Planning to file IR1/CR1---bonafide marriage

[MAlove 0]

Hello everyone!

I've been creeping on here for a while. This is my first post and I"d like to introduce myself. My FI is American and I'm Canadian. We're so lucky to have had this site while we were dating so we were careful to take photos with the family and save boarding passes, hotel receipts, etc. The guides were very informative and we've started to fill out forms.

We are planning on having a small legal ceremony sometime soon and are looking for ways to show a bonafide marriage. He is a first time homeowner so we're not sure about some things:

1) Can my name just be added to the mortgage even though I have no credit history in the US? Does this also apply to utilities (phone, cable, heat, etc.)?

2) Will having a Canadian joint account as opposed to an American one have any bearing or are US joint accounts preferred?

Other steps we are planning to take:

- Make each other beneficiaries on medical & life insurance.

- Get affidavits from our moms & dads (This always cracks me up because at 25 & 28 we never expected to have them "write notes" for us as they put it.)

Looking forward to getting to know all of you during this process.

Matt & Rachael

[pushbrk 13,157]

Hello everyone!

I've been creeping on here for a while. This is my first post and I"d like to introduce myself. My FI is American and I'm Canadian. We're so lucky to have had this site while we were dating so we were careful to take photos with the family and save boarding passes, hotel receipts, etc. The guides were very informative and we've started to fill out forms.

We are planning on having a small legal ceremony sometime soon and are looking for ways to show a bonafide marriage. He is a first time homeowner so we're not sure about some things:

1) Can my name just be added to the mortgage even though I have no credit history in the US? Does this also apply to utilities (phone, cable, heat, etc.)?

2) Will having a Canadian joint account as opposed to an American one have any bearing or are US joint accounts preferred?

Other steps we are planning to take:

- Make each other beneficiaries on medical & life insurance.

- Get affidavits from our moms & dads (This always cracks me up because at 25 & 28 we never expected to have them "write notes" for us as they put it.)

Looking forward to getting to know all of you during this process.

Matt & Rachael

You probably cannot be added to the mortgage. The other things are good but I'd skip the note from your parents. Newlyweds deal with the bona fides at the interview and with evidence of time together and regular communication. You can confidently literally interpret that anything listed as a "should include" following the words "in addition to the required" is simply "not required". The I-130 is also used for spouses who already live together in the USA or abroad and/or are not in visa processes.

[FinnLove 0]

Hello everyone!

I've been creeping on here for a while. This is my first post and I"d like to introduce myself. My FI is American and I'm Canadian. We're so lucky to have had this site while we were dating so we were careful to take photos with the family and save boarding passes, hotel receipts, etc. The guides were very informative and we've started to fill out forms.

We are planning on having a small legal ceremony sometime soon and are looking for ways to show a bonafide marriage. He is a first time homeowner so we're not sure about some things:

1) Can my name just be added to the mortgage even though I have no credit history in the US? Does this also apply to utilities (phone, cable, heat, etc.)?

2) Will having a Canadian joint account as opposed to an American one have any bearing or are US joint accounts preferred?

Other steps we are planning to take:

- Make each other beneficiaries on medical & life insurance.

- Get affidavits from our moms & dads (This always cracks me up because at 25 & 28 we never expected to have them "write notes" for us as they put it.)

Looking forward to getting to know all of you during this process.

Matt & Rachael

I don't think you can get your name on the mortgage. I had to refinance my house just to get my ex off the mortgage! You usually have to have a social security number to get on his US bank account also.

If you want to add affidavits, get them from friends who know you well as a couple. Parents are a little biased...

Good idea on the beneficiaries-I did that after we got married.

Try being in your mid 40s and doing all of this! It gets silly!!!

Good luck!

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

To add a foreign spouse to a US Bank account you do not need a SSN!

Look for IRS Form W-8BEN, that is all that is required.

If you need to file a tax return before their arrival in the US then you will apply for a TIN for them at the same time you file the tax return.

[christeen 966]

I have to disagree... It is practially impossible now and will most likely NOT find a bank that will do it without a court order... Although it is "technically" possible, finding a bank to do it is impossible... I tried for 5 years prior to my husband getting his GC...

Seems like the known "Patriot Act", is a statute enacted by the United States Government that President George W. Bush signed into law on October 26, 2001. Any U.S. institution to such banks will make sure they are not engaging in money laundering. Banks must identify all the nominal and beneficial owners of any private bank account opened and maintained in the U.S. by non-U.S. citizens. You have no rights to private banking anymore. In thirty days if a social security number is not associated with the account the checks and balances within the banks will return the account to the account holder and ask ththe acount holder to fill in the ss number of remove the account from the bank.

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

It was no real problem for my wife and I to open up a joint checking account at her HSBC branch, even though I don't have an SSN or my green card.

It required faxing of some documents and a meeting in person at the bank...but it didn't require SSN or GC.

[christeen 966]

Then I would suggest HSBC, we do not have one here and we tried Bank of America, Bank Atlantic and Wachovia...

[app-girl 0]

I agree, I tried adding my husband to my bank which is a federal credit union and he had to have a social. I think it depends on the bank policy.

[MAlove 0]

Thanks for the information everyone. We've decided to open a joint account in Canada while he's here.

[dasaleph 0]

Then I would suggest HSBC, we do not have one here and we tried Bank of America, Bank Atlantic and Wachovia...

My wife added me to her account at Wells Fargo. All they needed from me was my passport. I was there as a visitor at that time.

[unique135 0]

As far as I understand, you can apply for non-workable SSN (type III) if you state your reasons clearly. One reason could be to open a bank account.

Later, when you enter US. This SSN type III will be changed automatically to SSN (type I).