facebook messages for evidence

[mike1983]

I wonder if anyone can help or advise please, 

for proof of relationship I would like to supply facebook messages as this is how we communicate, that and skype.

 

however there seems to be no easy or practical way to supply the fb messages other than to download the entire message history from Facebook and print them off.

 

problem being we communicate alot and as it stands to do it that way it would be well over 3000+ pages.......

 

so would like to know if anyone else has had this problem and how they went about it?

 

Cheers

 

 

 

[TCA]

I'd select a handful of conversations evenly spaced across the time period in question to demonstrate continual contact. Add a note to say that there are over 3,000 pages of chat which can be made available upon request but you are enclosing a representative sample covering the period x to y.   

[Jip99]

As above, or..... present a few pages of the earliest communications and a sample few spaced months apart. Max 50 pages and preferably 20. In your covering letter you can explain that are 3,000 pages available covering the period X - Y but a sample of 20pages covering the X - Y are being submitted.

 

Proving the genuineness of the relationship is not about the volume of contact/pages but more about evidencing the length and 'sincerity' of the relationship. Remember, a million words of social chat will never be as convincing as 3 visits to Thailand.

[mike1983]

thanks for the replies, 

so if I was to put bits from each month on each page from the beginning till present covering 2 years it will have been then.

that would satisfy the ECO for a spouse visa? that and screen shots from skype covering the same timescale.

 

has this been successful for yourselves?

 

cheers

[TCA]

I can't say what weight an ECO gives to Facebook and Skype chat as far as proving a genuine and sustaining relationship, but you can only supply what you have. I think it's reasonable not to expect you to include 3,000 pages of text. I used Facebook chat extracts for my wife's daughter's application (as a way of proving the relationship with my wife who was in the UK already), so it's not quite the same thing but the same principle. We had only had 30 pages of chat so included the lot, but even although all in Thai I didn't get it translated. Just included a note basically saying I deemed it unnecessary. An ECO isn't going to sit and read it all, whatever language it's in, so I think perfectly fine to say that more is available but not included.

    

[mike1983]

cheers,

 

what I'll try to do is, take extracts from the beginning, middle and end of each month and do that on each page covering every month we've text, and also include the skype screen shots.

 

like you say I should explain why I've done it like that and hopefully that should convince them of our ongoing relationship whilst I'm in the uk.

 

I will also include the money transfer receipts for each month, and although they don't want pictures I will include pictures from my visits that include pictures with all her family and some of us both with my dad and a few other bits we've done together.

 

hopefully that should be enough.

[rasg]

I just pointed out that if I supplied Skype and Whatsapp logs to the ECO they would weigh more than the baggage allowance to Bangkok and didn't supply any. That was on visit visa two and the settlement visa and they were both successful.

 

As far as the ECOs reading the logs. They occasionally do and something that was said in a skype log in a visit visa recently was used to re-enforce a visit visa refusal...

[mike1983]

yes, you've told me about that one, I will be sure to read what parts I select to put in and obviously not use any context regarding visas, money, or any other context that they may hold against us.

cheers