Brian L. Aust Consular Law Blog on Lawyers.com

In terms of proving ongoing communication with a faraway spouse or
fiancé(e), they are WORTHLESS!

I realize that calling cards provide a cheap alternative to persons needing
to make what would be otherwise expensive overseas calls to their loved one.
However, calling cards do not allow for any type of a “paper record” of phone
calls to that loved one. I cannot tell you how many times I have had clients
bring me in stacks of phone cards to “prove” that they have been in contact
with a spouse or fiancé(e). These cards provide no type of documentary record
of your hour long conversation.

Aside from ranting endlessly about the futility of using these calling
cards, I would like to invite persons who might need to provide the Consulate
with evidence that they have been in phone contact with their spouse or
fiancé(e) to use an internet based service that might. There are lots of
options out there I am sure. I have not done a lot of research about available
services. However, it does not take long to research such service on the
internet.

The service I happen to use for my long distance at the office is through www.onesuite.com. You create an account
online, charge it with a credit card, dial an access number to use minutes up
on your account, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, have the ability to create a printable
list of calls to your spouse or fiancé(e) when he or she has an interview at
the Consulate.

Rates vary depending on what country you call and whether it is a landline
versus a mobile phone. While the rate may not compare to those of the calling
cars, I can honestly say that the slight increase in rates paid for such a
service are nothing compared to the cost of having your petition denied by a
consular officer.

Every service similar to onesuite is going to have certain advantages and
disadvantages. For example, one I found, www.pennytalk.com, has a $0.49
connection fee with each call. While pennytalk’s rates might be cheaper than
onesuite, the connection fee no doubt has to be factored in choosing which
service to use for your long distance calling.

Make no mistake though - the calling cards, while cheap on the front end,
will prove costly in the end. They provide nothing in the end toward
documenting your case. Should the Consular Officer deny your loved one’s case for lack of evidence of ongoing communication,
the revocation process can take upwards of 18 months and cost more money than
what is “saved” through the use of calling cards. Make sure that all calls can
be documented for the Consular Officer down the line.

If someone has another service similar to those mentioned here that they
would highly recommend, I would love to hear about it.