Too much proof of relationship?

[JIM0511]

Is there such thing as too much proof, our packet seems to be huge...just wondering how many pictures/texts/phone/messenger/tickets you all submitted?

 

[Boman744]

I added:

- 200 photos
- any travel / hotel receipts
- flight tickets for visits
- Nextel receipts ( push-to-talk phones )
- Western Union receipts
- printed all emails between each other.. even if they were for our eyes only :S -- total of about 30 emails.. some that were very long hahaha.

I don't think that you could send TOO much.. but I'd try not to get carried away. I've heard of people sending 700+ photos and others sending 20-30. both applications accepted.

 

[plumosa]

I think it all depends on your specific circumstances. If you think the IO might have doubts about your relationship or you come from a place where there is a lot of immigration fraud its best to err on the side of caution. Personally, I really didn't send a whole lot:

30 ish photos printed with comments, half are from the wedding, some of the others only have one or the other in them since we took the photos ourselves.
maybe 10 emails
marriage certificate
rental agreement in both our names
his retirement fund showing me as recipient
our passport pages that had the same stamp on them
a blog entry about meeting my husband and the start of our relationship (including the date-stamped comments)
and several pages of people's comments about us being bf/gf (at the time) while travelling since we didn't had any other proof that we were travelling in the same places at the same time other than the stamps. (thanks for CouchSurfing.org otherwise we wouldn't have had it)

No phone records, texts, or tickets were included in our application. It all fit in an express post letter envelope.


I got a letter a few weeks ago saying that my initial assessment is finished and that they don't need any more proof from me nor an interview. A good variety of proof is better than a lot of one type of proof. But again, it depends on your situation. We're Canada-US so its fairly straightforward in our case.

 

[bobshynoswife]

we applied at a difficult visa office (accra - 40% refusal rate) so we left no stone unturned. we sent in 417 pages of communication evidence, including phone bills, skype logs, email inboxes, printed 1 email per week of our relationship, text messages, postcards, letters, greeting cards.

we also sent 250 photos of us on various trips to visit each other, as well as pictures of me with his family and friends. we also sent screen captures of him chatting with my friends and family on skype.

additional evidence we sent were facebook screen caps with comments from friends on our wedding pictures, the screen caps of when our relationship status changed, print outs of a forum i go to where i told everyone about our relationship as it developed, pictures of gifts given to each other, with receipts if we had them. pictures of the scrapbooks i have made from our trips. evidence of the trips such as boarding passes, hotel receipts, tickets from events we went to together. receipts from our wedding and reception etc.

all together, our application was 640 pages with 250 photos. so far so good, as he was scheduled for an interview a week after accra received the package, and now his interview is on tuesday. processing for accra is 10-22 months, so we think our application and all the evidence helped to speed up the process. we were not asked for any additional documents, and the only thing he has to bring to the interview is proof of our communication since the application went in.

most people will not need as much evidence as we sent it, but because i was divorced with children (he was a bachelor), we are different races, and our visa office is tough, we felt better to be safe than sorry.

 

[nyssa]

I sent a lot of stuff. I'm almost worried that I sent too much, considering I'm applying out of Buffalo, we're a young previously unmarried no children couple who used to live together for 2 years. I hope they'll just realize I'm obsessivly organizational and not trying to cover anyting up.

My application weighed 5 pounds, fit into a medium-sized box shipped FedEx. I will post how it goes. It seems like applications like yours plumosa get approved faster when they're quality over quantity... I just didn't know how to do it myself!

 

[canadianwoman]

Is there such thing as too much proof, our packet seems to be huge...just wondering how many pictures/texts/phone/messenger/tickets you all submitted?

Don't worry about too much, worry about too little.
The rejection letter my husband got from the visa officer in Ghana mentioned that we had sent very little proof of the early days of our relationship (which I don't have, since it started in 2001 in another country and I was not expecting to eventually marry the man). The appeal judge also thought we didn't have enough, even though for the appeal I sent in a lot more, I thought we had enough in the first place, and we have more than many people who get accepted.
We had: about 50 photos
- plane tickets, boarding passes, passport stamps, hotel and restaurant receipts, and evidence of activities from 4 trips I took to see my husband (totaling 6 and a half months together)
- 10 affidavits, emails and letters from others attesting to our relationship
- household bills from our time living together in Malaysia (only two and a half months though)
- phone bills from 2005 to now
- a few emails

 

[MrsCasanova]

actually i think there is such thing as too much evidence. I hired a lawyer and she told me if you send too much it will seem planned, and they may not believe its legitimate. I gave my layer HUNDREDS of photos, letters from people, cards from our wedding, etc. and she took maybe 20-30 of the pics, and not all of the stuff i gave her. its better to give them all these things in an interview or if they request it, otherwise it may look fake. We didnt need an interview and i dont think we will, so i believe my lawyer.

I also gave her a printout of EVERY Skype call we had (we spoke on Skype for about an hour a day everyday), every email we ever sent on Facebook, msn, etc. All phone bills, plane tickets, honeymoon stuff, wedding pics, etc. I dont remember what all I gave my lawyer but I do remember it was a bag full of stuff lol.

One VERY IMPORTANT thing they are looking for with the photos (according to my lawyer) is a change in appearance to prove the photos have been over a long period of time. The first photos of me and my hubby (when we were dating) he had short hair and was skinny and i had long very blonde hair. The last pictured he had long curly black hair and i had a different color hair (and he gained a little weight lol). So if you have a few pics with major changes in appearance that will suffice. Also they want pics with both families. If you had Christmas/thanksgiving/Easter, etc. add pics with you your spouse and the whole family. This proves that both families are aware of the marriage as well. People who's marriages aren't legit dont have pics with the families because they don't want their families to know that their getting married for money LOL

I hope that helps, that is the info my lawyer gave me and they asked for my hubbys passport without an interview. We're just waiting for it to be finalized now! Soooo can't wait til he gets back to Canada

I hope that helps everyone!

 

[confusednscared]

Also they want pics with both families. If you had Christmas/thanksgiving/Easter, etc. add pics with you your spouse and the whole family. This proves that both families are aware of the marriage as well. People who's marriages aren't legit dont have pics with the families because they don't want their families to know that their getting married for money LOL

I don't 100% agree with you on this statement. Some people encounter family or family members who do not support their decision to marry the person they love. Also, there are a lot more complications such as cultural clashes, sexuality, wealth, poverty, geographical location, etc., that play a huge role in how some family judges their children or next to kin generation. Therefore, some people are better off not exposing their marriage to their family who may not be supportive of their decision to marry the person they chose to spend the rest of their life with.

For example, I am in a gay relationship with my partner and we have gotten married so he can sponsor me back to Canada so we can spend the rest of our lives together. My family except for my sister, uncle and cousin don't know about our marriage. We are from the same ethnic and cultural backgrounds but let's just say that his family is more accepting of our relationship and sexualities then my family would because my family lives in a society (not Canada) that deems homosexuality as a sin, crime or disease. Exposing my sexuality to my family in such society wouldn't be the healthiest thing for me because I don't know how they will be able to handle it and I currently live with them. To make matters calm between us, I prefer not to tell them about my sexuality until I am in Canada, on safer grounds where if they chose not to accept me I can still live my life freely in a society that accepts gays.

So back to your response, not just because someone cannot provide pictures with both families to CIC to prove a relationship is an indication that the relationship is not legit and it's been done solely for the purpose of collecting money. Hence, being called for an interview or risking the chances of a greater refusal.

 

[MrsCasanova]

@confusedandscared

No you are right, I agree with your statement, however i was just saying that that is how immigration perceives it, and without those type of photos you are more likely to be called for an interview. You are totally right however immigration will likely try to use it against you. If you have those types of pics add them, if not pray for the best!

 

[livjer]

two application accepted?

Hello friends this thing bothering me and I need you're advice our PR application is in process but have not received any acknowledgement from the embassy . next month my husbands brother is marrying and he want me there can we apply for visitors visa please I need your advice
thank you

 

[Raine89]

Is there such thing as too much proof, our packet seems to be huge...just wondering how many pictures/texts/phone/messenger/tickets you all submitted?

The more proof/evidence you attach with your application the stronger your case would be. My package weighed over 2 kg. I've seen people sending a whole box full of proofs/evidence. LOL. When I applied I attached over 200 photos, I even included my Bachelorette Party pictures as a proof.

I've known my husband for over 2 years, but we got married in November of 2014. So, I attached emails, Skype history, call history etc., since 2013. You don't need to attach every single email, just select the most important ones.

Airline tickets and boarding passes are also imperative to your file. Attach those as well.

Hope this helps!


All the very best,

Raine

 

[Raine89]

Is there such thing as too much proof, our packet seems to be huge...just wondering how many pictures/texts/phone/messenger/tickets you all submitted?

Oooopss...I didn't realize this post was from 2010...lol...sorry