Matildaknot

Hi, Folks. I read the archives on the various petition lengths. It seems like most of
you had very few pages. Mine is very long, because I have a medical situation which
requires doctor's letters, co-sponsor intent statement, etc. I'm at about 70 pages.
Two questions...does anyone have good experiences with having sent in long petitions?
For example, did sending in a lengthy petition make you have to wait longer or not?
I'm trying to make it smaller, but most of this stuff seems necessary. Another
question...does anyone know if supportive letters such as doctor letters need to be
originals or photocopies including their letterhead? Thanks!

Mdudall

I'll give you my 2 cents for your questions:

    > I read the archives on the various petition lengths. It seems like most of you had
    > very few pages. Mine is very long, because I have a medical situation which
    > requires doctor's letters, co-sponsor intent statement, etc. I'm at about 70 pages.
    > Two questions...does anyone have good experiences with having sent in long
    > petitions? For example, did sending in a lengthy petition make you have to wait
    > longer or not? I'm trying to make it smaller, but most of this stuff seems
    > necessary.

First, if "you" think what you are sending is necessary, then send it. Everybody has
a slightly different "life situation" so each person should tailor their evidence
accordingly. Sometimes, depending on a person's situation, someone would be well
advised to submit evidence to keep a "potential" problem from becoming an actual
problem at the INS (RFE) or Consulate (administrative review).

Submitting only the evidence that the instructions on the I-129f call for can and
does work for some cases (perhaps even most cases), but I refer to that as a "bare
bones" submission, and in my opinion, depending on the person's actual situation,
could increase the odds of receiving an RFE.

I've heard it said at the AILA conferences, from the service center directors
themselves, that their officers are supposed to read every piece of information on
every piece of paper that is submitted to them. Therefore, I try to come to a balance
between "giving them enough information to adequately document a case" vs. "overkill"
(sorry Ranjini .

For example, I like to limit the amount of letters, cards and e-mail sent in with a
petition to around 10 to 15 items. I've had clients send me over 200 e-mails, but I
never submit that many because if the officer had to read each and every e-mail
(which I seriously doubt he or she would) that might tick him or her off, or even
worse, have him or her process "other" cases first. There comes a point of
"diminishing evidentary return" (overkill), and for letters and e-mail, I think 10 to
15 is as good as 200 (of course, you would want to pick 10 to 15 that are personal in
nature, perhaps discussing the visit they had and/or their plans for the future
together).

My job is to adequately document a case to try to reduce the odds of getting an RFE,
try to spot potential problems and address those potential problems with relevant
evidence to try to keep them from becoming actual problems (administrative review),
and make it as easy as possible for the INS officer to quickly say, "yes, I approve
this petition".

Most of my fiancée submissions come in just under 1 pound (I always weigh them to
determine the proper postage to affix to my priority mail package with delivery
confirmation).

    >Another question...does anyone know if supportive letters such as doctor letters
    >need to be originals or photocopies including their letterhead? Thanks!

I always send "copies". If the client has supplied the original document, I put my
attorney certification stamp on the copy I make saying I've seen the original and can
supply the original upon request.

Letters on letterhead stationary, I think would be appropriate when a letterhead is
normally used (coming from a business, or in this case, a doctor).

Good luck with your case.

Regards, Matthew Udall Attorney

Rete

What petition are you submitting that requires all your medical documentation? It is not required for the I-129F although perhaps needed for the US Consulate interview if you are referring to the K-1.

Rita

Jerry Neslund

Howdy,

Mine was 110 pages with all the phone bills, 3 years tax returns. letters, pictures,
etc... I wondered about the length, and if it would be contunually pushed to the
bottom. It was approved in 81 days from Nebraska, so it seemed to be in time with
others. Every supporting document was a photocopy right down to the pictures. I did
everything myself, but not knowing what I was doing and wanting peace of mind, I took
it to a lady who specializes in this and paid her $200 to look everything over, take
pictures, and mail it. I am glad I did because she fixed some items and had me get
more documents together. It was a lot cheaper then an attorney if you are willing to
do the leg work yourself.

SeeYa, Jerry

Matildaknot wrote:

    >Hi, Folks. I read the archives on the various petition lengths. It seems like most
    >of you had very few pages. Mine is very long, because I have a medical situation
    >which requires doctor's letters, co-sponsor intent statement, etc. I'm at about 70
    >pages. Two questions...does anyone have good experiences with having sent in long
    >petitions? For example, did sending in a lengthy petition make you have to wait
    >longer or not? I'm trying to make it smaller, but most of this stuff seems
    >necessary. Another question...does anyone know if supportive letters such as doctor
    >letters need to be originals or photocopies including their letterhead? Thanks!

Just Jenney

Regarding emails sent as evidence of a relationship...

I understand you want to include emails which talk about your relationship, your future together, your love for each other. But what do you do when only part of those emails is about those things?

I can't think of one email between us which ONLY discusses our relationship and future plans. We also mention other stuff -- such as work, plans with friends, what we did over the weekend, etc. Boring stuff, even embarrassing stuff (ie, using profanity, complaining about colleagues or relatives, etc.). Things we wouldn't really feel comfortable having a stranger read.

Can we "block out" these parts of emails, so the INS officer can only read the relevant parts? Or maybe I'm wrong in thinking those parts of our emails are actually irrelevant to demonstrating the sincerity and strength of our relationship?

Any advice?? Thanks in advance...

~ Jenney

Matildaknot

First of all, thank you, Mr. Udall, for your very detailed response to my worries
about the length. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me with this. I was
very uncomfortable with a big petition, but now I feel better. And I just couldn't
omit anything that I felt was part of building the case. Thanks to everyone is
responding too! Rita, you asked me why I need doctor's letters. Yes, you are correct
that normally they are not part of a K1, but I have to document my disability for
extreme hardship. And I have alot of proof, but it takes up alot of paper! Thanks for
your interest!

Mdudall

    >I understand you want to include emails which talk about your relationship, your
    >future together, your love for each other. But what do you do when only part of
    >those emails is about those things?

You have to use editorial judgment. Sure, most e-mails and/or cards/letters will have
other topics of discussion in them as well and that is OK. In my prior posting I
mentioned a client who sent me 200 e-mails for consideration with his K-1 submission.
I remember reading an e-mail, which said something to the effect of, "I tried calling
you last night but you were not home. When would be a good time to call?".

This e-mail does show that he called his fiancée, but telephone bills also show that.
My suggestion would be to pick e-mails that are of a more personal nature. But that's
just my thoughts about it, and of course you should select whatever evidence you
think is appropriate with your submission.

Every case is different, and I see a wide variety of evidence that clients send to
me. I sometimes get cards or letters sent from the parents of the U.S. fiancée (and
sometimes the parents of the international fiancée) to the couple congratulating them
on their engagement. When I get these cards or letters I always include them as that
helps to show that the couple's families are aware and involved too. Good evidence. I
also recently submitted a fiancée case, which included a printout of a "chat session"
between the couple.

    >I can't think of one email between us which ONLY discusses our relationship and
    >future plans. We also mention other stuff -- such as work, plans with friends, what
    >we did over the weekend, etc. Boring stuff, even embarrassing stuff (ie, using
    >profanity, complaining about colleagues or relatives, etc.). Things we wouldn't
    >really feel comfortable
having a stranger read.

As long as there is tender or personal stuff, the mundane stuff is OK if it's in
there too. But if the personal information is embarrassing to you, you can pass on
that one and select different e-mail to submit.

I recall talking on the phone to an INS officer at one of the District offices a
couple of months ago in connection with an AOS case I was about to submit (can't
remember for sure which office it was... It might have been Phoenix or Chicago, but
as I have AOS cases pending at most of the INS offices out there who knows). Anyway,
after taking care of business with the officer, we started chatting about his job (I
made some comments about what it must be like doing his job and dealing with these
cases everyday, etc.). He started to chuckle when talking about some of the AOS
interviews he conducts. He said that some people bring in photos of them actually
having sex, rather pornographic shots. He said he thought they did this in the belief
that they had to convince him that their marriage was for real. He said he's always
embarrassed when shown these photos, and he tells them that this type of photo is not
necessary with their case.

So use your editorial judgment when selecting the evidence you are going to submit
to the INS.

    >Can we "block out" these parts of emails, so the INS officer can only read the
    >relevant parts? Or maybe I'm wrong in thinking those parts of our emails are
    >actually irrelevant to demonstrating the sincerity and strength of our relationship?

I wouldn't "block out" anything on an e-mail for the same reason I would not use
"white out" on a form. All that is going to do is make the officer wonder what it is
you are trying to hide (and with white out, what was the information before you
obliterated it with white out). If something is bad/embarrassing enough for you to
want to block it out with black ink, then scrap that e-mail and find a different one.

And you don't really have to submit "any" e-mail. I've submitted cases without any
e-mail, but I do like to put in a few when appropriate and when the e-mail has
something to add to the case.

Good luck with your case.

Regards, Matthew Udall Attorney http://members.aol.com/MDUdall/fiancee.htm

Just Jenney

Matthew, thank you so much for your very thoughtful response. I felt kind of silly asking it, but then I figure I'm probably not the only one who's wondered about what kinds of emails to include, so no harm done in asking.

I agree with you on the "blocking out" bit -- I hadn't thought of it that way, but when you gave your reasons why it wouldn't be a good idea, I couldn't help but think of things like FBI classified documentation where everything but the date is blocked out!! It certainly does make things seem suspicious, and hey -- really, what do I care if some stranger reads how my mother really annoys me some times!?!

Thanks again...

~ Jenney