Question on Skype video

[OntarioBound]

We talk to each other on Skype every single day, but I am not sure if there is any way to pull historical information of the sessions except for the last few days from this application. Is there any way to pull more historical information than that? If there is, can you share how to do that?

All our conversations for the last two years are via Skype. We did print out several emails from over 2000 emails we accumulated over the last two years (as well as printing out screenshots of emails in the inbox from every other month or so), but it would be even better if we could get some historical log from Skype?

I thought maybe there is a way to put this information out and maybe I just don't know how..

Any comments would be greatly appreciated

 

[rhcohen2014]

honestly, it's not necessary to submit proof. for my application, just referencing the fact we used skype in our answers was enough. in my opinion, it's best not to overload the visa officer with "proof". sometimes less is more, and it's quality over quanity. small samplings of online communication, copies of a few cards, marriage details, and enough pictures to represent an ongoing relationship are really all that's necessary.

 

[CLYL]

I think if you keep scrolling upwards, you'll be able to see all the chat logs eventually.

 

[guyanese24]

When you open Skype and click on your spouse name you will see your Skype history, from the beginning to 7 days ago, for myself I just copy and paste our Skype logs for a few months over the pass 2 years.

 

[fruitball4u]

I'd also suggest the "less is more" theory. I've lost most of my Whatsapp! and Skype proof, but am not terribly worried - send a few emails spread out over the course of your relationship, maybe some screenshots of texts that you've got, explain that you Skype consistently but never thought to save them until you started the application. As long as you have other sufficient proof, I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[OntarioBound]

honestly, it's not necessary to submit proof. for my application, just referencing the fact we used skype in our answers was enough. in my opinion, it's best not to overload the visa officer with "proof". sometimes less is more, and it's quality over quanity. small samplings of online communication, copies of a few cards, marriage details, and enough pictures to represent an ongoing relationship are really all that's necessary.

Thank you very much for your comment and for others' comments. I am a "less is more" kind of person to start with, but I read many people giving hundreds of pages of stuff, and after a while, I started to feel like I had to collect more proof too.

We really don't have much. And I just don't see the need for a cover letter either since I already explained in one of the forms how we met, how our relationship developed, etc (and it all fit in the form without adding any extra pages.) We chose only about a dozen emails (most of them we picked were the ones we wrote to each other right after or right before we visited each other throughout our 2 years of courtship (when our emotions are heightened with excitement to see each other or with sadness to have to leave each other), plus a couple of emails my sponsor's parents sent to me to congratulate us for our wedding), screenshots of mails in our inbox (one screenshot for every 3 months) boarding passes, some other photos of us together and some photos with some friends, and some photos taken during our small wedding with 6 guests (only about 20 photos all together). That is really about it. If you read our emails to each other that we selected, I think you would be able to tell easily that our relationship is not only genuine, but also solid.

So after reading some of your responses here, I think I am going to drop the Skype history log idea all together...

 

[Graihn]

Thank you very much for your comment and for others' comments. I am a "less is more" kind of person to start with, but I read many people giving hundreds of pages of stuff, and after a while, I started to feel like I had to collect more proof too.

We really don't have much. And I just don't see the need for a cover letter either since I already explained in one of the forms how we met, how our relationship developed, etc (and it all fit in the form without adding any extra pages.) We chose only about a dozen emails (most of them we picked were the ones we wrote to each other right after or right before we visited each other throughout our 2 years of courtship (when our emotions are heightened with excitement to see each other or with sadness to have to leave each other), plus a couple of emails my sponsor's parents sent to me to congratulate us for our wedding), screenshots of mails in our inbox (one screenshot for every 3 months) boarding passes, some other photos of us together and some photos with some friends, and some photos taken during our small wedding with 6 guests (only about 20 photos all together). That is really about it. If you read our emails to each other that we selected, I think you would be able to tell easily that our relationship is not only genuine, but also solid.

So after reading some of your responses here, I think I am going to drop the Skype history log idea all together...

If you log in to Skype.com you can extract proof up to 6 months back.

 

[rhcohen2014]

Thank you very much for your comment and for others' comments. I am a "less is more" kind of person to start with, but I read many people giving hundreds of pages of stuff, and after a while, I started to feel like I had to collect more proof too.

We really don't have much. And I just don't see the need for a cover letter either since I already explained in one of the forms how we met, how our relationship developed, etc (and it all fit in the form without adding any extra pages.) We chose only about a dozen emails (most of them we picked were the ones we wrote to each other right after or right before we visited each other throughout our 2 years of courtship (when our emotions are heightened with excitement to see each other or with sadness to have to leave each other), plus a couple of emails my sponsor's parents sent to me to congratulate us for our wedding), screenshots of mails in our inbox (one screenshot for every 3 months) boarding passes, some other photos of us together and some photos with some friends, and some photos taken during our small wedding with 6 guests (only about 20 photos all together). That is really about it. If you read our emails to each other that we selected, I think you would be able to tell easily that our relationship is not only genuine, but also solid.

So after reading some of your responses here, I think I am going to drop the Skype history log idea all together...

remember, how much evidence is "needed" is dependant on where the applicant is from. if the applicant is from a country where marriages of conveneinces are common, then yeah, it's better to provide as much as possible to avoid an interview. i'm guessing you are not from one of those countries? from reading your posts, it appears you may be japanese? if so, you are visa exempt, and your threshold is lower than other countries. i also did not do a cover letter. all i did was answer the questions in the application, attached extra pages where necessary, and submitted a small amount of relationship proof. i even hand wrote all our forms! our app was pretty basic in comparison to what people talk about on here, and it was only 95 pages TOTAL with EVERYTHING! if CIC needs more, they will ask for it. i doubt though they will come around asking for proof of skype conversations. most likely they will ask for something significantly more meaningful than that. the fact you have messages from parents will help!

don't make yourself crazy trying to find "proof" and overloading your application. remember, the stories you read are someone elses, and has no bearing on YOUR applicaiton and YOUR relationship. just because THEY may want/need to submit so much, that doesn't mean YOU do! think of it this way... if you were the immigraiton officer, which would you prefer? a clear, consise application with enough proof to show an ongoing relationship or stacks of paper to weed through in order to figure out what's necessary to make a decision?

 

[OntarioBound]

Hi rhcohen,

Thank you SOOOO VERY much for your thorough post.

Yes, I am from Japan. I moved to the US when I was 22 and I recently became a US citizen (after 30 some years of holding a green card since Japan doesn't allow dual citizenship.) So I don't think I need as much evidence as applicants who come from non-exempt countries. My spouse is from UK, but now a Canadian citizen, living in Canada. We have fewer pages of documents than you, but I guess it's OK.

If I were an immigration officer, too much information would make me more suspicious (unless the documents are extremely organized - If they are, I would just think you are a very detailed person), but too little information would make me think the candidate might be an arrogant person (that's just me...), so I guess I just want to give just the right amount of information. I would hate to read through tons and tons of irrelevant emails myself. Summaries of relationship listed in the forms provided and some *supporting* evidence would be all I would like to see.

I thought it would be good to put some Skype evidence just because we mention that in couples of our forms (My spouse listed having met my mom via Skype in one of the forms and I mentioned in one of my forms about having met his parents via Skype, etc). My spouse and I used to communicate via phone the first few months of our relationship, so I provided copies of our bills, and I believe other documents we will provide should sufficiently show our ongoing relationship.

 

[rhcohen2014]

Hi rhcohen,

Thank you SOOOO VERY much for your thorough post.

Yes, I am from Japan. I moved to the US when I was 22 and I recently became a US citizen (after 30 some years of holding a green card since Japan doesn't allow dual citizenship.) So I don't think I need as much evidence as applicants who come from non-exempt countries. My spouse is from UK, but now a Canadian citizen, living in Canada. We have fewer pages of documents than you, but I guess it's OK.

If I were an immigration officer, too much information would make me more suspicious (unless the documents are extremely organized - If they are, I would just think you are a very detailed person), but too little information would make me think the candidate might be an arrogant person (that's just me...), so I guess I just want to give just the right amount of information. I would hate to read through tons and tons of irrelevant emails myself. Summaries of relationship listed in the forms provided and some *supporting* evidence would be all I would like to see.

I thought it would be good to put some Skype evidence just because we mention that in couples of our forms (My spouse listed having met my mom via Skype in one of the forms and I mentioned in one of my forms about having met his parents via Skype, etc). My spouse and I used to communicate via phone the first few months of our relationship, so I provided copies of our bills, and I believe other documents we will provide should sufficiently show our ongoing relationship.

you'll be fine.