I-130 Sworn Affidavits - Bona-fide marriage

[milalu 0]

Hello All,

First of all, to those of you who have helped us out with advice and by sharing experiences....MANY MANY THANKS!

So the "additional documents" that they tell you to send along with your I-130 to prove a bona-fide marriage....is it absolutely necessary to send those? My wife lives in Denmark and is a Danish citizen. We just got married? If she lives in Denmark how the heck are we supposed to have joint accounts or property together? I feel like those are ridiculous requests.

So my question is? the only thing that would apply I guess are getting sworn affidavits. We got married in Denmark last week...so does anyone know how we go about doing that? We had some people from her family there and they can sign things if needed but a little guidance in how to do that would be nice.

Please let me know if anyone has any experience with this.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!

*Oh and is it wise to send along wedding pictures and things like that to prove a bona-fide marriage in the I-130 packet? Or should i wait til we are asked for those things?* THANKS!

Edited January 13, 2010 by milalu

[road417king 7]

Hello All,

First of all, to those of you who have helped us out with advice and by sharing experiences....MANY MANY THANKS!

<deleted to make smaller>

*Oh and is it wise to send along wedding pictures and things like that to prove a bona-fide marriage in the I-130 packet? Or should i wait til we are asked for those things?* THANKS!

What I provided was proof of an existing relationship prior to the marriage (copy of my passport with stamps showing visits, phone records and photos of Seiko and I in various places together through the six years leading up to our marriage, including photos of her with my family and me with her family [parents, siblings, chlidren, nieces and nephews]). I also provided photos from our wedding, complete with shots showing friends and family attending the wedding.

Since you're newlyweds, getting an affidavit attesting to the validity of your marriage would probably be a waste of time since you just got married.

I also provided proof that she has been added both as my dependent (work benefits) as well as my insurance beneficiary.

Just some thoughts.

Mike

[Dylan'sWife 2]

Hello All,

First of all, to those of you who have helped us out with advice and by sharing experiences....MANY MANY THANKS!

So the "additional documents" that they tell you to send along with your I-130 to prove a bona-fide marriage....is it absolutely necessary to send those? My wife lives in Denmark and is a Danish citizen. We just got married? If she lives in Denmark how the heck are we supposed to have joint accounts or property together? I feel like those are ridiculous requests.

So my question is? the only thing that would apply I guess are getting sworn affidavits. We got married in Denmark last week...so does anyone know how we go about doing that? We had some people from her family there and they can sign things if needed but a little guidance in how to do that would be nice.

Please let me know if anyone has any experience with this.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!

*Oh and is it wise to send along wedding pictures and things like that to prove a bona-fide marriage in the I-130 packet? Or should i wait til we are asked for those things?* THANKS!

I think you are taking the terminology "Bona-fide Marriage" to narrowly. They KNOW that the marriage did take place what they are really looking for is WHY it took place. Was it solely for the purpose of immigration or was it the next step in it a true and legitimately relationship.

What they are looking for to support that you and your spouse have an ongoing and true relationship are statements from friend and family that the relationship is true and valid. Pictures of you together over the time you have know each other, copies of correspondence such as birthday cards/emails- copies of phone records, any thing that shows that you have been in physical contact with each other such as airline tickets ect and birth certificates of any children you have together are supporting evidence of a real relationship.

I am not sure if the process has changed since I went through it, but when going through the I-130 process I only brought proof of our relationship to the interview (although I was not asked to produce it) we had one child together by that time which seemed to satisfy them.

[kj007 1]

thanks for starting this topic, i'm actually in the exact same situation as a newlywed filing for IR-1/CR-1. I had a related question - if providing a sworn affidavit as supplemental proof of the marriage, does it need to be provided by a US citizen (the example forms on this site seem to state this as a requirement...), or do I also need to provide an affidavit from someone in my wife's country (pakistan)?

and i certainly echo the thanks for all on this site providing advice from their experiences...it is truly appreciated!

[OBX 51]

thanks for starting this topic, i'm actually in the exact same situation as a newlywed filing for IR-1/CR-1. I had a related question - if providing a sworn affidavit as supplemental proof of the marriage, does it need to be provided by a US citizen (the example forms on this site seem to state this as a requirement...), or do I also need to provide an affidavit from someone in my wife's country (pakistan)?

and i certainly echo the thanks for all on this site providing advice from their experiences...it is truly appreciated!

No it does not. We sent in three affidavits from family and friends who were at our wedding and had known us as a couple for periods of 3 - 10 years. All were Canadians. That was all the evidence we submitted aside from our marriage certificate and were fine. All other evidence we saved for the interview. Good luck.

[TBoneTX 45,294]

See this thread, in the Embassy/Consulate forum:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=214368

[kj007 1]

thanks for the info all!

[Anh map 2,098]

Hello All,

First of all, to those of you who have helped us out with advice and by sharing experiences....MANY MANY THANKS!

So the "additional documents" that they tell you to send along with your I-130 to prove a bona-fide marriage....is it absolutely necessary to send those? My wife lives in Denmark and is a Danish citizen. We just got married? If she lives in Denmark how the heck are we supposed to have joint accounts or property together? I feel like those are ridiculous requests.

So my question is? the only thing that would apply I guess are getting sworn affidavits. We got married in Denmark last week...so does anyone know how we go about doing that? We had some people from her family there and they can sign things if needed but a little guidance in how to do that would be nice.

Please let me know if anyone has any experience with this.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!

*Oh and is it wise to send along wedding pictures and things like that to prove a bona-fide marriage in the I-130 packet? Or should i wait til we are asked for those things?* THANKS!

The I-130 form is used by people at various stages of their married lives. That is why the instructions give a selection of documents thay may be evidence of a bona fide marriage. Simply submit all the proof that you have.

As newlyweds your comingling of lives on paper may be more recent. If things on the list apply to you and your spouse, definitely include them. If not, then submit as much as you can.

As others have stated, it's not sending wedding pictures, it's showing a merging of lives (health insurance, mail addressed to both of you, joint accounts, memberships, etc).

[cocojambo4 0]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and would like to ask if anyone can help me with the sworn affidavit by third parties. Is there a specific format to follow? Does anyone have a sample of what this affidavit should look like? Any help will be very greatly appreciated. Thanks and God bless=)

[OBX 51]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and would like to ask if anyone can help me with the sworn affidavit by third parties. Is there a specific format to follow? Does anyone have a sample of what this affidavit should look like? Any help will be very greatly appreciated. Thanks and God bless=)

Try this link to the template provided in in VJ Wiki. Scroll to the bottom of the page for "Third Party Affidavits." It is similar to what we used. Good luck.

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/Affidavit

Edited January 28, 2010 by OBX

[~happyndinlove~ 540]

Congrats on your wedding!

We had several family members (especially mom,dad and grandparents), friends and a few wedding guests complete affidavits attesting to being present and witnessing our wedding. (In addition, we also included some lovey dovey comments)

We provided full legal names, birthdate, resident address and contact numbers (cell/landline).

Each (btw, we made several original copies) affidavit was signed, dated and notarized.

We included a sampling of (pictures from various trips including some) wedding pics with our I-130 application packet. All info provided in the original packet eventually makes its way to (and prior) the interview. So we thought...the more the merrier!

Hope this is helpful!!

Good Luck!

[Marah Sabir 0]

So, are we to send photos of our wedding and other activities we do together in the packet that we send off with the I-130? What about Skype call logs do they work too?

[tycoon 0]

I did not send any thing expect my marriage certificate. Case was approved in may 2012. Just waiting on Interview. You do not need to send any call logs or pics. Some post may say to do so but I-30 instructions did not say that. Just follow what Instructions say and you will be fine.

Good luck

[Ryan H 3,812]

You do not need to send any call logs or pics.

I'll grant you that the form instructions may not specifically state to send such items. However, what worked for you may not work for another couple going through Consulates such as Lagos and Casablanca.

BTW, this is a two year old thread.

[Krikit 1,164]

Closing 2.5 year old thread.