What if I never lived/owned property, etc with my spouse?

[Karabas 0]

Hi guys,

My wife and I never dated and so never lived together/owned property/anything else together because of religious reasons. We're religiously married, but our big wedding reception is next month and her cultural norm is that she doesn't move in with me until then (so we don't even get to hang out alone together too much when I visit her in Canada). I had a few questions about the I-130 application and supporting documents because of that, but I was also wondering if you think I should add any additional information with the application. Should I write an explanation of why we've never lived together? Should I mention our religion? (we're Muslim, and given my and my friends' experience as Muslims in America, I'm a bit hesitant to provide that information)

As far as specific questions go:

- The line in the I-130 asking for last joint address: do I just put N/A or should I add some kind of explanation on another page?

- I'm supposed to attach proof that our marriage is bona fide. The only option we have is affidavits from other individuals. Who should these people be? What kind of letter should they write? Do they need to be signed and should I have the originals?

- What additional proof can I give? Pictures from our engagement ceremony? Hall booking and wedding invitation cards for our upcoming wedding reception? Would these be helpful at all?

Thanks all for your help!

[Highyella72 11]

I see you say that you are religiously married.....does that mean legally married.... do you have a marriage certificate.....

I have seen others on this site who are in the same situation....and I wish you the best

[Bule&Cantik 8]

Hi guys,

My wife and I never dated and so never lived together/owned property/anything else together because of religious reasons. We're religiously married, but our big wedding reception is next month and her cultural norm is that she doesn't move in with me until then (so we don't even get to hang out alone together too much when I visit her in Canada). I had a few questions about the I-130 application and supporting documents because of that, but I was also wondering if you think I should add any additional information with the application. Should I write an explanation of why we've never lived together? Should I mention our religion? (we're Muslim, and given my and my friends' experience as Muslims in America, I'm a bit hesitant to provide that information)

As far as specific questions go:

- The line in the I-130 asking for last joint address: do I just put N/A or should I add some kind of explanation on another page?

- I'm supposed to attach proof that our marriage is bona fide. The only option we have is affidavits from other individuals. Who should these people be? What kind of letter should they write? Do they need to be signed and should I have the originals?

- What additional proof can I give? Pictures from our engagement ceremony? Hall booking and wedding invitation cards for our upcoming wedding reception? Would these be helpful at all?

Thanks all for your help!

Salaam.

My wife and I have not lived together yet either. No need to write a letter explaining religious reasons for lack of cohabitation.

We used the following as proof of bonafide marriage:

Added her to my work benefits.

Added her to bank account.

Added her to lease (apartment)

Added her to insurance, medical through work.

Provided phone records showing continuous contact.

Pictures of wedding. Honeymoon. Trips where I visited her.

Hope ths helps

[lierre 224]

Salaam.

My wife and I have not lived together yet either. No need to write a letter explaining religious reasons for lack of cohabitation.

We used the following as proof of bonafide marriage:

Added her to my work benefits.

Added her to bank account.

Added her to lease (apartment)

Added her to insurance, medical through work.

Provided phone records showing continuous contact.

Pictures of wedding. Honeymoon. Trips where I visited her.

Hope ths helps

Karabas, I've been doing research on this, too. Since we've both never lived together before we marry (which is in 1.5 weeks yey!)... I believe what Bule&Cantik say is true. My fiance plans to do that soon after we marry.

Also plan on printing out copious copies of letters/postcards/emails/messages we sent each other.

Also pictures from the ceremony, reception, honeymoon are helpful. Remember to label the back of the shots with the date, location and event.

Also enclose itineraries, tickets & boarding passes you used to see each other.

For affidavits from people attesting to the marriage... from what I read, best to get a US citizen to do this... preferably someone who played a significant role in your marriage. Such as a best man or an officiant. Who is a US citizen.

Hopefully, someone can give even better info that what's already been posted. Also, I have no idea how much of each proof is enough. I, too, am very interested in the answers

[Karabas 0]

I see you say that you are religiously married.....does that mean legally married.... do you have a marriage certificate.....

I have seen others on this site who are in the same situation....and I wish you the best

Yes, religious wedding are required to be registered by Canadian law, so we have our marriage certificate now.

Salaam.

My wife and I have not lived together yet either. No need to write a letter explaining religious reasons for lack of cohabitation.

We used the following as proof of bonafide marriage:

Added her to my work benefits.

Added her to bank account.

Added her to lease (apartment)

Added her to insurance, medical through work.

Provided phone records showing continuous contact.

Pictures of wedding. Honeymoon. Trips where I visited her.

Hope ths helps

Wa 'alaykum assalaam and jazakumAllahu khayran for the info, that is indeed helpful. I don't have a job yet (actively looking at the moment), so can't add her to my work-related benefits, but I can try the bank account thing. Did you include any affidavits from people to confirm your marriage?

Karabas, I've been doing research on this, too. Since we've both never lived together before we marry (which is in 1.5 weeks yey!)... I believe what Bule&Cantik say is true. My fiance plans to do that soon after we marry.

Also plan on printing out copious copies of letters/postcards/emails/messages we sent each other.

Also pictures from the ceremony, reception, honeymoon are helpful. Remember to label the back of the shots with the date, location and event.

Also enclose itineraries, tickets & boarding passes you used to see each other.

For affidavits from people attesting to the marriage... from what I read, best to get a US citizen to do this... preferably someone who played a significant role in your marriage. Such as a best man or an officiant. Who is a US citizen.

Hopefully, someone can give even better info that what's already been posted. Also, I have no idea how much of each proof is enough. I, too, am very interested in the answers

Thanks for the suggestion. What about relatives? Can I have my mother attest to our marriage? She's been pretty heavily involved in the whole marriage planning process and is a US citizen. What about signatures? Can I mail in copies of these letters or do they have to be originals?

[Bule&Cantik 8]

We did not include any affidavit. We gave them the above mentioned.

We received an RFE (request for evidence) at the uscis stage. We then sent in the pictures. (the rest we included in our original submission).

Better to put as much as possible into the original submission so as not to get the RFE.

Our RFE wanted specifically the pictures from wedding. Explanation for family absence (if not in attendance). They also wanted to see letter from my employer "authorizing my time off".( I made 6 trips to Indonesia in 2011.), etc.

Side note. I use the bank account to send wife money to support her. This creates additional evidence.

Hope all this helps.

Read the guides and ask questions. Stay ahead. Organize.

Salaam

[sms78 18]

I think you have nothing to worry about! Many couples never lived together before wedding. Or even after wedding in the cases of international relationships like yours and mine. We only sent pictures and letters from mother, mother in law, and the petitioner's best fried. That was it. Both mothers wrote very detailed latter explaining how they met their son/daughter in law for the first time, how they spend holidays together, how excited they are for the newly married couple etc. My husband's friend wrote a very casual letter about how we always hang out together to how happy he is to do the best man for our wedding. Hope everything goes smoothly. Good luck!

[lierre 224]

Thanks for the suggestion. What about relatives? Can I have my mother attest to our marriage? She's been pretty heavily involved in the whole marriage planning process and is a US citizen. What about signatures? Can I mail in copies of these letters or do they have to be originals?

Above post said it is possible. I originally thought it wasn't, but then I think it will be loads better than just friends attesting.

Good luck to us!

[Ryan H 3,834]

- The line in the I-130 asking for last joint address: do I just put N/A or should I add some kind of explanation on another page?

An appropriate answer to this question is "We have not yet lived together." "None" is also an acceptable answer. N/A is not an appropriate answer because the question is applicable to you.