Proof of bona fide marriage, please help with check list

[foolskill 0]

My wife and i met in 2005 in college, we both graduated in 2008, and got married in August of 2009. She is a US citizen, and i am the immigrant. We have met and have become close with both families over the past 4 years.

Our AOS interview is on November 23, and we are not sure if we are good to go with our documents. I am mostly concerned with the proof of marriage, this is what we have so far:

--life insurance, beneficiary to each other

--Joint checking and savings account

--two credit cards to both names

--gym memberships

--lots of pictures, including college graduation, with both families, trips, birthdays, wedding ceremony(confidential marriage)

All utility bills are included with the rent. We do not have a lease because its a private home and was a verbal agreement.

I am also wondering if the confidential marriage will be an issue. We did not have any family members at the wedding, and did not have a reception due to lack of money. Now we are concerned if they will question this. We are planning on having a reception after we save enough money. Please advise if this amount of proof is sufficient and should we be really concerned about not having any family members at the wedding.

[Anh map 2,098]

Write up a rental agreement with your landlord to include with your submission.

Don't forget to include your joint federal tax returns. Auto insurance.

[foolskill 0]

Write up a rental agreement with your landlord to include with your submission.

Don't forget to include your joint federal tax returns. Auto insurance.

We just got married this August, so have not filed a joint tax return.

[foolskill 0]

Anyone with more ideas or suggestions????

[loyaboya 0]

Anyone with more ideas or suggestions????

I think what you have sounds really good. I'd also try to get some proof that you live at the same address. Anh map had a good suggestion about writing up a lease for your landlord to sign (or at least a letter from them). I think we also brought some mail that had both of our names on it and our drivers licenses (same address on both).

Also- I think it would be a good idea to bring pictures of you with both families even if you had a "confidential" wedding. Who were your witnesses? If they were friends you could also bring letters from them.

Good luck!

[sachinky 465]

Get support affidavits from college friends. Or your parents.

[supermoth 0]

My wife and i met in 2005 in college, we both graduated in 2008, and got married in August of 2009. She is a US citizen, and i am the immigrant. We have met and have become close with both families over the past 4 years.

Our AOS interview is on November 23, and we are not sure if we are good to go with our documents. I am mostly concerned with the proof of marriage, this is what we have so far:

--life insurance, beneficiary to each other

--Joint checking and savings account

--two credit cards to both names

--gym memberships

--lots of pictures, including college graduation, with both families, trips, birthdays, wedding ceremony(confidential marriage)

All utility bills are included with the rent. We do not have a lease because its a private home and was a verbal agreement.

I am also wondering if the confidential marriage will be an issue. We did not have any family members at the wedding, and did not have a reception due to lack of money. Now we are concerned if they will question this. We are planning on having a reception after we save enough money. Please advise if this amount of proof is sufficient and should we be really concerned about not having any family members at the wedding.

My husband and I went to our interview on November 3rd. We had FAR less proof than you do. We have no joint assests other than 1 credit card account with both our names. No joint lease, no joint bank account. We got married in Las Vegas with 2 friends present and only had a few photos. We got approved, same day, after a 15 minute interview. I think what worked most in our favor is that my husband and I joke around a lot and the interviewer said he thought we had good chemistry. We got lucky in that our interviewer was a pretty nice, mellow guy.

I think the list of documents looks sufficient. More is better if it makes you feel better. Just because you didn't have a big blowout ceremony doesn't mean they should be suspicious. That was your personal and financial decision.

All I can say is take a good, deep breath. Don't freak out. Just tell yourself that the interview will be fun, quick, and easy.. because it probably will!

[Hugglebuggles 60]

Hi there! We just had our interview yesterday and our list was very similar to yours. We don't have a lease or utility bills either. The IO just wanted to see something showing we have co-mingled our lives, and didn't really pick or question anything we had. You have what you have, and I think its a good list. Good luck with the interview!!

[RPS 1]

Get support affidavits from college friends. Or your parents.

We will be in the same boat soon needing proof of marriage (civil union today). However we are not planning on formally living together in the US until the immigration process is complete.

Do support affidavits need to be notarized, or can they just be letters with full info?

Any thoughts on showing proof of a formal wedding/reception we are planning for next June?

Thanks!