Proof of an ongoing relationship Postal Letters.

This Section is to better educate both the sponsor and the beneficiary with beneficial tips in the do’s and the don’ts while developing your K1/K3 case.

Every Sponsor who exercises their right as a U.S. Citizens in regards to petitioning a non-immigrant Alien to the U.S.A. with the said Visas K1/K3 or Spouse often time do so unaware of the many pitfalls that lay ahead.

We have created this section to shed much needed light on subjects that so many of our clients have needed to be instructed on, in order that their case would be more convincing to the USCIS.

For Sponsor and Beneficiary.

The information that we share here is intended to benefit both sponsor and beneficiary no matter if you are in the early stages of your relationship or you have already met each other and about to begin the visa process.

⇒ A Sponsor in this case is someone who is from the United States, and is the one who is bringing another person from another country to live in the USA. Also known as the Petitioner.

⇒ A Beneficiary is someone who is being invited from their country to live in the USA through the use of a K1 or K3 visa. Also known as an Alien Fiancée or Spouse.

Tips about writing and sending hard copy letters to the Philippines.

First of all, I know that many of you just hate the idea of sitting down and grabbing a pen and piece of paper and writing letters. Who doesn’t?

And then you have to place it in an envelope, then carry it to the Post office to pay for an International stamp and wait for the thing to arrive to the Philippines or to the USA in anybody’s guess 2 weeks, 3 weeks 2 months? “Or maybe never”?

How can Snail mail really benefit your case for a K1 or K3 visa?

With all the high tech offered to most everybody, why do I want to fool with the uncertainty of the US or Philippines Postal services?

Yes it is slow! But we can’t blame the US Postal service. All postal letters that leave the U.S. get to the Philippines rather quickly but once it is in the Philippines that is where it gets held up for a while by customs.

Here are 3 reasons why it is important.

1. Because the USCIS formally known as the INS, intended this method to be a requirement.

2. Because hard copy letters carry a lot more weight than email letters, because it is something tangible. It shows that both sponsor and beneficiary both cared enough about each other that they would take the time to write a letter and exercise patience.

3. It also is identified that both sponsor and beneficiary are showing who they really are by physically writing a letter. Rather than hiding behind their computers typing an email and using flawless text styles and spell check, they are sharing who they really are.

If all a couple had was a bunch of “postal letters”
then e-mails and phone records wouldn’t really matter at the interview.

Hard copy letters would include single page letters, post cards, special occasion cards.

The reason postal letters tend to carry more weight or value than email, is for the fact that USCIS has taken notice with the majority of K1/K3 cases being valid cases, by the time it has taken couples to develop relationship to the time they submit a petition for a visa.

The number of cases that have come through the system that were known to be valid verses the number of cases dubbed as invalid, were partially due to the fact that valid cases had more time involved as a result of hard copy letters and this added to being a more reliable means of really knowing the person because it truly involves time.

The cases dubbed as invalid, are partially due to the fact that couples who only email are building their relationships very quickly, then moving on in a very short time towards becoming husbands and wife in filing petitions for K1 or K3 visas.

It is our observation through past experiences with couples, that has proven to us, that USCIS highly appreciates couples that take the time to write letters back and forth to each other even if it is just for the sake of pleasing the USCIS.

As far as we are concerned there is nothing wrong in emailing each other for the sake of learning about each other and for the fact that nobody wants to sit around for weeks, waiting on a letter to be delivered in the mail.

So please keep in mind that postal letters have more value in your case then emails. Remember that this is a real gold nugget in proving your relationship is a genuine one.

It is important that both sponsor and beneficiary write letters to each other but it is our observation that USCIS mainly requires the US sponsor to do this, as the sponsor is the petitioner who is petitioning his or hers fiancée/spouse to the United states to become a resident.

A huge part of providing proof of an ongoing relationship would be if the beneficiary could attend the US Embassy Interview with a minimum of 10 letters in their envelopes. Remember that this is only a portion of the proof and not exclusively the one thing that will grant a visa.

These are (9) helpful tips provided that can help decrease the chances of your letter being stolen by Philippines postal workers.

1. Use generic envelopes. preferably non security white envelops would be the best, because this keeps your mail blending in with the rest of the letters circulated through the Philippines postal services.
2. Keep your letters light in their weight. The reason for this is, because envelopes that have more than a single page letter tend to cause your envelope to be bulky and Filipino postal workers notoriously think that something valuable might be inside worth stealing such as money.
3. Avoid writing BOLD print or using any stickers on the outside of your envelope, as this is an attention getter. Also do not use high light markers or write AIR MAIL / U.S.A. again all attention grabbers.
4. If sending special occasion cards. Please avoid using the different colored envelopes. Use white, the fact that the card and envelope are already an odd-ball size stands out.
5. Some people have just written on the envelope, the mailing address only and left off their return address putting only their name. One thing to remember is, once your mail has left US territory it’s not going to be returned to you, if the Philippines post office can’t find your beneficiary. So consider it gone once it has left US soil.
6. Remember to always write the date on the actual letter itself also very important to write on the letter itself your mailing address. Some day when the Interviewing officer reviews your letters, they will be comparing the postal rubber stamp dates with the date on your letter, so do not neglect to do this.
7. Keep in mind, that if your Fiancé(e) has not been getting her letters, then it could mean that Filipino postal workers are stealing them. If your girl / boyfriend has not received your letters but you suddenly are getting letters from the Philippines from different woman whom you have no clue about, then this is a good sign that post office workers have stolen your fiancé(e)’s letters and are giving the addresses to other Filipino woman who want to take a chance at winning your heart. This has happened on more than one occasion.
8. Often times rural areas of the Philippines are so out in the sticks that mail deliveries take additional days or weeks to arrive. If any of the above items affect your fiancé(e), then it would not be a bad idea to have your fiancé(e) find a close friend or relative who may live in a more suitable location for receiving mail to be the one to mail to such as IN CARE OF.
9. The last rule of thumb that really needs to be observed, especially if you the sponsor are a US government employee or working for a very well know company or perhaps you are in a high position such as CEO. Please note that if your fiancé(e) is not getting your letters and you have written things about your employment or about being very wealthy, then the possibility of so called Muslim radicals in which may have ties to terrorist groups may be intercepting your letters and would most likely know when your arriving to the Philippines, where you will be staying, what kind of work you do. All of which could place a price on your head. This should be especially considered if you have a fiancé(e) living in Mindanao Philippines.