Including personal photos with I-130 petition?

[KristiAnn 0]

We're planning on sending the I-130 petition package away on Feb. 2nd, and I'm starting to second guess myself on a couple of things. Mostly, I'm curious, how many of you sent personal photos (such as wedding, vacations, etc) with your I-130 package? I've always thought they would be more appropriate at the interview stage of the game, but I'm just wanting to make sure. I don't want to regret not sending enough information. The thing that makes our situation a little more unique is that we've been married for almost 3.5 years already (long story....pretty much we always planned to have my husband immigrate to Canada with me), so my thought is that that's a huge step in showing a committed/bona fide relationship all on it's own, right? We have a lot of proof as well, such as our marriage certificate, the paperwork on a mortgage (current, and the paperwork on a house we put an offer in on before we were married), joint bank accounts and other joint bills, as well as him listed as my beneficiary for life insurance, etc. We also have letters from family and friends. So I wasn't sure if pictures were necessary yet, or more appropriate to bring along for the interview eventually?

Any tips would be great! Thanks!

[mrs. wife! 3]

We sent all the proof we had, like bank accounts, savings, phone bills, etc and also about 20 pictures.

I'm planning to take a photo album along with me for the interview too, just in case.

I'd send all the things you said and about 15-20 pictures as well. (make sure to add a couple pictures with family too)

Unfortunately, being married for 3.5 years and have a marriage certificate doesn't prove you are in a bonifade relationship.

Good luck!

[Angie'nMark 0]

We're planning on sending the I-130 petition package away on Feb. 2nd, and I'm starting to second guess myself on a couple of things. Mostly, I'm curious, how many of you sent personal photos (such as wedding, vacations, etc) with your I-130 package? I've always thought they would be more appropriate at the interview stage of the game, but I'm just wanting to make sure. I don't want to regret not sending enough information. The thing that makes our situation a little more unique is that we've been married for almost 3.5 years already (long story....pretty much we always planned to have my husband immigrate to Canada with me), so my thought is that that's a huge step in showing a committed/bona fide relationship all on it's own, right? We have a lot of proof as well, such as our marriage certificate, the paperwork on a mortgage (current, and the paperwork on a house we put an offer in on before we were married), joint bank accounts and other joint bills, as well as him listed as my beneficiary for life insurance, etc. We also have letters from family and friends. So I wasn't sure if pictures were necessary yet, or more appropriate to bring along for the interview eventually?

Any tips would be great! Thanks!

I think that you have more than enough. We already submitted our i-130 and it is my understanding that no photos or that type of evidence is given at this time. Other than our forms filled out and supporting documents and photos we only sent a joint bank account statement. I believe all that other stuff: cards, letters, phone bills, pictures etc...are brought to the interview. Our NOA2 has not been approved as of yet, so I am just confirming what we did in our package. I tried to follow the instructions on the guides from this site to a T--So we are hoping to hear soon. It is a ###### of a wait. They are apparently only processing people who filed at the end of Sept/ beginning of Oct. We filed mid-Nov....

Best of luck to you and your husband.

[mrs. wife! 3]

According to the guides, you have to send evidences with the I-130 package:

Note: Evidence of a Bonifide Marriage

The USCIS now requires that when filing an I-130 for a spouse that you include evidence of a bonifide marriage. They list examples of acceptable evidence as:

1. Documentation showing joint ownership or property; or

2. A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence; or

3. Documentation showing co-mingling of financialresources; or

4. Birth certificate(s) of child(ren) born to you, thepetitioner, and your spouse together; or

5. Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties havingpersonal knowledge of the bona fides of the maritalrelationship (Each affidavit must contain the full nameand address, date and place of birth of the person makingthe affidavit, his or her relationship to the petitioner ofbeneficiary, if any, and complete information and detailsexplaining how the person acquired his or herknowledge of your marriage); or

6. Any other relevant documentation to establish that thereis an ongoing marital union.

ps- some consuls don't even ask for evidence at the interview, since they will receive the ones you sent with the package to USCIS. So if you want to make sure you sent enough, that's the time.

[Angie'nMark 0]

According to the guides, you have to send evidences with the I-130 package:

Note: Evidence of a Bonifide Marriage

The USCIS now requires that when filing an I-130 for a spouse that you include evidence of a bonifide marriage. They list examples of acceptable evidence as:

1. Documentation showing joint ownership or property; or

2. A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence; or

3. Documentation showing co-mingling of financialresources; or

4. Birth certificate(s) of child(ren) born to you, thepetitioner, and your spouse together; or

5. Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties havingpersonal knowledge of the bona fides of the maritalrelationship (Each affidavit must contain the full nameand address, date and place of birth of the person makingthe affidavit, his or her relationship to the petitioner ofbeneficiary, if any, and complete information and detailsexplaining how the person acquired his or herknowledge of your marriage); or

6. Any other relevant documentation to establish that thereis an ongoing marital union.

ps- some consuls don't even ask for evidence at the interview, since they will receive the ones you sent with the package to USCIS. So if you want to make sure you sent enough, that's the time.

Yes but do you see how it says OR at the end, not and?

[Angie'nMark 0]

Yes but do you see how it says OR at the end, not and?

My assumption is not that you have to have all of those things; I believe that last line, any other documentation is there if the other aforementioned documentation is not as solid as it could be. We only sent our joint bank account info for that category. So here's to hoping we will be ok...I am not too worried.

[mrs. wife! 3]

Yes but do you see how it says OR at the end, not and?

Oh yes, my point was just to show that you do require to send evidence of a bonafide marriage in this stage.

You do not require to send all of this, they are just examples.

[Deb+Steve 13]

This is what we sent:-

The petition (of course)

G325A

1 x affadavit from his Mother

Divorce decrees

Marriage Certificate

Passport style photos

Copy of passport biographic page for me

Copy of his Military ID

We made sure that we sent ALL the required documents, though. Had we had joint bank A/C, lease etc we most likely would have sent that too. We have plenty of photos but I'll keep that for the interview stage (if we ever get there).

[FinnLove 0]

I sent a photo book (done at a camera store) of pictures of us starting from 1988 to present to USCIS, and they sent it right back to me! They asked for nothing at my hubby's interview.

[KristiAnn 0]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone - I appreciate it! And Mrs. Silverman, I understood that we needed to for sure include all sorts of other documents to prove a bona fide marriage, like I listed. I was just unsure about the photos - I wasn't sure how necessary they were at this stage. We'll contemplate whether we want to include some, but I think we might hold off, unless I hear a really great arguement for it! Thanks again to everyone who responded!

[sachinky 465]

I sent in six pictures with our petition--3 wedding and 3 non-wedding.

[OBX 51]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone - I appreciate it! And Mrs. Silverman, I understood that we needed to for sure include all sorts of other documents to prove a bona fide marriage, like I listed. I was just unsure about the photos - I wasn't sure how necessary they were at this stage. We'll contemplate whether we want to include some, but I think we might hold off, unless I hear a really great arguement for it! Thanks again to everyone who responded!

All we sent (aside from the required documents - marriage certificate, divorce certificates etc.) were 3 affidavits from family and friends that were at our wedding and had know us and of our relationship. Our long distance relationship spanned 10 years and I saved all other materials (photos, phone bills, emails etc) for the interview; none of which they even looked at!

Keep in mind that USCIS does not necessarily forward your personal photos and such to NVC.

Good luck!

Edited January 25, 2010 by OBX

[zenaxe 22]

We sent personal photos ie vacation pictures, us together, with family, engagement party, wedding pictures etc - pictures that showed us together over the last few years; as well we sent copies of telephone bills, joint bank account information, cheques showing money going into the account, flight itineraries, passport stamps. We probably sent it about 10 or more pictures and we dated them.

[*Snowdrop* 604]

We sent in three wedding pictures - one showing us together with my step-children, one with us and both our parents and one with a group wedding shot showing us with all our friends and family. I figured it couldn't hurt and was a quick picture reference that our marriage was a fully accepted family occasion.

I took pictures from different stages of our 5 year relationship to the interview. The photos I sent with the petition were never mentioned or seen again and they never asked for any photos or any other evidence at the interview.

So they might not have been necessary at all - who knows - but I thought it couldn't hurt to send a couple in and three didn't exactly make the package weigh any more.