, too.
- Plane tickets receipts and boarding passes;
- Train ticket receipts;
- D. Photos of us together;
I made color copies of five photos of us. On each copy, I put an address label with the description of the location, date and occasion of each photo. For example, "Sergio and Kristin in Niagara Falls on May 20, 2001." "Sergio and Kristin with Kristin's nephews in San Antonio for Christmas, December 30, 2001."
- E. Copies of e-mails;
I printed out one email a month from the beginning of our relationship that I was willing to have a stranger read. :-) Five were from Sergio to me, five were from me to Sergio.
- F. Copies of long distance telephone bills;
I submitted four from each of us, from different months On his phone bill, I used a highlighter to indicate my number. On my bills, his number was the only one on the International Calls part of the bill.
- G. May 9, 2001 Findlay, Ohio Holiday Inn Express bill;
This bill had my name on the room and Sergio's name as paying.
- H. License Plate numbers
We usually travel via automobile to visit each other and cross the border in Detroit at the Ambassador Bridge, so I enclosed our license plate numbers.
- Proof of our intention to marry within 90 days of Sergio entering the US on the K-1 Visa, in the form of:
- A. Signed statements of our intent to marry
See the link for details from our statements.
- B. A copy of the contract for our wedding reception
This had both our names on it, plus the deposit we put down (ouch, thanks mom and dad!), so I thought it would show how serious we are about this.
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