Evidence of bona fide marriage

[DandT14 272]

I'm sorry, I'm sure this has been asked and answered but I got confused while searching the forum as to the best way to handle it.

We are getting ready to file the AOS and I-130 concurrently, and I'm stuck on the evidence of a bona fide marraige. Following the instructions for the I-130, it looks like you don't need to send much. We have joint bank account statements and health insurance.

I had no plans of sending pictures. The first 3 years of our relationship existed online, so I have oodles of emails/chats and we exchanged a lot of pictures. We have very few (I can think of only two) pictures of us together. I have pictures of him with my kids, my dogs, maybe a few with my family, but I'd have to go looking for those. It wouldn't be hard to prove our relationship through all of our chats and emails, but most of those are private and I don't really want to photocopy and mail off all our "stuff."

I saw that someone said to include a letter with the history of your relationship, dates, etc. I could do that, but my instinct is not to. (I work in a job that requires submitting a lot of paperwork to the federal government and usually find that it's better to give them as little as possible.)

So my question is, do I just send the required stuff now (like the bank account statements) and wait to see if they ask for more? Or should I write up a brief history of our relationship and send it too? On one hand, I don't want to send too little and make them suspicious, but if I send everything BUT pictures, doesn't that look bad too? Or am I over-thinking it?

[kcoyclay1 98]

You only show pictures at the interview. Bank statement, phone bill showing both lines, health and car insurance, taxes filed together are sufficient initial evidence of a bonafide marriage.

[DandT14 272]

You only show pictures at the interview. Bank statement, phone bill showing both lines, health and car insurance, taxes filed together are sufficient initial evidence of a bonafide marriage.

Thank you. He's not on my car insurance, he doesn't have a license. I was told he couldn't get one without a SSN. Honestly, I don't know how illegal immigrants live so successfully in this country. It seems like we run into "he's not a citizen" roadblocks constantly. We have been filing our taxes together since we got married, so that's good.

I probably should stop reading things and worrying myself over things I can't fix. But I just saw something that said divorce dates and new marriage dates being close together can trigger suspicion? My divorce took 4 years! It was finalized and we got married a month later. I hope that's not an issue.

Oh, then there's the age difference. He's 9 years younger than me. This is so stressful!

Edited April 24, 2012 by SterlingDandT

[VanessaTony 3,567]

What visa is he adjusting from?

[DandT14 272]

What visa is he adjusting from?

Did I post in the wrong place again? Sorry if I did. I'll figure this place out eventually.

He doesn't have a visa, he's Canadian and came in as a visitor. On his third visit here (they were all long visits, 2-3 months each) my divorce happened to get finalized and we were going to Reno anyway, so we got married while we were there. It wasn't a well thought out plan, but it was fun.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Did I post in the wrong place again? Sorry if I did. I'll figure this place out eventually.

He doesn't have a visa, he's Canadian and came in as a visitor. On his third visit here (they were all long visits, 2-3 months each) my divorce happened to get finalized and we were going to Reno anyway, so we got married while we were there. It wasn't a well thought out plan, but it was fun.

Okay yes you should be posting in this forum: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/130-adjustment-of-status-from-work-student-tourist-visas/

I will report this post to be moved

[Ontarkie 14,218]

moving to AOS from tourist visa

[jdh 103]

You have two things that are considered red flags...it has no bearing on you approval or denial, it just means that they may dig into it a little more.

Send what is required now and then bring everything you can to the interview including confidence and the ability to handle having your relationship questioned.

[chimcham 18]

Hello,

I included a timeline of our relationship in photos. My logic behind that was for the people working on our application to see us for who we are and not as numbers. My hope for my evidence-heavy petitions is that it will make for an quicker processing.

We will see though. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable-it helped me sleep better at night giving more.

Good luck and welcome!!!

[chimcham 18]

Here is what I included...maybe you can get some ideas?

Evidence of a bona fide marriage as follows:

a) Print out of {my husbands name} as {my name} beneficiary on my 401k

b) Print out of {my husbands name} as {my name} beneficiary on my life insurance

c) Print out of our savings account with both Petitioner and Beneficiary's names on it

d) Pictures of both Petitioner and Beneficiary's throughout 5 year relationship

e) Signed affirmation from friend confirming validity of marriage.

[DandT14 272]

Here is what I included...maybe you can get some ideas?

Evidence of a bona fide marriage as follows:

a) Print out of {my husbands name} as {my name} beneficiary on my 401k

b) Print out of {my husbands name} as {my name} beneficiary on my life insurance

c) Print out of our savings account with both Petitioner and Beneficiary's names on it

d) Pictures of both Petitioner and Beneficiary's throughout 5 year relationship

e) Signed affirmation from friend confirming validity of marriage.

Thank you.

I keep changing my mind about how I want to approach it. I don't have pictures of the two of us together. Right now I'm thinking maybe I should just write something up explaining how things unfolded because without explanation, the dates look a bit odd. I'm not terribly worried about proving the relationship, if I have to, because we exchanged over 5000 emails over the years and I have them all (thank you Gmail!). But some of them (most of them!) would be a bit embarrassing to share.

[Basee 2]

Thank you.

I keep changing my mind about how I want to approach it. I don't have pictures of the two of us together. Right now I'm thinking maybe I should just write something up explaining how things unfolded because without explanation, the dates look a bit odd. I'm not terribly worried about proving the relationship, if I have to, because we exchanged over 5000 emails over the years and I have them all (thank you Gmail!). But some of them (most of them!) would be a bit embarrassing to share.

Oh go on... show them those too... lmao!

We didn't send anything with the I-130. We haven't sent any evidence other than the marriage cert. They didn't RFE for any of it. I just figured we'd take it all with us on the day.

[Little_My 464]

Oh go on... show them those too... lmao!

We didn't send anything with the I-130. We haven't sent any evidence other than the marriage cert. They didn't RFE for any of it. I just figured we'd take it all with us on the day.

Errr.. There is a small chance that you won't get an RFE, but I would say that it is more likely that you will - it's only been less than 2 months since you sent out your AOS package, still plenty of time for that RFE to arrive. The instructions for the I-130 clearly state that you are supposed to send some additional evidence in addition to the marriage certificate of bonafide marriage. The I-130 instructions state:

NOTE: In addition to the required documentation listed above, you should submit one or more of the following types of documentation that may evidence the bona fides of your marriage;

E. Documentation showing joint ownership or property; or

F. A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence; or

G. Documentation showing co-mingling of financial resources; or

H. Birth certificate(s) of child(ren) born to you, the petitioner, and your spouse together; or

I.Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital relationship. or

J.Any other relevant documentation to establish that there is an ongoing marital union.

Basee, if I were you, I would have that proof of bonafide marriage all packed up and ready to go if - and, in my opinion, most likely when - the RFE comes.

Edited April 26, 2012 by Little_My

[jdh 103]

Errr.. There is a small chance that you won't get an RFE, but I would say that it is more likely that you will - it's only been less than 2 months since you sent out your AOS package, still plenty of time for that RFE to arrive. The instructions for the I-130 clearly state that you are supposed to send some additional evidence in addition to the marriage certificate of bonafide marriage. The I-130 instructions state:

NOTE: In addition to the required documentation listed above, you should submit one or more of the following types of documentation that may evidence the bona fides of your marriage;

E. Documentation showing joint ownership or property; or

F. A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence; or

G. Documentation showing co-mingling of financial resources; or

H. Birth certificate(s) of child(ren) born to you, the petitioner, and your spouse together; or

I.Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital relationship. or

J.Any other relevant documentation to establish that there is an ongoing marital union.

Basee, if I were you, I would have that proof of bonafide marriage all packed up and ready to go if - and, in my opinion, most likely when - the RFE comes.

A big +1.

Follow the instructions! I cannot recommend that enough.

You don't have to send extra...just do what they say.

[Basee 2]

Errr.. There is a small chance that you won't get an RFE, but I would say that it is more likely that you will - it's only been less than 2 months since you sent out your AOS package, still plenty of time for that RFE to arrive. The instructions for the I-130 clearly state that you are supposed to send some additional evidence in addition to the marriage certificate of bonafide marriage. The I-130 instructions state:

NOTE: In addition to the required documentation listed above, you should submit one or more of the following types of documentation that may evidence the bona fides of your marriage;

E. Documentation showing joint ownership or property; or

F. A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence; or

G. Documentation showing co-mingling of financial resources; or

H. Birth certificate(s) of child(ren) born to you, the petitioner, and your spouse together; or

I.Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital relationship. or

J.Any other relevant documentation to establish that there is an ongoing marital union.

Basee, if I were you, I would have that proof of bonafide marriage all packed up and ready to go if - and, in my opinion, most likely when - the RFE comes.

I'll send it if they ask, otherwise we'll take it all with us. The interview schedule requested I bring them with me to interview so I figured it was okay. I'll have to wait and see... *sign* one more thing to worry about now!