Got I797E, Notice of Acction - RFE - Need help.

[kdn103 1]

Hello all,

I submitted I-751 petition for my wife and submitted all required documents but i received blue notice of action Request for Evidence.

They are requesting Financial Records and Residence proof.

Here is list of docs that were already selected:

1. Application Fee - $590 check

2. Form I-1751

3. Copy of my wife's USCIS Form I-551(Green Card)

4. Copy of my wife's SSN Card

5. Copy of my wife's Passport

6. Copy of my certificate of naturalization

7. Copy of my US Passport

8. Copy of our Licenses (with same address)

9. Copy of our joint US Tax return for the year 2010 and 2011.

10. Copy of our credit cards.

11. Copy of our Bank Cards

12. Copy of our Health Insurance Verification

13. Affidavits from 3 different family members.

Request for Evidence has bullet list that contains list of documents that could be used however, our situation is kinda of different.

We live with parents who dont really speak english. The mortgage for the house we live in is under my father and mothers name. Also when we purchased the house back in 1999, all the bills were started using my fathers name so there are no bills that contain my wife and my name. The only two bills that have my wifes name are services that were recently changed(ATT internet, and vonage). At this point my wife does not work. she is currently looking for work.

I have requested gas company to change name from my fathers name to mine and my wifes. Also tried to change it with electric company but supposedly we are under contract there for not able to change name. I have started changing names as i didnt know about this before.

As far as financial stuff goes, currently there is 3 of us working out of 4 in the family. My father and mother have minimum wage jobs and i have professional job. All of hour checks go into single bank account which has my name and my fathers name. Didnt think of adding my wifes name until this letter came. Now we have added her but all the previous statements are without her name.

We use one credit card(discover card) for all of our spending. My father is primary owner and i am secondary owner of the card. My wife was added as authorized user on the account back in 2011. Discover Card does not let you add secondary user once the card is opened up. It has to be done at the time the card was opened.

Basically we dont all live together as a happy family and there is not much on our name combine. I have my father write a letter explaining the situation and I translate it to english and get it notarized. Do you think that will help?

I cant be the only one with this situation. how do you recover from this? it is important for us to get this done in timely manner to make sure she becomes US Citizen in time. We have to file for her parents and she has brothers who are going to be turning 21 within couple of years.

Sorry for the long post and thank you very much for your help!

Any advice is very much appreciated!

Thanks!

[Pinkrlion 2,671]

Can you post the RFE so we can see it and provide options.

[Christi85 86]

Yes, do post your RFE so that people can comment specifically.

I agree about presenting a signed affidavit from your dad explaining the situation and you may also want to do another signed affidavit from you and your wife addressing all the issues you analyzed here. Am I mistaken or is quite common in your culture for people to stay with parents even after they get married and start their own families? If so, I would definitely make a special reference to that in your letter to USCIS, explaining that this is very common in your culture. It will help them understand your circumstances better.

I would also see if you can find a few more people in your community who know you as a married couple and can attest to the legitimacy of your marriage.

Other than that, try to think of other documents you could present in support that span the entire period of your marriage - for example, do you own a car? Is your wife's name on the car title and/or is she listed on your car insurance? Any other benefits you receive from your employer (e.g. 401K plan) where she is listed as the beneficiary? That sort of thing.

[Deep2009 18]

In addition to the above mentioned reply -

You can add the following -

401 plan, if she is beneficiary (get letter from Employer)

any Medical, dental, vision insurance info, if she is beneficiary (get letter from Employer)

Any life insurance info, if she is beneficary (get letter from Employer)

Your bank statements - Did you send out all the pages or just front page? You should send all the pages of your monthly bank statement.

Also, I have noticed, that your cover letter is missing your wife name and signature.

Next time, when you reply for this RFE, have your sign as a Husband(petitioner) and her as beneficiary.

Good luck

Edited June 30, 2013 by Deep2009

[kdn103 1]

Thank you all for the reply. Attached please find RFE copy.

During the initial submission, i have submitted print out from my employer's online portal showing my wife as beneficiary on 401 plan, Medical, dental, vision insurance plan. The Auto Insurance policy is on my father's name but the policy has both my wife and I as drivers on it which was already submitted. We have three cars and two of them are on my name and one is on my father's name.

The bank account we submitted last time was for account that my wife and I have together. It has direct deposit coming in but haven't really been used for anything. It's being used as a savings account. The main account we use has me, my father, and my brother on it. I have added my wife to this account couple days ago.

I have got letters from three different neighbors that know us pretty well staying facts about our relationship. Two out of three is notarized. The third one is out of town yet he still wrote the letter and sent me a copy.

Again thank you all for your help

Can you post the RFE so we can see it and provide options.

Attached.

[kdn103 1]

Yes, do post your RFE so that people can comment specifically.

I agree about presenting a signed affidavit from your dad explaining the situation and you may also want to do another signed affidavit from you and your wife addressing all the issues you analyzed here. Am I mistaken or is quite common in your culture for people to stay with parents even after they get married and start their own families? If so, I would definitely make a special reference to that in your letter to USCIS, explaining that this is very common in your culture. It will help them understand your circumstances better.

I would also see if you can find a few more people in your community who know you as a married couple and can attest to the legitimacy of your marriage.

Other than that, try to think of other documents you could present in support that span the entire period of your marriage - for example, do you own a car? Is your wife's name on the car title and/or is she listed on your car insurance? Any other benefits you receive from your employer (e.g. 401K plan) where she is listed as the beneficiary? That sort of thing.

You make good points here. Didnt think about it until now. I have got three neighbors letter attesting our relationship. I will try to get letter or two from ppl from my community and plan on explaining little about how our culture works.

Thank you

[Christi85 86]

Looks like a pretty standard RFE. Send all the new affidavits, explanation letters etc. (yes, do address the culture thing), and you can also re-submit all the evidence you had already sent before together with some more recent ones that contain your wife's name. They may not like it very much that your wife was added to the accounts after you got an RFE, but I would send the evidence anyway since this is all you have at this point.

You will be fine, good luck!

[kdn103 1]

Thank you Christie85! All we can do is hope for the best right?

[BigDaddy28 228]

You can ask your parents to write you a lease in your name and your wife's name since you are living with them. If your wife is an authorized user at your discover card send copies of the card. Since she is you bank account, order check books and send a voided check that will show your name and her name. If you have a car, send copy of the title, registration and insurance if both your names are there. Photos if you have any. phone bills if any, life insurance... Good luck.

[Christi85 86]

Thank you Christie85! All we can do is hope for the best right?

Absolutely! Most couples get approved after RFE, so I wouldn't worry too much. Even if they are still not satisfied with your RFE evidence and response, they will ask you to go in for an interview and there they'll be able to see that you are indeed a legitimate couple. Let's hope of course that it won't be needed, and that you will be approved shortly after you send in your RFE response. It is relatively rare for people to get denied at Removal of Conditions stage.

Edited July 1, 2013 by Christi85