Affidavits to remove conditions

[MGsgirl 0]

Hi,

Do the affidavits that friends and family will be writing for proof of a legitimate relationship have to be notarized? I looked in the I751 instructions and it said they have to be sworn, but I don't see anything about notary.

Help:)

We sent in three letters, even though we felt that these letters from friends weren't the most important evidence we had. In fact, the letters are the three very last pages of our packet. As mentioned here, the other evidence was more important in our view. We had tons of other information to send, including taxes, insurance statements, lease, bank and credit accounts, etc.

When I assembled the information for the packet, (I am the REALLY organized one:) I made sure we covered everything...including specific things included in the directions. And the letters were mentioned in the official directions. Again, I don't think that the letters are the most important bit of info either; I just felt it wouldn't hurt to send them in.

To answer your question about whether or not they need to be notarized: only one of our friends out of the three notarized his letter for us. And he is a lawyer, so he said it just made him feel better to do it. The directions did not state to have the letters notarized, simply that they needed to be sworn. I made sure that all of the people wrote a statement in the letter swearing that what they wrote was true.

The letters probably won't decide a case, but they certainly cannot hurt when submitted with other evidence. It wasn't a problem for us to get the letters. It seemed like people were happy to do it for us. If the letters are not necessary....well..the officer reviewing our case and reading the letters will learn more about us than what we thought to put in the packet ourselves. No harm done.

[em79sugar 1]

Wow, I didn't know that one simple question would lead to a heated discussion. Bottom line, I just needed to know if my letters of support need to be notarized. And in my opinion, more evidence is better than not enough. I would rather provide more types of proof, with a mix of quality documents like utility bills, account info, etc, which I have, and letters of support from family of friend. Rather than get an immigration officer, that decides he/she wants one type of evidence over the other and I get an RFE that slows down the process. Better to be safe than sorry. I appreciate those that answered my question. I apologize to those that felt the need to be confrontational, and feel sorry for those that had to keep explaining themselves!

[sasaqlain 24]

then my wife/son's application (which was less than 15 pieces of paper) is the exception rather than the rule? It is the quality of the evidence not the quantity of the evidence that will lead to success...

I could not agree more! Quality over Quantity is the key.

In my case, I never submitted any affidavits, emails, letters for I thought they were useless and if I was an IO, I would not give it much importance. I have no intention of sending any of these as evidence during my Removal Of Conditions either.

[em79sugar 1]

It's Ok people, no one is saying YOU MUST send this in or not. It was a simple question, and to each his own and good luck to all.