Looking Ahead

[jsnearline 2]

I'm starting to do some preliminary planning for our I-751 filing and have a few questions.

I noticed that the VJ Guide for Lifting Conditions says evidence of relationship "should be AFTER the grant of adjustment -- CIS already has the stuff pre-dating the green card." The I-751 form instructions says to "Submit copies of as many documents asyou wish to establish this fact and to demonstrate the circumstances of the relationship from the date of the marriage to the present date". Why this discrepancy? I wouldn't think VJ would contradict the form instructions without a good reason to do so.

How much financial information is enough? Should we plan on submitting monthly bank statements for each month we've been married or just a few from each year?

Can we have the Affidavits prepared ahead of time so that when the filing window opens we can submit the petition right away? If so, how recent do the Affidavits need to be?

We don't have a formal lease. Is a written statement from our landlord sufficient or does it need to be notarized? The officer who interviewed us for AOS accepted a simple letter.

My wife's temporary GC has an incorrect adjustment category on it. The card says CR6, when it should be CF1 because she adjusted from a K1. USCIS told us not to bother filing an I-90 for that because it's only a two year card. Should we include a statement pointing this out and asking for it to be corrected on the permanent GC?

Edited December 27, 2006 by jsnearline

[Yodrak 7]

jsnearline,

I'm starting to do some preliminary planning for our I-751 filing and have a few questions.

I noticed that the VJ Guide for Lifting Conditions says evidence of relationship "should be AFTER the grant of adjustment -- CIS already has the stuff pre-dating the green card." The I-751 form instructions says to "Submit copies of as many documents asyou wish to establish this fact and to demonstrate the circumstances of the relationship from the date of the marriage to the present date". Why this discrepancy? I wouldn't think VJ would contradict the form instructions without a good reason to do so.

The reason for the discrepancy may be right there in the line that you quoted from the VJ Guide - "CIS already has the stuff pre-dating the green card."

How much financial information is enough? Should we plan on submitting monthly bank statements for each month we've been married or just a few from each year?

What is it that you want to demonstrate with the financial information? Do you want to demonstrate the monthly banking activity? Or do you merely want to demonstrate that you had a joint account back when and still have it today?

Can we have the Affidavits prepared ahead of time so that when the filing window opens we can submit the petition right away? If so, how recent do the Affidavits need to be?

Your call, since USCIS doesn't provide any guidance. For what it's worth, one experienced and highly respected CA immigration attorney frequently posts that he uses affidavits only as evidence of last resort when nothing else is available.

We don't have a formal lease. Is a written statement from our landlord sufficient or does it need to be notarized? The officer who interviewed us for AOS accepted a simple letter.

You don't need this evidence, or any other single specific item of evidence. You need a collection of items that taken together show a bona fide marriage. Use the best of what you've got.

My wife's temporary GC has an incorrect adjustment category on it. The card says CR6, when it should be CF1 because she adjusted from a K1. USCIS told us not to bother filing an I-90 for that because it's only a two year card. Should we include a statement pointing this out and asking for it to be corrected on the permanent GC?

It doesn't make any difference what category they put her in, what's important is that she is an LPR.

Bottom line answer to all your questions - do whatever makes you happy.

Yodrak

Edited December 27, 2006 by Yodrak

[pprcp 0]

jsnearline,

I'm starting to do some preliminary planning for our I-751 filing and have a few questions.

I noticed that the VJ Guide for Lifting Conditions says evidence of relationship "should be AFTER the grant of adjustment -- CIS already has the stuff pre-dating the green card." The I-751 form instructions says to "Submit copies of as many documents asyou wish to establish this fact and to demonstrate the circumstances of the relationship from the date of the marriage to the present date". Why this discrepancy? I wouldn't think VJ would contradict the form instructions without a good reason to do so.

The reason for the discrepancy may be right there in the line that you quoted from the VJ Guide - "CIS already has the stuff pre-dating the green card."

How much financial information is enough? Should we plan on submitting monthly bank statements for each month we've been married or just a few from each year?

What is it that you want to demonstrate with the financial information? Do you want to demonstrate the monthly banking activity? Or do you merely want to demonstrate that you had a joint account back when and still have it today?

Can we have the Affidavits prepared ahead of time so that when the filing window opens we can submit the petition right away? If so, how recent do the Affidavits need to be?

Your call, since USCIS doesn't provide any guidance. For what it's worth, one experienced and highly respected CA immigration attorney frequently posts that he uses affidavits only as evidence of last resort when nothing else is available.

We don't have a formal lease. Is a written statement from our landlord sufficient or does it need to be notarized? The officer who interviewed us for AOS accepted a simple letter.

You don't need this evidence, or any other single specific item of evidence. You need a collection of items that taken together show a bona fide marriage. Use the best of what you've got.

My wife's temporary GC has an incorrect adjustment category on it. The card says CR6, when it should be CF1 because she adjusted from a K1. USCIS told us not to bother filing an I-90 for that because it's only a two year card. Should we include a statement pointing this out and asking for it to be corrected on the permanent GC?

It doesn't make any difference what category they put her in, what's important is that she is an LPR.

Bottom line answer to all your questions - do whatever makes you happy.

Yodrak

[jsnearline 2]

Ok, even if CIS already has the pre-interview stuff, would it help speed things along to give the Service Center a full picture of things from date of marriage to date of filing to remove conditions?

As for the financial stuff, we brought all of our bank statements to the AOS interview. Monthly credit card and checking account statements could at least show them that we're sharing all of our expenses. For our savings, I'd probably just submit one statement per quarter.

As for her category... We don't want them to come back later and say they made a mistake that we should have caught and then revoke her LPR status or deny her citizenship as a result. My point of view is that we shouldn't be expected to know the difference between a CR6 and a CF1 - that's a USCIS internal matter. My wife just wants to be very sure nothing's wrong that might come back to bite us later.

Has anyone ever run into trouble submitting too much evidence at this stage?