Joint Bank account

[Austramerican 83]

As one of the primary evidence of relationship papers I have in my package, I included proof of a joint bank account between Ben and I that has been open since March 2011. It shows that we are in a committed relationship to open a bank account together, but what I'm wondering is while I'm going to be blacking out the account #s and all that, can I also black out the amount of money in it? His car had broken down so we had to pull almost all of the savings we had in there to fix it, so our balance is nearly 0 in that account now. Would blacking out the amount count against us or should we just leave that out of the packet altogether? Thanks in advance!

[P.A.T 1]

As one of the primary evidence of relationship papers I have in my package, I included proof of a joint bank account between Ben and I that has been open since March 2011. It shows that we are in a committed relationship to open a bank account together, but what I'm wondering is while I'm going to be blacking out the account #s and all that, can I also black out the amount of money in it? His car had broken down so we had to pull almost all of the savings we had in there to fix it, so our balance is nearly 0 in that account now. Would blacking out the amount count against us or should we just leave that out of the packet altogether? Thanks in advance!

Your profile says you're pursuing a J-1 visa. Are you submitting I-129F for K-1 visa? If yes, you don't need to provide any evidence of an actual relationship at this point, just evidence that you've met within the past 2 years. So send lots of pictures, and other stuff that places you together. Having a joint bank account doesn't necessarily place together in the same location.

The immigration requirements for a K1 Visa are simple but firm:

1. The petitioner must be a United States citizen. Legal Permanent Resident “Green Card” holders of the U.S. are not allowed to obtain a K1 Visa for their foreign fiancee.

2. Both the petitioner (U.S. citizen) and the beneficiary (foreign fiancee) must be free to marry. This means that if either has been previously married he or she must be either divorced or widowed, or else the marriage must be legally annulled.

3. The petitioner and foreign fiancee must have the intent to marry within 90 days of the foreign fiancee’s arrival in the U.S.

4. The petitioner and foreign fiancee must have met in person within two years prior to filing the fiancee visa petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (the USCIS and formerly the "INS" - Immigration and Naturalization Service ). There is a hardship waiver available for this requirement, but it is extremely difficult to obtain. The fact that the petitioner is too busy with his work, children, sick parent, etc. will not be adequate to obtain the waiver. To qualify for a waiver, most often there is a medical condition that prevents the US citizen from international travel.

5. The U.S. citizen petitioner must meet a minimum income requirement that is the poverty level.

6. The foreign fiancee must pass a medical exam at a clinic approved by the U.S. Consulate that is processing the fiancee visa application. The fiancee must not have any type of communicable disease or serious mental illness.

7. The foreign fiancee must also not have a criminal record. Some arrests and/or convictions are exempt from this requirement. If this is a concern in your situation you should consult an immigration attorney experienced with fiancee visas before proceeding further.

[Austramerican 83]

Yeah, he's on a J1 visa at the moment, hes been living with me for almost a year now. I know we could get married now and file an AOS but we don't have the money for that right now, so he is going to leave the country at the end of his J1 visa, save up in Australia while the K1 is processing, and then we will get married when he arrives back in the US.

Cool, so I don't need to include that paper atm We do have LOTS of pictures since we have been living together for almost a year, we do have both our names on our lease as well. Would we save these for the interview then instead of sending it with the I129?

I do also have a lot of itineraries and boarding passes from when I visited him in 2010 and when he came here last year, as well as our passport stamps and his visa, but since we HAVE been living together the lease should also be a good proof that we have met in the past two years too, right?

[P.A.T 1]

Yeah, he's on a J1 visa at the moment, hes been living with me for almost a year now. I know we could get married now and file an AOS but we don't have the money for that right now, so he is going to leave the country at the end of his J1 visa, save up in Australia while the K1 is processing, and then we will get married when he arrives back in the US.

Cool, so I don't need to include that paper atm We do have LOTS of pictures since we have been living together for almost a year, we do have both our names on our lease as well. Would we save these for the interview then instead of sending it with the I129?

I do also have a lot of itineraries and boarding passes from when I visited him in 2010 and when he came here last year, as well as our passport stamps and his visa, but since we HAVE been living together the lease should also be a good proof that we have met in the past two years too, right?

I think you're best off with just pictures, itineraries, boarding passes and passport stamps. Once again, having his name on the lease does not necessarily place him with you geographically...you could have signed the lease yourself and then had his name added later, just my 2 cents.

[Austramerican 83]

I think you're best off with just pictures, itineraries, boarding passes and passport stamps. Once again, having his name on the lease does not necessarily place him with you geographically...you could have signed the lease yourself and then had his name added later, just my 2 cents.

But the lease plus all of his information from his J1 visa placing him in the country and in my address? He is in regular paperwork contact for his J1 visa and has to update his address and jobs with them as soon as they change. For the entire year they have him at the same two addresses as me. Thats not something we can just "do" for the sake of the paperwork, its a vital part of his visa in the US right now.

[P.A.T 1]

You can send the lease with the I-129F if you want, I'm just telling you that all you have to prove at this stage of the process is that you actually met at least once in the past two years

[Austramerican 83]

You can send the lease with the I-129F if you want, I'm just telling you that all you have to prove at this stage of the process is that you actually met at least once in the past two years

Ok thanks, yeah since we've been living together and seeing each other every day for the past year now, that should definitely count as us having met in the past two years!! Talk about overkill We have met once before he came to live with me, but that was early 2010, and I do have all the documentation from that.

I was told before that pictures were only secondary evidence, so I've only printed out eight of them. My parents and his parents did meet on Memorial day here in the US, so definitely pics from that. Would this be the stage where we can have statements from people that know us or is that also later?

And just so I know later in case I do end up using our joint bank account (because I was also told that bills we share together can be used) would I be able to black out the amounts in the savings or would that look bad?

[P.A.T 1]

You can black out anything you want on the bank statement, except your names and address of course This is not the stage to send statements from other people. Follow the K-1 guide on this site and you should have no issues.