ROC: is this enough?

[newlyweds2010 208]

Hi all, although we have a few months to go before we can file the ROC package, we just want to make sure we are collecting the right type of evidence and won't need to rush at the very last second to put everything together. This is what we have so far:

1.Two sworn affidavits by U.S. citizen friends, attesting to our relationship and marriage.

2.Several bank account statements of our joint bank account at Wells Fargo.

3.Copy of a voided check referred to our Wells Fargo joint account.

4.Several bank account statements of our joint savings account at ING Direct, opened in September 2011 (about one year after the marriage, before we had no money to put into savings).

5.Copies of our joint federal and state tax returns for tax years 2010 and 2011.

6.Copy of beneficiary's SEP IRA agreement showing petitioner as 100% primary beneficiary.

7.Beneficiary's life insurance offered by his employer, showing petitioner as beneficiary (purchased on March 2012, before this benefit wasn't available).

8.Copy of Beneficiary and Petitioner's Capital One credit cards, issued on the same account.

9.Copies of Beneficiary and Petitioner's driver licenses, showing the same address.

10.Copy of our car certificate of title, showing Beneficiary and Petitioner as registered owners of the vehicle.

11.Copy of various car insurance verification of coverage statements showing Beneficiary and Petitioner as insured drivers.

12.Copy of our current lease showing both of us as tenants.

13.Copy of our previous lease showing both of us as tenants.

14.Renters' Insurance Policy under both names.

15.List of utilities paid from Wells Fargo joint bank account.

16.Pacific Gas & Electrics (PG&E) scheduled payments under Petitioner's name, made with our Wells Fargo joint bank account.

17.Comcast scheduled payments under Beneficiary's name, made with our Wells Fargo joint bank account.

18.Several receipts of the laundry machine at our residence, paid either by Beneficiary or by Petitioner (these don't span the whole 2 years, as the receipt paper in the machine is not always available: SHOULD WE ADD THEM OR WOULD THEY JUST ADD CONFUSION?).

19.Various Netflix delivery receipts showing both names at the same address.

20.Joint gym membership at the gym.

21.Several pictures taken at our wedding.

22.Pictures of us together with Beneficiary's family when they came to visit us in July-August 2011.

23.Copy of our Southwest Airlines schedules and boarding passes for a vacation in New Orleans which we took on Labor Day 2011 weekend.

24.Pictures taken during our New Orleans vacation on Labor Day 2011 weekend.

25.Pictures of us with Petitioner's family on Thanksgiving 2011.

26.Picture and tickets of a basketball game we watched on December 4, 2011.

27.Picture taken during Beneficiary's work 2011 Christmas party.

28.Copy of boarding passes for a trip to New York for New Year's eve 2011.

29.Pictures take during our New York trip on New Year's eve 2011.

30.Copy of boarding passes for a vacation in Vietnam which we are taking in May - June 2012.

31.Pictures of us together with Beneficiary's family taken during our vacation in Vietnam in May-June 2012 (still to come, will take them).

32.Pictures taken at Petitioner's sister's wedding on Feburary 4, 2012.

33.Copy of boarding passes for a vacation in Italy which we are taking in September 2012 to attend Beneficiary's cousin's wedding.

34.Pictures taken at Beneficiary's cousin's wedding in Italy in September 2012 (still to come, will take them).

35.Copy of a card received from Petitioner's parents for our first wedding anniversary, addressed to both of us.

36.Copy of the envelope containing a Christmas gift from Petitioner's parents, addressed to both of us.

37.Copy of other correspondence addressed to both Beneficiary and Petitioner at the same address.

38.Copy of other correspondence addressed to either Beneficiary or Petitioner at the same address.

Should we add anything else, or are we good to go? Thank you all for your input.

Edited April 2, 2012 by newlyweds2010

[cdneh 3,112]

That seems a little extreme..I've never seen a list that includes laundry room receipts.

[newlyweds2010 208]

That seems a little extreme..I've never seen a list that includes laundry room receipts.

LOL I can leave them out. we are just trying to throw the kitchen sink at them and avoid to have to take days off to go to an interview or get an RFE.

[cdneh 3,112]

LOL I can leave them out. we are just trying to throw the kitchen sink at them and avoid to have to take days off to go to an interview or get an RFE.

Well you certainly already have an impressive stack of paper there already, and I believe you have some time to go before you must file. Remember that what you are trying to prove for ROC is that you can show the intermingling of taxes, finances, and cohabitation, so everything you have in your list so far will do that.

[wifetobe 2]

Hi all, although we have a few months to go before we can file the ROC package, we just want to make sure we are collecting the right type of evidence and won't need to rush at the very last second to put everything together. This is what we have so far:

1.Two sworn affidavits by U.S. citizen friends, attesting to our relationship and marriage.

2.Several bank account statements of our joint bank account at Wells Fargo.

3.Copy of a voided check referred to our Wells Fargo joint account.

4.Several bank account statements of our joint savings account at ING Direct, opened in September 2011 (about one year after the marriage, before we had no money to put into savings).

5.Copies of our joint federal and state tax returns for tax years 2010 and 2011.

6.Copy of beneficiary's SEP IRA agreement showing petitioner as 100% primary beneficiary.

7.Beneficiary's life insurance offered by his employer, showing petitioner as beneficiary (purchased on March 2012, before this benefit wasn't available).

8.Copy of Beneficiary and Petitioner's Capital One credit cards, issued on the same account.

9.Copies of Beneficiary and Petitioner's driver licenses, showing the same address.

10.Copy of our car certificate of title, showing Beneficiary and Petitioner as registered owners of the vehicle.

11.Copy of various car insurance verification of coverage statements showing Beneficiary and Petitioner as insured drivers.

12.Copy of our current lease showing both of us as tenants.

13.Copy of our previous lease showing both of us as tenants.

14.Renters' Insurance Policy under both names.

15.List of utilities paid from Wells Fargo joint bank account.

16.Pacific Gas & Electrics (PG&E) scheduled payments under Petitioner's name, made with our Wells Fargo joint bank account.

17.Comcast scheduled payments under Beneficiary's name, made with our Wells Fargo joint bank account.

18.Several receipts of the laundry machine at our residence, paid either by Beneficiary or by Petitioner (these don't span the whole 2 years, as the receipt paper in the machine is not always available: SHOULD WE ADD THEM OR WOULD THEY JUST ADD CONFUSION?).

19.Various Netflix delivery receipts showing both names at the same address.

20.Joint gym membership at the gym.

21.Several pictures taken at our wedding.

22.Pictures of us together with Beneficiary's family when they came to visit us in July-August 2011.

23.Copy of our Southwest Airlines schedules and boarding passes for a vacation in New Orleans which we took on Labor Day 2011 weekend.

24.Pictures taken during our New Orleans vacation on Labor Day 2011 weekend.

25.Pictures of us with Petitioner's family on Thanksgiving 2011.

26.Picture and tickets of a basketball game we watched on December 4, 2011.

27.Picture taken during Beneficiary's work 2011 Christmas party.

28.Copy of boarding passes for a trip to New York for New Year's eve 2011.

29.Pictures take during our New York trip on New Year's eve 2011.

30.Copy of boarding passes for a vacation in Vietnam which we are taking in May - June 2012.

31.Pictures of us together with Beneficiary's family taken during our vacation in Vietnam in May-June 2012 (still to come, will take them).

32.Pictures taken at Petitioner's sister's wedding on Feburary 4, 2012.

33.Copy of boarding passes for a vacation in Italy which we are taking in September 2012 to attend Beneficiary's cousin's wedding.

34.Pictures taken at Beneficiary's cousin's wedding in Italy in September 2012 (still to come, will take them).

35.Copy of a card received from Petitioner's parents for our first wedding anniversary, addressed to both of us.

36.Copy of the envelope containing a Christmas gift from Petitioner's parents, addressed to both of us.

37.Copy of other correspondence addressed to both Beneficiary and Petitioner at the same address.

38.Copy of other correspondence addressed to either Beneficiary or Petitioner at the same address.

Should we add anything else, or are we good to go? Thank you all for your input.

That's plentiful and definitely will not encounter an RFE I'd be very surprised if you did!!! We didn't even send in half of what you have on this list and we were good The best of luck and enjoy your trip!!!

[juliava 80]

I would cut from the photos and "other correspondence sent to the benefficiary or petitioner". These are not considered high quality pieces of evidence.

[newlyweds2010 208]

Thanks for your replies. Do we need to enclose ALL pages of the bank statements (including all transactions: $45 at Safeway, $300 on Southwest.com, etc), or just the first pages of each statement, where it shows both names?

[Hugglebuggles 60]

Personally, I would cut out #18 and then #35-38. I would also condense the pictures into one group, and limit them to no more than 15-20 or so.

I understand wanting to throw the kitchen sink at them, but remember quality over quantity. Also, the more unnecessary things you have in there, the greater the chance of of something important being passed over.

With that said, you have some great evidence and I doubt you'll have any issues being approved without an RFE

On bank statements, we sent in the whole statement, but only one for every 6 months of our marriage.

[newlyweds2010 208]

Personally, I would cut out #18 and then #35-38. I would also condense the pictures into one group, and limit them to no more than 15-20 or so.

I understand wanting to throw the kitchen sink at them, but remember quality over quantity. Also, the more unnecessary things you have in there, the greater the chance of of something important being passed over.

With that said, you have some great evidence and I doubt you'll have any issues being approved without an RFE

On bank statements, we sent in the whole statement, but only one for every 6 months of our marriage.

Thank you!

[kittens_0117 5]

I just submitted mine couple days ago, waiting on a response, but what you listed here is probably half of what I've sent.

I read the guidelines in the USCIS website about sending application packets (it was updated couple years ago, but still, it's in their website) that we don't need to send a huge stack, just the more relevant stuff that proves your financial investment on the relationship and proof of cohabitation. I initially put mine in a 3-ring binder, but the site said that the packet should be bound in a way where it's easy to take apart and file their way.

In the end my packet was a quarter inch thick, carefully clipped at the top with a huge ACCO fastener, and post-it labeled tabs at the bottom, for easier reference. I couldn't find a Manila envelope so I just clipped it on a file folder labeled in front with the document title (ORIGINAL APPLICATION: I-751 so-and-so), with the A#.

P.S. The stack had 3 holes on the left from my initial binding. I killed our printer/copier toner in the process of printing copies so I wasn't about to re-do the whole thing, but I figured the 3 holes wouldn't be important. Just my OC talking.

[Sandra G. 5,075]

You have more than enough.I had my ROC approved with Will, health power of attorney, joint bank account, IRS transcript, family pictures, four affidavits from family and friends, and a few bills in name of both.

[bigdog 376]

One question, if you were the IO would you read all of it or like to review documents which were more manageable?

[newlyweds2010 208]

I just submitted mine couple days ago, waiting on a response, but what you listed here is probably half of what I've sent.

I read the guidelines in the USCIS website about sending application packets (it was updated couple years ago, but still, it's in their website) that we don't need to send a huge stack, just the more relevant stuff that proves your financial investment on the relationship and proof of cohabitation. I initially put mine in a 3-ring binder, but the site said that the packet should be bound in a way where it's easy to take apart and file their way.

In the end my packet was a quarter inch thick, carefully clipped at the top with a huge ACCO fastener, and post-it labeled tabs at the bottom, for easier reference. I couldn't find a Manila envelope so I just clipped it on a file folder labeled in front with the document title (ORIGINAL APPLICATION: I-751 so-and-so), with the A#.

P.S. The stack had 3 holes on the left from my initial binding. I killed our printer/copier toner in the process of printing copies so I wasn't about to re-do the whole thing, but I figured the 3 holes wouldn't be important. Just my OC talking.

So you're saying that you sent double as much as what I listed? What else did you send, if I may ask? The guides in the USCIS website don't really tell you what to send (whatever you think is relevant...go figure).

[newlyweds2010 208]

One question, if you were the IO would you read all of it or like to review documents which were more manageable?

If I were the IO reviewing my case I wouldn't read anything and approve it on the spot nonetheless, because I know that we are 100% legit

But since I am not the IO, I don't really know what the IO may consider important and what not. Is a joint title to a vehicle important? I think it is, because it shows lots of trust to have a car together, it exposes you to huge liability to be as the registered owner of a vehicle used by somebody else. Bank accounts? you bet: you basically place your money in the hands of somebody else (and my wife can be VERY expensive when it comes to shopping...). Pictures with the other's family? I know that pics are not so important, but I believe that showing myself or my wife with our respective families during particular occasions (thanksgiving, holidays, etc.) is good proof that our relationship is genuine. Collecting evidence thinking of what could be useful to send in is stressful and I would gladly think that I can just send a few documents, but then I don't want to regret not having saved and enclosed a certain receipt from a certain time that we went to such and such place. Plus, many of the documents listed are basically required (lease, bank accounts, etc.), and the remaining documents add some color. I'm just trying to fighure out whether we are forgetting something important.

[kittens_0117 5]

Another grammar booboo -- what I meant whas that I submitted half of what you did. Sorry. You do have a good amount of documentation, I commend you on being able to compile all of those!

So you're saying that you sent double as much as what I listed? What else did you send, if I may ask? The guides in the USCIS website don't really tell you what to send (whatever you think is relevant...go figure).