"Evidence that bona fides your marriage"

[dagobert2 0]

Hello to those whose wisdom regarding this process is greater than mine,

I am almost finished compiling the I-130 submission for my wife and step-son and would like to pose this question to someone with experience. The majority of requirements for this form seem rather straightforward. However the question of "documentation that may evidence the bona fides of your marriage" is a bit open ended. Particularly, item 6) "Any other documentation to establish that there is an ongoing maritial union". My question is what is generally considered sufficient versus gone completely overboard? At this point, I was planning to submit a copy of my trust certificate showing my wife is my trustee, photos showing our wedding day, meeting my family, etc., receipt for Valentine flowers, receipts for wedding expenses. I have read some threads that indicate that e-mails are not good evidence (easy to fake I suppose). What, if anything should I consider adding to my pile of evidence? Does the evidence for the consular interview need to be more substantial than what gets submitted via forms (I130 and I129F)?

Thanks for you help and guidance,

Chris

[Mononoke28 135]

Some people include all those things and others don't. Other things listed on form I-130 are lease agreements or bank accounts with both your names on them. I didn't have any of those things and didn't want to send my personal pictures and e-mails with it either. So my mom and my sister wrote 2 affidavits regarding their knowledge and support of the relationship. I figure if they need stuff like pics and e-mails, I'll either get an RFE or they'll ask for them at the embassy. But feel free to send them in as well, I know a lot of people have done it that way with no problem.

[dagobert2 0]

Thanks for the quick reply. Oh yeah, I have the affidavits also. I have 6 of them from friends and family most containing a good deal of candor and sincerity. Sounds like that may be sufficient and not pose a likely delay.

Chris

[vylex 0]

For this new requirement I included:

-2 notarized Affidavits from close friends that new about our pre and post marital union.

-Copy of health insurance card showing that my wife has been added.

-Copy of itinerary / e-ticket showing my upcoming visit to her.

-Pictures of us during our wedding, with friends, and with family during her visit to me.

-Copy of IRS letter telling them we will be filing jointly.

-Copy of her W-7 application for ITIN (filing jointly).

-Copy of a recent card she sent me.

I may have been overboard, I may have not. I just wanted to cover all bases, especially since our marriage is still in it's infancy.

Good luck!

[Geist 0]

For the new requirements I sent in 3 affidavits, two from family members and 1 from a friend. I somehow read in the instructions that three was the minimum, but maybe that just got in my head from somewhere else

In anycase, I would definitely NOT recommend overcompliance. Pick one of the requirements and send in information pertinent to it. If all of us send in all of ther requirements, the one person who doesn't is going to be looked at really funny at the USCIS...and we just might find that in the future, we have to send in ALL of the info instead of just one of them. Kind of like how before this was a requirement, people would send in proof of a marital relationship anyway, in hopes it would speed things up, and now it's required.

This is bureaucracy, follow the letter of the law and that is all you're required to do.

[vylex 0]

For the new requirements I sent in 3 affidavits, two from family members and 1 from a friend. I somehow read in the instructions that three was the minimum, but maybe that just got in my head from somewhere else

In anycase, I would definitely NOT recommend overcompliance. Pick one of the requirements and send in information pertinent to it. If all of us send in all of ther requirements, the one person who doesn't is going to be looked at really funny at the USCIS...and we just might find that in the future, we have to send in ALL of the info instead of just one of them. Kind of like how before this was a requirement, people would send in proof of a marital relationship anyway, in hopes it would speed things up, and now it's required.

This is bureaucracy, follow the letter of the law and that is all you're required to do.

I would rather supply more than less. I don't want an application delaying RFE. In the case of this requirement, it is not obvious as you can tell from people's questions. You yourself submitted 3 affidavits.

I also don't believe that just because we send in more evidence, the adjucators will make that the new standard. If you read one of the threads in the K-1 forum, there is an ex-adjucator HuskerKiev. He basically stated that they were trained to filter out what they needed. Anything extra was ignored. If they needed more, then they would go back and search through it. In the case of ongoing marital union, I would rather give too much than too little. They want to know it's for real. I'm not taking any chances.

[JimandSarha 0]

For the new requirements I sent in 3 affidavits, two from family members and 1 from a friend. I somehow read in the instructions that three was the minimum, but maybe that just got in my head from somewhere else

In anycase, I would definitely NOT recommend overcompliance. Pick one of the requirements and send in information pertinent to it. If all of us send in all of ther requirements, the one person who doesn't is going to be looked at really funny at the USCIS...and we just might find that in the future, we have to send in ALL of the info instead of just one of them. Kind of like how before this was a requirement, people would send in proof of a marital relationship anyway, in hopes it would speed things up, and now it's required.

This is bureaucracy, follow the letter of the law and that is all you're required to do.

I would rather supply more than less. I don't want an application delaying RFE. In the case of this requirement, it is not obvious as you can tell from people's questions. You yourself submitted 3 affidavits.

I also don't believe that just because we send in more evidence, the adjucators will make that the new standard. If you read one of the threads in the K-1 forum, there is an ex-adjucator HuskerKiev. He basically stated that they were trained to filter out what they needed. Anything extra was ignored. If they needed more, then they would go back and search through it. In the case of ongoing marital union, I would rather give too much than too little. They want to know it's for real. I'm not taking any chances.

Give her her own credit cards. Nothing says love like watching capitalism change dollars into a closet full of clothes

Jim

[vylex 0]

Give her her own credit cards. Nothing says love like watching capitalism change dollars into a closet full of clothes

Jim

LOL! I will once she gets a SSN. Some banks require an SSN. I do have a few different CC companies I can ask though.

[Jasmin 1]

I always find it somewhat funny when they ask for proof of an "ongoing marital union".. I mean, most of us file pretty much right after getting married, and then most of us live on two different continents. So.. quite difficult to find proof of an ongoing marriage, isn't it? Hehe.

Well, here's what we sent with our I-130:

- copies of pictures (1999-2007)

- timeline of visiting each other 1999 - 2007

- original picture taken on the wedding day

- original congratulatory wedding card

- copy of receipt for our wedding rings

- copy of receipt for hotel during our honeymoon in Austria

- certification about our joint account by corresponding bank in Germany

- copy of certification about our joint account by corresponding bank in Germany

- copies of home phone bills: Germany to the USA (2005 and 2006)

- copies of home phone bills: USA to Germany (2006)

- copies of cell phone bills: Germany to USA (2006)

- four original letters written by friends and family

- copies of my passport with stamps and dates from when I visited my wife in Germany

- copy of my most recent boarding passes from December 2006/January 2007

This had better be enough

Edited February 26, 2007 by Jasmin

[JimandSarha 0]

Give her her own credit cards. Nothing says love like watching capitalism change dollars into a closet full of clothes

Jim

LOL! I will once she gets a SSN. Some banks require an SSN. I do have a few different CC companies I can ask though.

I gave my wife her own Paypal debit card. Good as a credit card for anything she needs to buy and gets her 3000 RMB per day in cash. Even the Princess of China has trouble keeping it empty. And that's including paying our EMS and DHL business bills every week.

You don't need anything at all to get her a Paypal debit card. And most banks will only require a signature card with her signature on it. SSNs are totally unneccessary for life. You only need them to wwork a regular job. If you've never had one, you don't even need it to work a non-regular job. Its a fish hook you can't get off of. But if you never bite, you don't need it.

Jim