Here it is on it's way to the USCIS!
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That packet is the reason as to why I have been away from the blog and now, apparently, grind my teeth from stress. This packet took me officially a month to complete, but it's done, finally!
For this post I figure I would share some of the knowledge I have gained from this experience.
So let's take it page by page. Oh, and by the way this is FOR THE USA ONLY! Here is where I got all my information from: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis
Page 1: You are going to want to put a G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance form. This form will entitle you to get a notification through e-mail or text as to what the status of your application and what the outcome is.
Page 2: Cover letter. You can find examples of this form online. Honestly, I just put "Cover letter to I-129F form" into Google and came up with LOADS of responses
Page 3: The Payment. The I-129F visa cost $340.00 currently for the 2012 year. You will need to make sure you have the money in your account because they will only try and make the payment 3 times, after that you're screwed.
Page 4: The I-129F form itself. This form is very straightforward and doesn't require too much thinking, unless like me you forget if your fiance was born in 1988 or 1989 in which case you have to keep asking. Maybe that's just me.
Page 5: The I-129F Supplement: Part B. On the I-129F form, question 18, there is a space that asks you to describe how you two met and if you have seen each other in the past two years, which is a requirement for the visa. DO NOT TRY TO FIT IT ALL IN THAT TINY BOX. The immigration officers do not have microscopes in which to read the tiny print. Instead make this page; the Supplement. In here you will want to state who you are and when you met. Liam and I met on May 24th 2011. We have seen each other 3 times in person and we notated them on this form.
Page 6 & 7: The G-325A forms aka Biographic Information for both you and your fiance. This was the biggest pain in the butt. Liam had to fill out his own form and I had to fill out mine. It states that all the forms have to be original but I spoke with an immigration officer who said its fine to have a photo copy of the original form. Make sure EVERYTHING is filled out for both of you and correctly. We had a major time trying to figure out the Family information cause he wrote his step mother was his ex-wife! HA-HA
Page 8: Birth certificate and other information. This information is for you to prove you are an American citizen. You need to have a valid birth certificate or you have to have photo copies of YOUR WHOLE PASSPORT, cover to cover. I just did my birth certificate. My last name changed when my mother re-married I had to have a proof of adoption and my new birth certificate, I also had to include my mother's new marriage license.
Page 9 & 10: Letter certifying intent to marry. I LOVED doing this. It was so nice to see in writing that Liam and I were getting married. We each wrote a letter that stated that we are willing and legally able to marry each upon Liam's entry into the US. Its really not a big deal, but I love the little things.
Page 11: Proof of having met in person in the past two years. I have seen a lot of examples online of this. I still think my way was more organized and effective. First I printed out the four airplane itineraries. My trip from November, Liam's first trip in March, my trip in May and his trip in September this year. Then I printed out photos from each trip (Good tip: ALWAYS TAKE AS MANY PHOTOS AS YOU CAN WHEN YOU ARE TOGETHER! Make sure it has some recognizable landmarks too). I labeled each picture with who was in them, where they were taken and what day they were taken on. Then I signed each of them and dated them. I put them all into an envelope and wrote " (blank) Trip" and attached it to the significant itinerary. It look very organized and put together.
Page 12: Proof of ongoing relationship: This was the HARDEST part. Liam and I, in the year and a half we've known each other have 9,000 e-mails between us. This is not including the everyday Skype calls and periodic phone calls. We didn't know which ones to include, which ones would be too much information and which ones would be beneficial to send. We ended up picking a bunch of e-mails from each month. We even included Skype call captions, like still pictures of us Skyping. I also added our very first conversation to each other. It was a nice way to end our visa process, by going through our history and reading how we feel in love with each other.
By the way I want to make sure you all know that EVERYTHING that you include in your visa MUST be SIGNED AND DATED by you the petitioner. The declaration of meeting, the intent to marry and the bio sheet must be signed and dated by your fiance. This is VERY important.
This is everything we included. So far we haven't heard anything except that the visa is now in Virginia being processed and being put through initial review. How exciting! I know it's been so long since I've posted but my life has been crazy lately. I haven't been busy or anything but things have just been one shot down after another. I'm not going to lie, long distance relationships are simply the hardest thing I have ever gone through, especially one where your engaged to be married. The only thing that makes it worth your while is knowing that the person on the other side of that computer/phones loves you as much as you love them. Every night Liam and I crawl into our beds and have fifteen minutes to ourselves. We talk about everything from YouTube videos to the fact that in fifteen days we're going to see each other! I like to call this "cuddle time" and it is the reason I get up in the morning, because I know that once I get home from work I will be able to have him all to myself , if only for those small fifteen minutes. If you are in a long distance relationship I URGE you to give each other at least fifteen minutes a day, talk about your day or don't talk at all and just give yourselves time to look into each other eyes. You will feel closer that you are. Trust me.
Until next time. Keep smiling guys! :)
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