How much relationship proof is enough for my I-129F or K visa interview?

Quality counts more than quantity. The number of pages is irrelevant as long as you provide convincing evidence of relationship

Just like the story of Goldilocks and the Three bears, there’s a “just-right” mix of proof of relationship for the fiance visa process. Not too much. Not too little. Just right. Believe it or not, having too much or too little are both equally harmful to your case.

Recently, I helped a long-time reader, Jim, by scanning through his paperwork before he sent it out. He did a great job of filling out the paperwork, submitting hard documents, and organizing it all. But when it came to his proof of relationship, he had only two photos.

Trying to save his case from a denial, I asked if he had more photos. “Yes”, he said over the phone, “I’ve got a lot from our 5 meetings”. I was relieved to hear it and curiously asked, “why didn’t you put them in?” to which he innocently said that he didn’t think he needed them.

It turns out, he actually had lots of photos with his fiance in Europe but he just didn’t know he should’ve included them.

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We don’t know what’s enough

Jim’s  I-129F petition is an extreme example of not having enough proof. Most of us know to include more than 2 photos, but exactly how much is a tough question. For example…

●  Do we put 40 pages of photos from our Paris vacation?

● Or do we put more of our video call screenshots from every morning from the last 7 months?

● Or do we show them that we’re really serious and stuff 1,000 pages of text conversations in our packet?

●  And what if we have “red flags”? How much then?

In general, the questions boil down to:

● How much is too much?
● How much it too little?
● How much is just right?

Yes, there are major problems with having the wrong amount.

Think about it. If we show too much, they might get suspicious, think we’re desperate, and deny us. We’ve all heard stories of applicants who brought a wheelbarrow full of proof but were still denied, right?

On the other hand, if we show too little, it isn’t enough to convince them we’re a legitimate couple. We lose credibility. We’ve heard stories of applicants who were handed a denial slip and told, “we need more proof”.

So, how much do you prepare to get a K-1 interview approval? 10 pages? 20, 50, 200? We’ll get to that in a minute, but first, let’s figure out what exactly the are problems.

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Problems with submitting too little evidence

It’s obvious, submitting too little evidence generally screams to the officer that you don’t have a genuine relationship. Otherwise, they wonder, why wouldn’t you’ve shown them?

In general, there are three problems with too little bona fide relationship evidence.

No bona fide relationship
The biggest and most-common problem is that officers suspect you don’t have a bona fide relationship. They know that most couples meet often and have many interactions before they go for the fiance visa.

Naturally that means by the time you file the I-129F or head for the interview, you’ll have plenty of interaction evidence. But if for some reason you don’t, this plays a bad scenario. 

In addition, they’ll wonder if you’re actually serious about marriage (which is the entire reason behind the K-1 visa).

Fraud trigger
Equally as devastating is that you may be marked as a fraud case. Having too little relationship evidence will raise an alarm. Usually fraud cases show little evidence because they’re trying to get away with the minimum.

If you have red flags in your case in addition to having very little proof of relationship, you risk being denied from immigration fraud.

Do you even meet requirements?
It may put even into question whether you actually meet requirements. Remember that you must have met in the last 2 years before filing your I-129F. Photographs and bona fide evidence are generally used to help prove this point.

So, if you don’t submit proof of relationship, then it generally won’t help you with the “in-person” meeting requirement.

So, it’s easy to see why submitting too little proof of relationship is bad for your case. They generally view this as a sign of lack of genuine relationship. But believe or or not, it’s equally as harmful to submit too much evidence. (What happens after submitting my I-129F?)

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Problems with submitting too much evidence

It’s counterproductive to submit too much proof for both your I-129F packet and for the K-1 visa interview. In general, three problems arise if you submit too much:

Makes you seem desperate
Why did you attach so much? Was it because you met so often? (which is good). OR was it because you’re overcompensating for something? (not good because it makes you look fraudulent).

Easy to dilute your message
When you fluff your packet it’s easy to forget which proofs are primary (strong) and which are secondary (weak). You’ll mix them up and dilute your message. You place unnecessary emphasis on trivial proofs. The most profound effect of this oversight is that you won’t not take full advantage of front-loading your petition. In fact, you’ll do just the opposite.

Easy to be ignored
Both the USCIS adjudicator and US Embassy officer may just ignore your bona fide relationship evidence altogether if they see a huge stack of papers. That means both your weak and strong proofs may be lost. And out of the three problems, this is the most grave one of all. It means you’ll lose the battle before even starting.

It’s crucial to find the perfect amount of bona fide relationship evidence to strengthen our I-129F packet (or K-1 interview). But as you’ll see next, there’s no official guideline to figure it out.

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Do they tell us how much they want to see?

So, if it’s a sin to have too much or too little, then how much should you have?

5 pages, 10, 50, 500? The answer is that it depends on your own case. There’s no exact page number of photos or texts messages that, when matched exactly, will give you an instant fiance visa approval.

Instead, the quality of your proof of relationship is what truly gives the Consular a “good” gut feeling. Ask yourself, “How kind of evidence reasonably convinces a complete stranger like the USCIS or US Embassy officer that we’re a legitimate couple?”

That’s hard enough. To make matters worse, there’s no official guideline for any of this stuff either. For example, the I-129F instructions don’t really give much to go on…

In fact, they don’t even mention anything about front loading your packet (which we should all do).

Neither does the US Embassy give much to go on. They leave it up to us to figure it all out. For example, here’s the instruction from the US Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand.

They provide a pinch of hints of what proof they accept (photos, letters, etc). As you can see, it’s all up to you to figure out how much of each is enough.

The fact of the matter is that quantity doesn’t matter. Actually, once you have quality, the question about “how much” becomes irrelevant.

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How much bona fide proof is enough?

Let’s say you’ve got a bunch of photos on your smartphone of your trips together, a laundry list of itineraries, gift receipts, and let’s not even mention the hundreds of video call screenshots. What do you do with all these? (tips before you meet your fiance)

Technically, none of these are required. But you still front-load your I-129F because it’s a huge advantage. It’s your opportunity to hand pick which proof you want them to see.

But front-loading needs to be done correctly. Here’s how to select how much proof you should submit.

If you currently have little proof
then you’re stuck with what you have. You may need to submit almost all of it just to have a fighting chance. For example, if you only met your fiance once and have just three photos, then you’re stuck and have little choice. (Like what I thought about in Jim’s case in the beginning of this article).

That’s for the I-129F but and it’s also the same idea when you go for the K-1 visa interview. If you have little proof to present to the officer, then you’re stuck with what you have. Unless of course, you decided to meet before the interview and gather further proof.

If you currently have lots of proof
then you must be selective. For example, if you met often, it’s not necessary to show travel itineraries of all your trips. Instead, be selective and use this opportunity to only show the ones with most significance. For instance, highlight the time when you met each others family members, instead of random photos of you two together at a park.

The same applies when you go in for the K-1 visa interview. If you have lots of proof, be selective. Don’t lose credibility by showing endless pages of random proof. Have a theme, have significance, and place more emphasis on primary than secondary.

In both cases, how much you need to include depends on your unique case. This is especially important for red flag cases. It’s all about the “gut feeling” you give the officer.

It’s about the “gut feeling”

For example, the following situation gives the officer a good gut feeling: You’ve been dating for 1 year, have 3 visits, and have even met each other’s children. A combination of photos, evidence, and statement foster a good gut feeling within the officer (call it a sixth sense).

An example of a bad gut feeling is: you’ve got a major language barrier and use a translation app to communicate, you’ve only met once, and you don’t have many photos to show for it.

In both of these examples, notice that I haven’t said anything about the number of pages to prepare. But you developed either a good or bad “gut feeling”, didn’t you?

And that’s exactly what you must realize about proof of relationship. There’s no perfect formula or number of pages required.

Instead — let me turn your whole mindset around — what really matters is quality and NOT the number of pages. It matters what gut feeling you give them.

The reason most people are denied is not that the applicant brought in too much or too little proof — instead it’s that there wasn’t enough quality within.

The problem is not volume, it’s lack of quality. You have to find your own perfect mix of primary and secondary evidence to develop this good “gut feeling”.

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How to find the “perfect mix” of the proof you need

So, forget the number of pages your Proof of Relationship (I-129F) packet must have or how big it needs to be. Don’t be impressed if you managed to make your packet as thick as a dictionary.

Instead, figure out if your primary and secondary evidence present your relationship in a true sense. There’s plenty of ways to do this. The right amount proof focuses on quality. For example…

My first method: Focus on primary evidence more than secondary. It’s all about “skin in the game”. Primary evidence (such as spending time together, meeting family, etc.) is more potent than secondary evidence (text messages, phone logs, etc.)

For example, the officer is more convinced that you took time out from your busy schedule to vacation together several times, rather than that you sent each other greeting cards every Christmas for the last 5 years.

Why? Well for one, you took time off from work and spent money to travel. That’s more persuasive (“skin in the game”) than sending greeting cards once a year. Wouldn’t you agree?

That’s not to say that greeting cards or love letters aren’t important. Instead, they shouldn’t be the primary focus of your proofs. Leave them for last and highlight the big stuff first.

Second method: ask yourself “what would convince a total stranger that my relationship is true?” Again, focus less on number of pages, and focus more on type of proof.

For example, if you’re a couple with a big age difference red flag, what’s more helpful — a bunch of text messages with random conversations or a letter of witness from a family member revealing their enthusiasm and support for your relationship?

I don’t have anything against text messages in your proof of relationship. On the contrary, I think they’re great to include. But the problem is that most of us overdo it. We stuff unnecessary amounts into our packets and they steal the spotlight from other more impactful evidence.

Think about what we just talked about so far.

Doesn’t it seem like figuring out an exact number of pages is irrelevant? Does it really matter how many pages you’re including as long as you’re including great evidence? No, because getting your message across means more than the size of your packet.

Here’s the litmus test to figure out if you have enough: if after putting a packet together you still think, “I don’t know… is this enough?”, then you don’t have the right mix.

Start over and this time focus on quality. Then you’ll answer your own question.

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Make your perfect mix of proof of relationship

So, how many pictures are enough for proof? how many texts are enough? These questions are truly irrelevant as long as you give a good “gut feeling” to the officers.

You may have been hoping that I’d give an answer on how many pages are good. Maybe if I said 20 pages of photos, 10 pages of text messages, and 3 pages of statements from family members?

But that wouldn’t do any good. Whether you’re front-loading your I-129F or preparing for the K-1 visa interview, the perfect mix of primary and secondary evidence is what helps.

Quality counts more than quantity.

Try my two methods: (1) focus on primary more than secondary; and (2) select the evidence that convinces a complete stranger of your genuine relationship (especially if you have red flags).

With the right mix, your packet (regardless of how much proof it has) will convince an interviewing officer. Remember, there aren’t hard rules to guide us on any of this stuff.

Make sure to make it count otherwise you can see delays or denials. When you have a good packet, you will answer your own question of “do I have enough?”