Ten year Green Card trouble: Our evidence is "insufficient."

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

Okay, so you don't want to change you Driver's License to New York as you park your car in NC for insurance reasons. Why don't you and your wife get New York State ID Cards? These would contain your New York address.

Also, what about any mail you've received addressed to both of you? Heck I'd even send things addressed to each (as in only one) of you at the same address. USPS delivered items can be used to prove residence in many instances.

Also, you mentioned that you are living in a sublet. If you have a written sublet agreement then use that as a lease (it's the same thing with a different name). Be sure to include contact information for your landlord.

For the other times where there was no lease (family rent paid under the table), provide affidavitts that you both lived with family at such-and-such address and if you have mail addressed to each or both of you at those addresses it will help bolster your case.

[wannabe_texan 0]

To add to the many ideas you already have, I think tax transcripts are essential to this process, if you didn't submit them before, you should now. They are free from the IRS.

I would also add Anh to the title of your car, to show co-mingling of assets.

What about cheap term life insurance for both of you (you could do low amounts ($50k range) that are like $20 a month)?

And wills showing each other as beneficiaries.

[CountryBoy 0]

Ok, this is just a guess ..

It seems to me that since the only BOLD words in the description of what they want is "date of marriage to the current date." then that is exacly what they want.

Ask family and friends if they have pictures of the two of you together over the past couple of years .. submit them and write the dates and circumstances under which the photos were taken on a label next to (or directly attached to) them.

Also, call the bank and get copies of your bank statements in specific intervals (every 4 months) for the past 2 years... highlight and notate the deposits that each of you made to the same account (ie. her paycheck, my paycheck)

In your affidavits .. get them from individuals that you see not less than every couple of weeks and when you see them you and your wife are together.

Make sure that a statement like, "I have known HIM for the past 20 years thru our LOCAL ORGANIZATION or CLUB or CHURCH or WORK and I see him every week. I met HER at their wedding and I see them together every week or so at XXX. We have had THEM over to our house for dinner and they have had me and my wife to their home. HE and SHE are very happily married and I believe that their marriage will last for their lifetime."

Have the affidavit signed in front of and stamped by a notary (otherwise it is just a letter). It is also a good idea to show supporting evidence that your relationship with the individual writing the affidavit is legitimate as well, thus if you have your best man writing it out provide a picture of the 3 of you together at your wedding. If it is a coworker writing it, provide a picture of you guys together at the company picnic, if it is a fellow member of a club that you belong to.. provide a copy of an article with both of your names in it .. you get the idea. I was told to refrain from using family members for the affidavits but am unsure if it will hurt anything.

And finally, if it is a case that you just didn't send in enough to establish that you have been living together the entire two years then you might consider a notarized statement from each of the people that you rented off of saying something like "He and She rented the property at 123 fourth street from me from Jan. 2007 thru Aug. 2007. I live in the adjoining apartment and saw them on a regular basis."

Just a couple of ideas thrown out there .. hope it all works out for you !!!

[lisaf 0]

Hi Matt,

I haven't heard anything yet, but am also nervous about evidence. We don't have some of the "joint" evidence,( the house and uitility bills are tied up with generations of family members which I explained in the cover letter. This is NY, I dont have a car here, but I did get a learner's permit in case of an RFE) But, as they say each relationship is unique... I feel that mundane living evidence is just as important. You can put someone's name on anything, but you can't fake a life that involves your partner and an address! A couple of things I threw in to cover this - you'd be surprised what you can dig up..

photocopies of our Library cards and some mailed naughty notices saying that we were overdue stuff. Go to the library, get cards, borrow a 2 day movie or book and voila, they are mailing you within a week.)

Invoices from UPS deliveries, (barnes and noble, victorias secret, pet accessories)

A couple of our NY magazine subscription front pages from different months.

Xmas cards, party invitations from friends and family- valentines and b'days to each other.

Cable bill and my AT&T bill which I pay. All our heating oil bills which I put on my Debit card.... ( I certainly wouldn't pay $400 a month for a house I don't live in!)

Bank statements over 2 years highlighting the same pet store and grocery store where Ive been shopping a 1 mile from home a couple of times a week.

photos from birthday dinners, thanksgiving,xmas, visits of relatives or good friends who came to the USA.

random emails to and from friends, family/ businesses- mentioning us both or service we need. ( ie our accountant)

Notice from the Vet that our animals need shots

Mail from Town authority to renew dog licenses.

Snap shots of my facebook page showing silly bantering between us and friends jointly. Snap shot of his page gossiping with my sister...

Along with the joint tax returns we sent the letter informing us we were eligible for the rebate in 2008

Hope this gives you or anyone else some ideas! good luck.

[CaninCali 0]

We are trying to help you with everything we can think of here.

I understand that. Please don't take offense. People keep talking about the car insurance, but that is not an option.

I'm sorry to bring up the insurance thing *again* - but does your wife happen to have a driver's license from her country of origin (I'm sorry, I think I missed reading where she is from). Progressive Insurance WILL issue insurance to those with foreign driver's licenses (not sure about the other companies though. I know Geico will not)... might help a bit if you can get her on your policy.

I'm trying to think of what else you can provide as I just submitted our I-751 and we had similar issues with the financial crunch taking a toll on what we could provide as evidence. If anything else comes to mind I'll be sure to post it here ASAP. Best of luck to the both of you.

[Rings 10]

Well I went to the post office and the bank today to see if I could get letters for my removal and the post office is a waste of time, but the bank gladly provided me with one. FYI

[Matt_Stevens 5]

OK, I will say this again... My wife has never had a drivers license in any country! And as stated many times, we DID provide Tax Transcripts for 2007 and 2008. I ordered them again and will send them, again. Just in case.

We can try for non-driving NY ID's, but I don't know if that will work. I'll try. Can't hurt, obviously. They might ask for my NC license and say I need to get a driver's license in NY. Wish I knew the facts on this. Hopefully my phone bill at the NY address and passport will be enough to satisfy the requirements.

We are going to be able to get a number of affidavits, all notarized. Some are from some big-wigs in NYC (like a guy who runs one of the hospitals). That should help. My best friend and the best man at our wedding provided one prior, but I am going to have him do another one and get it notarized. He met Anh prior to her even coming to the USA. I was with Anh in Germany and he was there on a three hour stopover, so we had lunch with him at the airport. He owns three businesses and even teaches knife disarming to NYC police officers. I mean, how much better of character witness is that?! Like HE would lie about something!

We can provide our cell phone records for every few months going back about 14 months that show us constantly calling each other. Prior to that were shredded by mistake.

Anh was part of a Vietnamese dance group for 2008 and part of 2009 and the girls are all going to do affidavits for us and we can provide pictures of each event, with me being there with her. How the hell would we be fake if that were going on? See how silly this is? It's just stupid. There is an official website with pictures too. All but one of the girls are U.S. citizens and the one who isn't works for the United Nations.

My wife has some X-mas cards saved, but no envelopes.

We might be able to get a statement from one of our part landlords, but the other... no way. We broke our lease because the boiler was leaking soot into our apartment and they refused to fix it. I grew very ill and Anh was not doing well either, so we had to cut and run for our own well being.

Our sublet is all verbal. Nothing in writing. We are trying to work on that now, but that may not happen, other than a statement from the girl we pay. We can't force her.

Edited September 15, 2009 by Matt_Stevens

[Rings 10]

Ok so I went to my old community a second ago and asked them for a letter on letterhead that stated when I moved in, when they did the background check on my husband and when we moved out. They were really good about it. Perhaps if you call and ask them for the letter they may write it despite breaking your lease. Some people are nice. I got my letter and the girl there was new and she never knew me and she has only worked there 3 weeks. She just pulled my file and typed it up. You never know if the same people are there so perhaps you can give them a call (If it's a property manager anyway) just a thought.

[CountryBoy 0]

We are going to be able to get a number of affidavits, all notarized. Some are from some big-wigs in NYC (like a guy who runs one of the hospitals). That should help. My best friend and the best man at our wedding provided one prior, but I am going to have him do another one and get it notarized. He met Anh prior to her even coming to the USA. I was with Anh in Germany and he was there on a three hour stopover, so we had lunch with him at the airport. He owns three businesses and even teaches knife disarming to NYC police officers. I mean, how much better of character witness is that?! Like HE would lie about something!

Sounds like you have this pretty well covered .. however, you need to make sure that each includes the information relevant to your specific case...

#1 .. include the submitters current address and place of birth

#2 .. establish your relationship with the submitter (photos etc.)

#3 .. establish that the submitter has witnessed your relationship on a very regular basis over the period since your wife arrived

#4 .. establish that the submitter believes that you and your wife are in a genuine marriage with no intentions of skirting USCIS regulations

#5 .. have the affidavit notarized (thus the sworn / affirmed statement)

Like I've said before .. I don't have first hand experience with RFE's but from all I have read this is the format of choice and the one that I chose ..

Good Luck

[NycBra 4]

Hey Matt,

Everyone gave great ideas. Pick some. Honestly, I think they lost your file and you shouldn't panic. I don't think you should be too worried. Your marriage is legitimate and that's what it matters. As someone already said, in the worst case you are called for an interview and you can bring a suitcase with all sorts of evidence. It WILL be approved, they are just giving you a hard time.

I did have a NY ID card (no driver's license). I understand that being in NY you really don't need car. The only reason I am writing this is because when my husband and I had our interview for AOS 2 years ago, the interview itself regarding our marriage went great. But the officer was stuck (really gave a hard time) with the fact that my husband still had a driver's license from Illionois. He explained "I don't drive in NY. I don't own a car and I don't pay car insurance. " And the officer forgot we were there for an interview regarding our marriage, and spent like 10 minutes discussing the issue of his driver's license.

At the end, my husband said "I know the law requires that I change my driver's license if I move to a new state if I am driver, own a car and pay insurance. And if I am not a driver, I have 3 years to change my driver's license, so I still have 5 months to switch mine if I want". He had moved from Chicago 2.5 years before this interview.

I was a little scared after the interview since he was confrontational with the officer. But we were approved on the same day.

SO... I am just saying all of this in case you go for an interview with your NC driver's license.

[Matt_Stevens 5]

Car insurance in NC = $900. Car insurance in Manhattan = $2500. We flat out cannot afford it. Especially since I don't keep my car in NYC six months out of the year. Hopefully this won't be a problem. If it is, I will deal with it as best I can.

For the letters/affidavits I am asking everyone to have them notarized and am giving each a rough draft that includes the information everyone here thinks is crucial. No worries there.

I think it's the NC situation and now our current situation that will cause trouble. Frankly, I am betting we are forced to have an interview.

[JelloShotGirl 0]

In my opinion, I would not focus on the "insurance " thing, if you two are not driving, it doesnt really matter. I am in the Coast Guard Auxiliary and I work for a bank. No matter what people say the driver license is an id and technically after 9/11/01 and since the patriot act was established you pretty much "need" to be walking around with a "valid " driver license /valid state id as far as I know, see what nycbra was saying , why the interviewer was pissed off . I know you don't have an "official address" but for the time being you have do "establish" one and quick, you can always change it later. Get the NYS Non driver photo id at dmv. Try to get also as much additional info from the start of your marriage, what congruent info do you have since u filed your aos??? I am hoping the property manager of your sublet is going to cooperate.....too. I know you guys don't have a lot of money but plan ahead in case you need to seek an immigration lawyer. Are you able to set up an info pass appointment> Do you think that would helP???

[John9981 9]

As most of members mentioned before, the worse thing can happen to you is getting an interview, nothing more. They'll see you have plenty of evidence and see you as a happily married couple. Don't stress over it too much. Just make sure you explain well on the cover page about your living arrangement and such. Personally, I wouldn't spend a lot of money (insurance etc.) just to prove we are married. You guys spent enough money already. (visa, AOS, I751 etc..etc..)

[Matt_Stevens 5]

The BLOCKBUSTER membership thing might sort of help. When they issue cards, they have the address of the location and the primary member's name. So both cards have my wife's name. However, we restarted the online account and that is in my name and it is linked to my wife's store account. We'll make copies of the mailers when they come in to prove they are coming to me at the NY address. Hopefully this will be another piece of evidence that helps and not hurts.

[MonicaMexico 0]

When I first moved to NYC, I also got an ID card instead of a drivers license because I didn't own a car and never drove. I say both of you guys get an NYC ID card - and fast - and send copies in. At least it'll have your same address on it. Good luck!