Name not on Mortgage/Utility bills.

[NickD 202]

Here is the Offical guide to what you have to have as evidence.

If you are applying for naturalization based on your marriage to a U.S. citizen, send the following four items:

Evidence that your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for the last three years:

Birth certificate (if your spouse never lost citizenship since birth), or

Naturalization Certificate, or

Certificate of Citizenship, or

The inside of the front cover and signature page of your spouse's current U.S. passport, or

Form FS-240, "Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America," and

Your current marriage certificate, and

Proof of termination of all prior marriages of your spouse - divorce decree(s), annulment(s), or death certificate(s); and

Documents referring to you and your spouse:

Tax returns, bank accounts, leases, mortgages, or birth certificates of children, or

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - certified copies of the income tax forms that you both filed for the past three years, or

An IRS tax return transcript for the last three years.

If you were married before, send:

Proof that all earlier marriages ended - divorce decree(s), annulment(s), or death certificate(s);

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00048f3d6a1RCRD

You will note that Utility Bills are not listed.

Please show us your source of information that shows that you must have joint Utility Bills.

Because if they are needed then my wife should not be a US Citizen as we do not have any Utility Bills that are in Joint names. We never included any utility bills with the N-400 or took any to the interview.

[NickD 202]

Here is the Offical guide to what you have to have as evidence.

If you are applying for naturalization based on your marriage to a U.S. citizen, send the following four items:

Evidence that your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for the last three years:

Birth certificate (if your spouse never lost citizenship since birth), or

Naturalization Certificate, or

Certificate of Citizenship, or

The inside of the front cover and signature page of your spouse's current U.S. passport, or

Form FS-240, "Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America," and

Your current marriage certificate, and

Proof of termination of all prior marriages of your spouse - divorce decree(s), annulment(s), or death certificate(s); and

Documents referring to you and your spouse:

Tax returns, bank accounts, leases, mortgages, or birth certificates of children, or

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - certified copies of the income tax forms that you both filed for the past three years, or

An IRS tax return transcript for the last three years.

If you were married before, send:

Proof that all earlier marriages ended - divorce decree(s), annulment(s), or death certificate(s);

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00048f3d6a1RCRD

You will note that Utility Bills are not listed.

Please show us your source of information that shows that you must have joint Utility Bills.

Because if they are needed then my wife should not be a US Citizen as we do not have any Utility Bills that are in Joint names. We never included any utility bills with the N-400 or took any to the interview.

I know darn well that utility bills are not listed and have stated it's a really dumb form of evidence. See someone else posted about Minneapolis, actually listed as the St. Paul office, but not in St. Paul either, but in Bloomington, MN where we had to go. So from our friends ahead of us, I did call our cable, phone, and electric company and had my wife's name added to these bills and submitted that as evidence as our friends had to make additional trips. We this information in our folder, we didn't have to make that additional trip.

For us, it was either doing it or trying to fight city hall. Yet another friend in Quincy, IL, a long trip for her to downtown Chicago with overpriced hotels got an RFE for utility bills even though she had joint home ownership and three years of tax returns, so that is two offices I know of that is requiring this dumb form of evidence. This friend that was always nine months ahead of us ended up eleven months behind us due to delays caused by the RFE, we didn't want to risk taking that chance.

I very seldom if ever used this word, but was really "pissed" off I had to dig out my divorce papers again, 50 pages long and double sided, plus my wife's divorce papers and another eight bucks for our marriage certificate, and they already had three years of joint tax returns for the ten year card plus all of our bank account, joint ownership, etc. evidence. Would have thought that ten year card would have been enough. But you have to play their game and they can make up the rules as you go along.

[motu 5]

Hey Bituin:

No need to worry about the mortgage being in both names. I never added my wife to ours and that didn't matter. Also, they are less likely to ask for evidence of co-mingled lives at the citizenship interview - however, we did send bank statements, tax returns, credit card statement, insurance (home and car with both names on it) and a utility bill. The lady who teaches citizenship classes also looked at my wife's package and thought it was very good - she did tell my wife to take recent bank and utility statements to the interview (none were asked for) but I think she has had some students who had to produce these (This happened at the Denver Office (now Centennial)) - so, it's up to you.

1) Send what you have

2) take what you can

Whatever makes you feel comfortable - that's the key - worse case would be you have to produce another piece of evidence - best would be you didn't need it. Either way, its not a big deal.Good Luck

Edited May 18, 2009 by motu

[TayRivers 4]

Here is the Offical guide to what you have to have as evidence.

If you are applying for naturalization based on your marriage to a U.S. citizen, send the following four items:

Evidence that your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for the last three years:

Birth certificate (if your spouse never lost citizenship since birth), or

Naturalization Certificate, or

Certificate of Citizenship, or

The inside of the front cover and signature page of your spouse's current U.S. passport, or

Form FS-240, "Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America," and

Your current marriage certificate, and

Proof of termination of all prior marriages of your spouse - divorce decree(s), annulment(s), or death certificate(s); and

Documents referring to you and your spouse:

Tax returns, bank accounts, leases, mortgages, or birth certificates of children, or

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - certified copies of the income tax forms that you both filed for the past three years, or

An IRS tax return transcript for the last three years.

If you were married before, send:

Proof that all earlier marriages ended - divorce decree(s), annulment(s), or death certificate(s);

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00048f3d6a1RCRD

You will note that Utility Bills are not listed.

Please show us your source of information that shows that you must have joint Utility Bills.

Because if they are needed then my wife should not be a US Citizen as we do not have any Utility Bills that are in Joint names. We never included any utility bills with the N-400 or took any to the interview.

I know darn well that utility bills are not listed and have stated it's a really dumb form of evidence. See someone else posted about Minneapolis, actually listed as the St. Paul office, but not in St. Paul either, but in Bloomington, MN where we had to go. So from our friends ahead of us, I did call our cable, phone, and electric company and had my wife's name added to these bills and submitted that as evidence as our friends had to make additional trips. We this information in our folder, we didn't have to make that additional trip.

For us, it was either doing it or trying to fight city hall. Yet another friend in Quincy, IL, a long trip for her to downtown Chicago with overpriced hotels got an RFE for utility bills even though she had joint home ownership and three years of tax returns, so that is two offices I know of that is requiring this dumb form of evidence. This friend that was always nine months ahead of us ended up eleven months behind us due to delays caused by the RFE, we didn't want to risk taking that chance.

I very seldom if ever used this word, but was really "pissed" off I had to dig out my divorce papers again, 50 pages long and double sided, plus my wife's divorce papers and another eight bucks for our marriage certificate, and they already had three years of joint tax returns for the ten year card plus all of our bank account, joint ownership, etc. evidence. Would have thought that ten year card would have been enough. But you have to play their game and they can make up the rules as you go along.

If you feel happier having those joint utility bills then go for it, bor for most people these are not required and never asked for.

[NickD 202]

Here is the Offical guide to what you have to have as evidence.

If you are applying for naturalization based on your marriage to a U.S. citizen, send the following four items:

Evidence that your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for the last three years:

Birth certificate (if your spouse never lost citizenship since birth), or

Naturalization Certificate, or

Certificate of Citizenship, or

The inside of the front cover and signature page of your spouse's current U.S. passport, or

Form FS-240, "Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America," and

Your current marriage certificate, and

Proof of termination of all prior marriages of your spouse - divorce decree(s), annulment(s), or death certificate(s); and

Documents referring to you and your spouse:

Tax returns, bank accounts, leases, mortgages, or birth certificates of children, or

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - certified copies of the income tax forms that you both filed for the past three years, or

An IRS tax return transcript for the last three years.

If you were married before, send:

Proof that all earlier marriages ended - divorce decree(s), annulment(s), or death certificate(s);

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00048f3d6a1RCRD

You will note that Utility Bills are not listed.

Please show us your source of information that shows that you must have joint Utility Bills.

Because if they are needed then my wife should not be a US Citizen as we do not have any Utility Bills that are in Joint names. We never included any utility bills with the N-400 or took any to the interview.

I know darn well that utility bills are not listed and have stated it's a really dumb form of evidence. See someone else posted about Minneapolis, actually listed as the St. Paul office, but not in St. Paul either, but in Bloomington, MN where we had to go. So from our friends ahead of us, I did call our cable, phone, and electric company and had my wife's name added to these bills and submitted that as evidence as our friends had to make additional trips. We this information in our folder, we didn't have to make that additional trip.

For us, it was either doing it or trying to fight city hall. Yet another friend in Quincy, IL, a long trip for her to downtown Chicago with overpriced hotels got an RFE for utility bills even though she had joint home ownership and three years of tax returns, so that is two offices I know of that is requiring this dumb form of evidence. This friend that was always nine months ahead of us ended up eleven months behind us due to delays caused by the RFE, we didn't want to risk taking that chance.

I very seldom if ever used this word, but was really "pissed" off I had to dig out my divorce papers again, 50 pages long and double sided, plus my wife's divorce papers and another eight bucks for our marriage certificate, and they already had three years of joint tax returns for the ten year card plus all of our bank account, joint ownership, etc. evidence. Would have thought that ten year card would have been enough. But you have to play their game and they can make up the rules as you go along.

If you feel happier having those joint utility bills then go for it, bor for most people these are not required and never asked for.

80 different some odd field offices with some even offering the oath the same day as the interview, Bloomington doesn't offer that convenience. As a matter of fact, they like to wait until they have 1200 applicants for their oath ceremony so they can hold it in the Viking stadium where Wisconsinites are not welcomed. Took pressure from Sen. Fiengold's office to have a special ceremony for Wisconsites, some had to come as far as Green Bay that is only a two hour drive from Milwaukee with further question as to which field office you are assigned too.

You can be rejected if you are 30 seconds late for your appointment, even though you have to sit in their waiting room for three hours, that already happened to us. It is all done for their convenience, yet we are paying a small fortune for this service.

Try to learn how your field office works before deciding what to do.

[jsnearline 2]

I never said the naturalization checklist requires utility bills. I just said that I know of instances where IOs have asked for them. As much as USCIS has tried to standardize things, each DO seems to have some discretion regarding what they want to see.

[jasminelily 1]

Here is the Offical guide to what you have to have as evidence.

If you are applying for naturalization based on your marriage to a U.S. citizen, send the following four items:

Evidence that your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for the last three years:

Birth certificate (if your spouse never lost citizenship since birth), or

Naturalization Certificate, or

Certificate of Citizenship, or

The inside of the front cover and signature page of your spouse's current U.S. passport, or

Form FS-240, "Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America," and

Your current marriage certificate, and

Proof of termination of all prior marriages of your spouse - divorce decree(s), annulment(s), or death certificate(s); and

Documents referring to you and your spouse:

Tax returns, bank accounts, leases, mortgages, or birth certificates of children, or

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - certified copies of the income tax forms that you both filed for the past three years, or

An IRS tax return transcript for the last three years.

If you were married before, send:

Proof that all earlier marriages ended - divorce decree(s), annulment(s), or death certificate(s);

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00048f3d6a1RCRD

You will note that Utility Bills are not listed.

Please show us your source of information that shows that you must have joint Utility Bills.

Because if they are needed then my wife should not be a US Citizen as we do not have any Utility Bills that are in Joint names. We never included any utility bills with the N-400 or took any to the interview.

I know darn well that utility bills are not listed and have stated it's a really dumb form of evidence. See someone else posted about Minneapolis, actually listed as the St. Paul office, but not in St. Paul either, but in Bloomington, MN where we had to go. So from our friends ahead of us, I did call our cable, phone, and electric company and had my wife's name added to these bills and submitted that as evidence as our friends had to make additional trips. We this information in our folder, we didn't have to make that additional trip.

For us, it was either doing it or trying to fight city hall. Yet another friend in Quincy, IL, a long trip for her to downtown Chicago with overpriced hotels got an RFE for utility bills even though she had joint home ownership and three years of tax returns, so that is two offices I know of that is requiring this dumb form of evidence. This friend that was always nine months ahead of us ended up eleven months behind us due to delays caused by the RFE, we didn't want to risk taking that chance.

I very seldom if ever used this word, but was really "pissed" off I had to dig out my divorce papers again, 50 pages long and double sided, plus my wife's divorce papers and another eight bucks for our marriage certificate, and they already had three years of joint tax returns for the ten year card plus all of our bank account, joint ownership, etc. evidence. Would have thought that ten year card would have been enough. But you have to play their game and they can make up the rules as you go along.

If you feel happier having those joint utility bills then go for it, bor for most people these are not required and never asked for.

80 different some odd field offices with some even offering the oath the same day as the interview, Bloomington doesn't offer that convenience. As a matter of fact, they like to wait until they have 1200 applicants for their oath ceremony so they can hold it in the Viking stadium where Wisconsinites are not welcomed. Took pressure from Sen. Fiengold's office to have a special ceremony for Wisconsites, some had to come as far as Green Bay that is only a two hour drive from Milwaukee with further question as to which field office you are assigned too.

You can be rejected if you are 30 seconds late for your appointment, even though you have to sit in their waiting room for three hours, that already happened to us. It is all done for their convenience, yet we are paying a small fortune for this service.

Try to learn how your field office works before deciding what to do.

In other words, better safe than sorry. And that's what I would do.

[wannabe_texan 0]

I have found it almost impossible to get bills put in both names. Comcast, Centerpoint Energy (Gas company) and many others will not put two names on the paper bills. We only have the water bill from the City in both names at our new place. So I've tried to alternate the names on bills, some in his name and some in my name to show 50/50 type of thing. And the mortgage has my name only on it, because my (USC) hubby's credit score was bad when we applied. So not sure exactly what we'll show, we have the bank statements, deed to the new house we bought in Jan, and the ever important tax transcripts...

[jasminelily 1]

I have found it almost impossible to get bills put in both names. Comcast, Centerpoint Energy (Gas company) and many others will not put two names on the paper bills. We only have the water bill from the City in both names at our new place. So I've tried to alternate the names on bills, some in his name and some in my name to show 50/50 type of thing. And the mortgage has my name only on it, because my (USC) hubby's credit score was bad when we applied. So not sure exactly what we'll show, we have the bank statements, deed to the new house we bought in Jan, and the ever important tax transcripts...

Most don't, some do. T-mobile, AT&T (doesn't matter house phone, Internet, cell phone, etc.) and Centerpoint Energy don't put both names on bill. Reliant Energy (electricity) and Direct TV (Satellite TV) do.

[Boiler 44,858]

The evidence you used to get the conditions removed on your greencard is good enough for your Citizenship application. You do not need to be on the utility bills or on the deeds. My Wife is not named on any utility bills or on the mortgage and she had no issues at the Citizenship interview.

Same here

[mrPuffyBunny 0]

I have found it almost impossible to get bills put in both names. Comcast, Centerpoint Energy (Gas company) and many others will not put two names on the paper bills. We only have the water bill from the City in both names at our new place. So I've tried to alternate the names on bills, some in his name and some in my name to show 50/50 type of thing. And the mortgage has my name only on it, because my (USC) hubby's credit score was bad when we applied. So not sure exactly what we'll show, we have the bank statements, deed to the new house we bought in Jan, and the ever important tax transcripts...

Most don't, some do. T-mobile, AT&T (doesn't matter house phone, Internet, cell phone, etc.) and Centerpoint Energy don't put both names on bill. Reliant Energy (electricity) and Direct TV (Satellite TV) do.

I just have a question for the people in st Paul who were asked about utility bills, what kind of evidence did u have in the first place? Did u have 3 years joint taxes+IRS transcript in both your names, car insurances with both names?, both paychecks pointing at the same address? Rent/lease with both names on it? I would assume the evidence presnted was weak in the eyes the io

[NickD 202]

I have found it almost impossible to get bills put in both names. Comcast, Centerpoint Energy (Gas company) and many others will not put two names on the paper bills. We only have the water bill from the City in both names at our new place. So I've tried to alternate the names on bills, some in his name and some in my name to show 50/50 type of thing. And the mortgage has my name only on it, because my (USC) hubby's credit score was bad when we applied. So not sure exactly what we'll show, we have the bank statements, deed to the new house we bought in Jan, and the ever important tax transcripts...

Most don't, some do. T-mobile, AT&T (doesn't matter house phone, Internet, cell phone, etc.) and Centerpoint Energy don't put both names on bill. Reliant Energy (electricity) and Direct TV (Satellite TV) do.

I just have a question for the people in st Paul who were asked about utility bills, what kind of evidence did u have in the first place? Did u have 3 years joint taxes+IRS transcript in both your names, car insurances with both names?, both paychecks pointing at the same address? Rent/lease with both names on it? I would assume the evidence presnted was weak in the eyes the io

Joint ownership of home, vehicles, and a German Shepherd dog, joint property, state, and federal income tax returns, joint health, auto, and each other as beneficiary to life insurance, valid marriage certificate and copies of previous divorces, copies of our drivers' licenses showing a common address. a copy of our phone directory with both our names in it, off the assessors web site a color photo of our home with both are names on it, joint checking, savings, CD's, bank and credit card statements. Our latest electric, phone, and cable bill with both our names on it. Wife said our stack of evidence was about 3" high, apparently they save it all, but for how long, who knows.

You can elect not to go overboard with evidence of your financial relationship, they did not request a video of us making love in bed, but risk delays if you get an RFE, in the case of our friend in Quincy, was almost two years, but her USC didn't have the backbone to complain about that and she was scared stiff.

If a utility says that cannot put both of your names on the bill, request they send you a letter stating so, and that goes with your bank if they want to charge additional closing cost and refinancing to add your spouse's name to the deed. That way you are covered, or just wait and wait and wait.

[Boiler 44,858]

Venezuelan Shepherd Dog might have been more convincing.

Did you include pictures of the dog?

[NickD 202]

Venezuelan Shepherd Dog might have been more convincing.

Did you include pictures of the dog?

Yep, sitting right between my wife and me. But they wouldn't let me bring him to her interview.

[jasminelily 1]

Venezuelan Shepherd Dog might have been more convincing.

Did you include pictures of the dog?

I'm not sure for NickD, but I did include our cat adoption paper from the Humane Society that shows joint name, our address, our cell phone numbers and a picture of the kitty. From that, it proves that we're family so the T-mobile cell phone bill that shows family plan but only in my name can be submitted as evidence.