Comments: I met a lady who was a tour guide in The Mekong Delta for our group.  I did NOT have a photo taken of the two of us because I didn’t have a plan to bring her over here at that time.  Is it mandatory that I go BACK to The Mekong Delta in Vietnam to have ONE or more photos taken of us together?  This is NOT fraud…just circumstances as I would prefer to spend the air fare money to bring the lady here rather than for me to go back and forth myself.  Thanks for all the good work you do.  John 91320

The generic answer is, you could get the people who were on your tour to write affidavits and swear that you and her were on the tour together, and that they saw you spending time together. Such affidavits could be used in place of a photo to prove to prove you actually met in person.

The specific answer for Vietnam is: Vietnam is the most difficult post to get a fiancee visa from. The proof you must provide to have any chance of approval, is much more burdensome than just proving you and her were in the same place at the same time.

The HCM consulate reviewers expect you to make more than one trip, expect a long courtship before a proposal of marriage, and expect a formal engagement party, Vietnam style.

If you are serious about marrying this gal, or any gal from Vietnam you will have to put in time, effort and money.

Sorry to bring bad news, but I always tell clients  “like it really is”, even if it is not what they want to hear.

Assuming you choose to proceed (I can help you whether you take my advice more trips or ignore it)

Get more info at http://www.fianceevisaservices.com/

Simple forms don’t mean Simple Process

Visit USCIS.gov.  The forms there make applying for a Fiancee or Spousal visa look as simple as applying for a drivers licence. Anyone can fill in his name, address, Mother’s birthdate, pay a fee and a few months later his bride arrives. Easy-Peasy.

Where most petitioners get into trouble is they do not notice that somewhere in the middle of all of these ‘fill in the blank’ questions, is one terribly important ‘essay question’.  This must be answered completely and well.  If not done right the entire petition may fail.

Provide EVIDENCE you have a genuine relationship

I got a call from a man who had just returned from Vietnam. He had spent a half year with his girl friend, was there for the delivery of their baby. But he did not provide enough evidence with his original petition, and apparently they did not believe they needed to bring much with the fiancee to the consulate interview. His petitition was summarily denied. I am now working with him to submit a proper petition. (he had done his denied petition himself). I hope within a year, his fiancee and child will be reunited with him.

I also got a call from a gal, a naturalized American originally from India, her fiancee had just been given a blue slip in Mumbai. The blue slip asked the same critical question ‘provide evidence you have a genuine relationship’. They were lucky, as they were  given a second chance to provide it.

Most couples in similar circumstances just get denied.

I helped her assemble a proper package of  evidence, and convinced her to travel back to India with the ‘mini petition’ I had prepared to demonstrate by her presence, her sincerity in support of the petition.   It was approved and she and her fiance traveled together back to Los Angeles.

Petitioners who submit only the basic USCIS forms, plus the ‘usual’ suspects of identity documents, but who neglect to provide ample supporting evidence of the relationship, are putting their petition in jeopardy. Providing the bare minimum of documentation, then wishfully thinking, ‘my fiancée will be able to explain everything during her interview’,  gets couples into trouble.

A good petition ‘Prepares the beach’ with ample, well selected, compelling proof, so that the consular officer after he reviews the file prior to the meeting, starts the session with ‘a good feeling’ about the couple.

For specific details on what evidences to provide that ‘Demonstrate a Genuine relationship‘ watch this video http://fianceevisaservices.com/youtubegenuinerelationship.html

If enough good evidence is presented properly the girl should have a pleasant ‘soft ball’ interview.  If not, she could leave the consulate in tears.

No matter what, whether your fiancee can ‘think on her feet’, whether you assume it is ‘obvious to anyone’ your relationship is genuine, even if you plan to attend the interview yourself, make sure you provide  abundant and quality evidence in your petition to demonstrate the bona fides of your relationship.

Tags: fiancee visa

Photographic prints, showing the date when a photo was taken (Datestamping, normally on the bottom right corner), are increasingly hard to find today. While many generations of  film cameras had this capability, most digital cameras do not.   Even though datestamping is becoming rarer, it seems it is also becoming more IMPORTANT for immigration purposes.

Datestamping is Important for Immigration

One of my clients submitted photos without date stamps to USCIS. A few months later his petition was pulled from the processing que and an RFE (request for evidence) was sent to him.  It read:

During the last 5 years he had made three trips to China. the first five years ago, another 3 years ago and the last one 1 year ago. His first face to face meeting with his fiancee took place during the last trip.  So far so good. He submitted evidence of the trip from 1 year ago,  the plane tickets, passport entry stamps, and the photos of he and his fiancee.

There are many eligiblity requirements to be approved for a Fiancee Visa.
One requirement, is that the couple has had a “face to face” meeting within the 2 years prior to submiting the petition.

The RFE was sent because immigration was not confident that the photos they received  were actually taken during the recent (eligible) trip.  They suspect that the photos may be over two years old, taken during an earlier trip.  Since photos are really the ‘best’ proof of a ‘face to face’ meeting, we were in trouble. We had to scramble to find additional proof that the meeting really took place.

IF the photos originally presented each had a date stamp, this would NOT
have happened. The process would not have been halted, not delayed, and no
‘cloud’ would have been attached to the petition.

Why are Date Stamps so rare?

In the old film days, most cameras came with a feature that could imprint a date stamp onto the photo.  It was done by exposing the film with a small embedded LED display that could be turned on or off.  Most digital cameras no longer have this function. However, date, time and other information IS retained. It is stored in the digital file ( .jpg, jpeg, gif) of the photo as embedded data, called EXIF tags.  This means that the digital files of your photos STILL has the important information you need.

Digital datestamps can be resurrected

It is possible to extract the date from the EXIF tag, and then print it onto the
visible part of your photo,  and it will look exactly as if you used an old film camera.

There are many software programs available to do this.  The program can take each ( .jpg, jpeg, gif) , read  the date information (EXIF tag), then paste the date onto the ‘front’ of the image, and finally save as a modified (.jpg, jpeg, or .gif) digital file.  When your modified photo files are printed, the datestamp will be right where it belongs, where it can HELP your visa case.

All petitions benefit by datestamping

It is true that if you got your first passport, only ever traveled once, and that
was solely to meet your partner, date stamps would not be strictly necesssary. If  you only were there one week in October, that MUST be when all photos were taken.

However you should  take the ‘long view’ you should planning that photos will again be needed for the Green card application, and if ‘heaven forbid’ your petition is delayed or denied, and more ‘face to face’ meetings, would be needed.  Having your photos ALL have date stamps, will guarantee your petitions to immigration will be more convincing and won’t raise red flags.

For those who have many trips overseas, or who are together for extended visits, datestamping is even more important. This is the best way to  provide definitive proof of the course of your courtship, and to tell the story in a thorough and easily understandable fashion.

Professional Processing

There is much software on the internet that you can use to recover and print the EXIF data on your photos.  With time, patience and savvy you can probably achieve  this yourself.  I did not have any luck myself. I spent a few frustrating hours trying different programs and finally gave up.

BUT that lesson gave me the incentive to find someone who could professionally provide this service. And I  use him for my client’s photos.

For information o professional help to recover date stamps from your photos click  http://www.fianceevisaservices.com/add-date-stamp-on-photographs.html

I met a Filipina on my last day of a trip to Philippines. We are in love and want to marry. I am 30 years older then her. Do I have a chance to get my fiance or marriage visa application approved?

I am a matchmaker and founded http://www.heartofasiaonline.com I have helped many thousands of Filipina – American couples find each other. When marriage results, my couples often ask advice on how to accomplish immigration, and reunite in the USA.

The two issues are The relationship is brief and a large age difference.

Large Age Difference:

Large age differences between Filipina wife and Husband are common and generally acceptable in Philippines culture. Maturity and stability are valued. Respect for elders is a cultural trait. The US consulate in Manila sees a lot of December – May couples. And approves their petitions.

So, the large age difference is not a problem.

Brief Relationship
A brief relationship generally IS a problem. But the solution to the problem is easy. The couple should spend a little more time, a little more effort, in developing the relationship first, before petitioning for the Fiancee Visa.

Immigration is mandated to weed out visa fraud. They look for couples that pretend to have relationships, dishonestly attempting to enter the USA. These “sham” relationships make it harder for “genuine but brief”, or “genuine but poorly documented” relationships to be approved.

In order to be approved for the visa a couple must be able to prove to a skeptical immigration official that the couple has a “bone fide” or genuine relationship. In considering this they look at the longevity and the quality of the relationship.

I have recorded a youtube video on proving a genuine relationship. This is visible at

http://fianceevisaservices.com/youtubegenuinerelationship.html

Longevitity is how long the couple have been courting. In the above case, it looks like the couple has been courting only 2 months. There is no specific rule about how much time is needed, but for most countries I suggest clients have a minimum of a year. The US consulate in Manila is a bit more “couple friendly”, so for there I think a minimum of 6 months is ok.

Quality is basically how much time the couple have devoted to the relationship. Most important is “face to face” time. How many trips to be together. How many days face to face. A trip of 2 weeks together is more quality than a 1 week trip. Two trips is more quality than one trip.

Then, when separated, how regularly, how long and how often do they communicate?. Most couples can communicate via txt messages, emails, telephones, web cams and post. All of these methods can provide a “paper trail” of the contacts. The more regular, frequent, and time consuming the couple contacts each other, the more quality the relationship demonstrates. For example a couple that talks on skype once in the morning, and once at night is much more believable than a couple that trades one email a week.

In the case above, they have only 2 days of “face to face” time in the Philippines. I strongly suggest that the American sponsor add much more quality time by taking another trip. This time to devote himself to courting his Filipina fiancee, and meeting her family and friends. And of course now that they are separated he should communicate with her regularly and frequently. If he is computer savvy he can use web cams’ and emails. If not he should make regular phone calls. If he uses an inexpensive calling card (these are very popular) he should check that the service provides an itemized list of every call he makes. He will need this as proof of the contact when he submits his petition. I recommend the following prepaid card, cause it is cheap and ALSO provides an itemized call record. See http://fianceevisaservices.com/international-prepaid-long-distance.html

Above Case:
The age difference should not be a problem. Adding some more time and effort to the relationship, communicating regularly, retaining a “paper trail” of communications, and making another trip will overcome the ‘briefness” of the relationship.

Recommendations:
To obtain either Fiance or marriage visa, you will need to put longevity, and quality into your relationship in order for it to be deemed genuine.

Tags: Age Difference, bone fide relationship, Philippines, spousal visa

Prepaid Calling Cards: a great way to watch your budget and at the same time cheaply talk with your fiancee. These services provide you a toll-free access phone number and a personal identification number (PIN). To make a phone call, you dial the access number and then enter the PIN. An automated voice will ask you to enter the phone number you are calling, and tell you how much time you have left. You get AMAZING cheap rates for your international long distance calls.

But BEWARE! when it is time to demonstrate to immigration you have a sincere genuine relationship most calling cards are not worth the plastic they are printed on.

As expressed by the US consulate in Guangzhou China in their recently updated Packet 4 instructions, (the info packet they provide just before an interview), “Calling cards, without an itemized list of calls made using the cards, will NOT be accepted.”

My guess is, those consular officers were plain tired of the frequent arguments they had with applicants, having to explain that a pile of dead calling cards, or handful of calling card purchase receipts DOESN’T PROVE ANYTHING. If there is no specific record that the phones which were connected were yours AND your fiancees, then there is NO record. There is NO proof.

In fact a Full Fiancee Visa Support client of mine with a fiancee in Thailand, had known the gal for five years, and had carefully retained every phone bill for all those years. But he used a calling card too. The only thing that his detailed records demonstrated, was that every day he called the access number of his calling card service. There was no proof at all where the calling card routed his call. It could have been to Thailand, could have been to his fiancee, but it could have also been to anywhere or anyone else.

Why are these calling cards not accepted as proof of contact? Well, a tricky person could buy a calling card, and claim he used it to call “Ms X” when he really used it to call “Ms Y”. Or he could buy cards and resell them to friends, retaining the original purchase receipts. Dead cards or receipts do not show how the cards were used.

Rejecting calling cards that do not provide itemized records, is not only a policy of the Guangzhou consulate. It is the policy throughout the State Department. Guangzhou just had too many unpleasant scenes, and was frustrated enough they decided to post the policy specifically in their interview instructions.

What to do? Use a service that lets you keep detailed calling records. There are plenty of cheap long distance calling services, and some of them provide itemized usage records. Shop around.

I did.  I checked out dozens of services from a google search. And I was AMAZED at what I found. Almost NOBODY wanted to provide a useful call log. They gave bogus answers like “we can’t do it because of privacy issues”.  “Contact us a speak with an operator and she will tell you what was the number you just called”. ” Send a certified letter requesting the information”.  “If we receive a subpoena we will provide the information”.  And best, “for $200 we will provide you with your last year’s call re cords”.

So I was surprised to find that the service I currently use stands out from the crowd because it provides this information. And this information is necessary for proving you have been calling your fiancee regularly. The service I use and recommend is called LD-Peanuts offered by LDPost.
More details are available at http://fianceevisaservices.com/international-prepaid-long-distance.html

It is cheap, prepaid, you buy in chunks of $20, AND you get access to their website, where you can view the last 60 days of call history. The history shows the number you called from, and the number you spoke with, the date, time, and how long you spoke. What you should do is log in every two months and print out a copy of the call history page and save it for when you apply for your fiancee or spousal visa.

You pay online with a credit or debit card and it buys you a ton of time. Calls cost  US to China 1.7 cents a minute, to Philippines 16 cents a minute, to Thailand 1.8 cents a minute, to Vietnam 7.5 cents a minute. There are no connection fees, and there are competitive cheap rates for the rest of the world too.  You can make calls from any phone by calling a local access number. And they have local access in most countries. You can even give your fiancee the pin number and she can call the local access number in her country and call you.  And EVERY call made would be listed on the history page of your account. Just regularly print out the history, and you have clear proof that you and your fiancee or spouse talked regularly.  More details available at http://fianceevisaservices.com/international-prepaid-long-distance.html

Another of my Full Fiancee Visa Support clients went to visit his Fiancee in Morocco. He took his cell phone with him. He ended up with about $2,000 in roaming charges. If he had signed up for LD-Peanuts the same calls would have cost him less than $100.

For more information on International Prepaid Long distance visit Fiancee Visa Services.

Tags: bone fide relationship, genuine relationship, Long distance telephone, prepaid calling cards