I-130 DCF in London - Affidavits NOT Notarized?

[un_conventional 0]

Hi Everyone,

I filed the I-130 for my British husband here in London and we received a letter requesting more information, including a sworn affidavit by me as well as three other affidavits by third parties. It is noted in the footnotes that 'Affidavits do not need to be notarized; the affidavit only requires the bold statement listed above "I declare...".

I had never heard of an affidavit not being notarized before and just want to check that all is required is a statement signed by the person making it, with no witness (solicitor or otherwise)?

Is there any benefit to having it notarized anyway?

Thanks!

Brittany

[newby2 0]

We received that letter about 3 weeks ago and were wondering the same thing! But apparently it doesnt need to be notarized! So just get someone to write & sign them and that should be good enough

Good luck!

[T and M 1]

We received that letter about 3 weeks ago and were wondering the same thing! But apparently it doesnt need to be notarized! So just get someone to write & sign them and that should be good enough

Good luck!

I would say get the best affidavits you can, regardless of notarization. We did affidavits with friends in London - b/c we wanted them notarized. It only cost 5 quid a piece, but we still get an additional RFE and had to attend a face-to-face interview. At the interview they wanted to know why we didn't get our parents to write the affidavits. Well, duh - we thought they had to be notarized and our parents are in foreign lands!

So, get the best ones you can get and don't worry about the notarization. It apparently matters none.

[Welshcookie 17]

I think at long last London is realizing that getting documents notarized in Britain is not as easy or cheap as it is in the US, I was quoted 40 pounds per document (once I was able to actually find a notary), in the end I just used a solicitor as witness and he charged me 5 pounds, they were acceptable though.

[Christi85 86]

I would say get the best affidavits you can, regardless of notarization. We did affidavits with friends in London - b/c we wanted them notarized. It only cost 5 quid a piece, but we still get an additional RFE and had to attend a face-to-face interview. At the interview they wanted to know why we didn't get our parents to write the affidavits. Well, duh - we thought they had to be notarized and our parents are in foreign lands!

So, get the best ones you can get and don't worry about the notarization. It apparently matters none.

I understand that they sent you two RFEs???

What did they request in each one? And what was the RFE interview about??

[T and M 1]

I understand that they sent you two RFEs???

What did they request in each one? And what was the RFE interview about??

Yes! Two RFEs and and RFE interview! We felt very unlucky at the time, but one of my friends pointed out that if he were in the embassy, he would have RFE'ed us, too. We got married quickly in a foreign country and - well - I guess they really wanted us to come in for an interview. The two RFEs were basically preludes to that.

The first RFE was with regard to my eligibility to file on behalf of my wife. I was on my second student visa in the UK, and they wanted to see my first visa - the one with my entry stamp when I first entered the UK.

The second RFE was with regard to the marriage. And they asked for three affidavits. In those days, affidavits were not standard (at least I didn't think so.) We got three friends in the UK to write them - and later we found out that they wanted our parents to be included.

The interview RFE was basically to find out if our marriage was bona fide. They interviewed us each separately, asked all sorts of questions about how we met, why we married so quickly, how many guests were at the wedding, what kind of cake, etc, etc. We passed with flying colors, and they kind of felt bad for calling us in. But then again, they explained that it WAS a pretty quick marriage.

[Christi85 86]

Ok, I see. Sounds like they gave you extra hassle but you got it in the end and that's all that counts.

Also, maybe that's a very stupid question, but how could they tell that it was a very quick marriage? There's no question in any of the documents asking how long before your wedding you met etc.

I'm convinced that they'll ask us for affidavits as well, just because we essentially plan on applying a month or so after our wedding - as soon as we can get hold of our marriage certificates. So in their eyes it may look like a "quick" marriage, although in fact we have been a couple for 3 years now and have been living together for the past 2 years (and have well-documented evidence of the above). So who knows, we'll just wait and see what they ask for and will try to be prepared with relevant documents and such.

[T and M 1]

Ok, I see. Sounds like they gave you extra hassle but you got it in the end and that's all that counts.

Also, maybe that's a very stupid question, but how could they tell that it was a very quick marriage? There's no question in any of the documents asking how long before your wedding you met etc.

I'm convinced that they'll ask us for affidavits as well, just because we essentially plan on applying a month or so after our wedding - as soon as we can get hold of our marriage certificates. So in their eyes it may look like a "quick" marriage, although in fact we have been a couple for 3 years now and have been living together for the past 2 years (and have well-documented evidence of the above). So who knows, we'll just wait and see what they ask for and will try to be prepared with relevant documents and such.

Good point. I'm not sure if they knew. I guess we got RFE'ed, b/c my wife moved to England shortly before we made the application. We got married in September 2007, she stayed in her home country to finish her degree, then moved to the UK in January 2008, and we applied two weeks later. We then moved back to the US after I finished my degree in the UK in July. So it looked like it could have been sketchy, but when they met us they could see that it wasn't a fake.