Getting started and some questions ... Of course :)

[Jay S 3]

Hello everyone,

I have been scanning the site for a few hours now and I have to say that there is quite a bit of extremely helpful information on here. There are a few questions that I have not been able to find answers to so far and I am hoping someone can help me find the answers.

Just a quick summary to start.

My fiance and I are planning to be married in early 2012. I am a US Citizen and she is a UK citizen. I have already gotten my UK Marriage visa and will be traveling to the UK so that we can be married there. We have known each other since August 1992 when she was an exchange student my senior year of high school. I have traveled to the UK twice since December 2010 to be with her while I was awaiting my divorce to be finalized. We are pretty sure that the way to go to get her and my step-son to the US is the IR-1/CR-1 Visa instead of the K3/K4 Visa.

Here are some preliminary questions that we have come up with while we are waiting to be married. From what I have seen, being prepared as much as possible is the best way to go to make this process as quick and painless as possible.

1. Upon our marriage, will my wife need to change her name?

2. Wife's passport will expire in August of 2012. Can it be in her maiden name even after we are married?

3. What are some common ways to prove that this is a bonafide marriage. I have looked at the list and the first 4 options are not even legally possible.

4. Who can provide an affidavit? Family members? Employers? Lawyers?

Any help that can be provided is extremely appreciated.

J

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Welcome to VJ! You are right the CR-1 will be for you... have you decided yet how long you'll stay in the UK before moving back? Ie do you plan to live there or just visit briefly for the wedding

1. No, totally up to you two.

2. Yes, if she so chooses she can keep her maiden name on all documents. Not everyone changes their name upon marriage, and it is not a requirement for the visa/ greencard to do so.

3. Not sure which list you are refering to, but joint bills, lease/ mortgage agreements, joint accounts etc are all good evidence. Also photos of your various trips to see eachother, as time together is very strong indicator of a bonafide marriage.

4. If you mean affidavits of the relationship, anyone that knows you can write one- family members are good, but friends are fine too, or a priest if you meet with one for pre-marriage counselling etc. Lawyers are not good because they would hardly have met you, only for a couple of hous- you want people who have seen you together throughout your relationship. If you mean the affidavit of support, it can be anyone who is a US citizen or greencard holder living in the USA, and financially qualified. They technically don;t ever need to have met you.

[Jay S 3]

Thank you for the excellent and detailed reply.

I will be in the UK for 4 months. Thankfully my employer has granted me permission to work remotely from there for that time, which will allow me to maintain my financial obligations here in the US (i.e. pay my mortgage).

I was referring to the bona fide lists. The joint mortgage, bank accounts, bills, etc are not even possible from my understanding. Would my wife being listed as a beneficiary on my life insurance be a good piece of evidence?

Since you mentioned the Affidavit of Support, I did notice a few posts where people met the support requirements but were still denied for inability to support their spouse. Logically, the Affidavit of Support seems a waste considering a CR-1 would be allow her to work upon arrival and receipt of her greencard. Is it a good idea to have a co-sponsor available just in case? Do they have to reside with me?

Again, thank you for your help.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Yes, her being the beneficiary on your life insurance is good, also her being listed as next-of-kin at your work. Depending on when you file, you may also have 2011 taxes to present, which you can file jointly. Letters addressed to both of you are good. Maybe you can get a bill in both your names in the UK? All that being said, they do understand that newly married people who haven;t been living together won;t have that much joint evidence.

I have not read of anyone who was comfortably over the guideline (ie not just a couple of hundred dollars over) and got denied if they had the evidence (3 years tax returns, paystubs, letter from employer). How much do you make and how many in your household (ie you, wife, any kids from both or either of you, any other dependants?)? The affidavit of support is not a waste because your wife may not find work right away, or may find work then loose it again, or get pregnant and be unable to work... If you want to have a co-sponsor just in case, you can have their papers available for your wife to hand in if the Co at interview says it is needed. The co-sponsor, as I mention in my first post, can be anyone in the USA as a greencard holder or US citizen. They do not need to live with you, they do not even need to be in the same state.

[Jay S 3]

Without being too specific, my household size would be 3 with the addition of my wife and step-son. That being said, my annual gross income would be approximately double the dollar amount listed and SHOULD be sufficient to meet those guidelines. May have issues with my tax returns for the last 3 years as my ex-wife's income was part of that total, but I would assume my W-2 would be a good piece of backup to break out my portion. Paystubs and a letter from my employer are easy enough though.

Glad to hear the life insurance would work and adding as next-of-kin is something I hadn't thought of.

I like this site so I am sure I will be adding my own timeline in the next few months as things get rolling along.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

May have issues with my tax returns for the last 3 years as my ex-wife's income was part of that total, but I would assume my W-2 would be a good piece of backup to break out my portion. Paystubs and a letter from my employer are easy enough though.

I just wanted to add that one of my 3 tax returns, the oldest, was joint with a previous husband who died that year. I just took the form literally and listed the income from the tax return in the blank because it was my tax return. I didn't have an alternate one. I didn't explain it or comment on it being joint or deduct his portion before putting down the numbers. There's a separate place to list your current income. USCIS didn't question mine, so I don't thinks it will be a problem.

[JoannaV 174]

If you are comfortably over the income requirements then you needn't worry about having to prove to the nearest cent what your income was three years ago. I really wouldn't be worried about that at all. You should just be able to complete the I-864EZ in a few minutes, include your most recent tax return, and be done :-) (Of course you may certainly choose to include additional evidence of your income, such as recent pay stubs and you can also choose to include more than the most recent tax return, but that will be all you need in your case.)

It is understood that a newly married couple based in separate countries will not have much evidence. Personally we provided a boat insurance document which happened to have both of our names on it, and three short affidavits from the USC's parent, brother, and friend, basically saying "I know J and J and was at their wedding." That was it. You will probably be able to provide a little more proof than that. But most of the time when you read of people submitting a tonne of evidence it is not in order to get the petition approved but rather so that the Embassy will have all that evidence once the interview comes around. But for the UK you really needn't worry about this.

Oh and in regards to your wife's passport. I couldn't tell if you were saying that she'd rather keep her maiden name, or if she was thinking of changing it. Either way she will need a new passport before the visa is issued, as that is unlikely to be before August. As it is possible (though maybe not likely) that her interview will come sooner she should renew her passport in plenty of time. So long as she applies less than 9 months before the expiry date they will add that time onto the new passport (so her new one will expire in August 2022 whenever it is she applies.) So if she is keeping her maiden name then she should probably renew her passport just before the wedding so she needn't do that later.