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-Pea
nuts
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.