Evidence of Marriage

[Kim & Gesner 14]

We were going through all of the paperwork tonight and I was using a copy of other's "table of contents" as a guideline. So I got to the evidence of marriage and realized since we just married in May, we do not have anything like a lease, bank statements, insurance, beneficiary on insurance, etc because he never intended to come and stay and we originally planned to marry in Dec 2012 but instead, we eloped in May, right before our trip to Texas for my sons graduation. So I am not sure what to show as evidence. Here is what I do have and copied, ready to submit:

10 Wedding Photos (there are no family in the photos since we eloped. It was just him, myself and the minister and his wife took photos)

5 Photos of our visit to Texas right after the wedding for my sons graduation. We have a mix of some with us together, him and my mother, him and my sons. Some are from the graduation, some are all of us in in the pool lounging. Not a lot and now I regret not taking a lot more!! But I have what I have and can't do anything more about it.

1 Photo of us together when we met in Turks and Caicos.

2 Photos of his visit to the US in Dec 2011

3 random photos of us together from March 2012 - present

I have a card from him when I left Turks and Caicos, along with contact info so we can keep in touch.

A birthday card I sent him in October 2011.

Western Union receipts from him sending me money for cell phone bills, lol not that I couldnt pay my bill, he just felt he should help with the bill - a total of like $200

Western Union from his uncle in Florida for $100 Wedding Gift.

A wedding card from his aunt and cousin in New York.

Boarding Passes from all of our trips alone and together. My original boarding passes to Turks and Caicos not that it's important because I didnt know I was going to meet him (but it was my first trip outside the US so I would have kept it anyway lol) - His boarding passes from Turks to DC and DC to Haiti in Dec 2011. His trip to DC in March. Our trip to Texas together in May and return trip in June.

Phone Records from October through December 2011 - I didn't print any after his visit in Dec 2011 but there are hundreds of calls in that time and like 40+ pages, lol apparently we kept in touch but I didn't want to send a book of call logs. Also some facebook chats, I could do skype logs as well I think but these arent really "marriage" evidence so not sure they are relevant.

I think that's all I have. I am not sure what else we have or anything I am not thinking of. Any suggestions or is this enough?

[KLS2010 30]

There are varying schools of thought on 'front-loading' your petition (ie sending in lots of evidence) - some say yes, some say no - keep the rest of your evidence for the interview. Consulates/embassies vary greatly in how much evidence they want to see at interview (Sydney Australia, for example, where I interviewed, very rarely asks to see any further evidence). So personally, I am for front-loading (within reason, of course).

I myself threw pretty much everything I had at them in the intial petition lol! I didn't really know any better (I hadn't found VJ yet when we filed). Like you though, we didn't have much in the way of joint financials (eg bank accounts, lease/mortgage, insurance, etc).

I think what you have is good. Similar to what we sent. One thing though... schools of thought also vary on whether or not you should show Western Union receipts. Some people think that they might be misinterpreted as being a 'pay-off' in order to get a green card. However, if you only have a few one-off receipts, and they aren't on a regular basis, I don't think you would have a problem sending those.

Good luck

[Kim & Gesner 14]

There are varying schools of thought on 'front-loading' your petition (ie sending in lots of evidence) - some say yes, some say no - keep the rest of your evidence for the interview. Consulates/embassies vary greatly in how much evidence they want to see at interview (Sydney Australia, for example, where I interviewed, very rarely asks to see any further evidence). So personally, I am for front-loading (within reason, of course).

I myself threw pretty much everything I had at them in the intial petition lol! I didn't really know any better (I hadn't found VJ yet when we filed). Like you though, we didn't have much in the way of joint financials (eg bank accounts, lease/mortgage, insurance, etc).

I think what you have is good. Similar to what we sent. One thing though... schools of thought also vary on whether or not you should show Western Union receipts. Some people think that they might be misinterpreted as being a 'pay-off' in order to get a green card. However, if you only have a few one-off receipts, and they aren't on a regular basis, I don't think you would have a problem sending those.

Good luck

Thanks!! I also just realized my current lease expires July 31st and my friend who I rent from said she would be happy to add him to the next lease if we feel it would validate our marriage. She said it's up to me! Either way, she will be working on the new lease this week so I have to let her know ASAP. So yes or no?

[Dave&Judy 3]

Thanks!! I also just realized my current lease expires July 31st and my friend who I rent from said she would be happy to add him to the next lease if we feel it would validate our marriage. She said it's up to me! Either way, she will be working on the new lease this week so I have to let her know ASAP. So yes or no?

Whatever you can get showing both of your names whether its lease, bank a/c, credit card, health/Auto insurance, car titles, Letters, photos, boarding pass, cable/water/power bills etc are good for you.

[KLS2010 30]

If it were me... I would do it. Joint financials mean more to USCIS than cards and letters and photos, so if you can get him on the lease, I would do it

[twonightowls 1]

even if you don't have financial minglings, at least add the name (or add as an authorized person) on the lease to show that you live together. Also, what about a copy of your driver's licenses showing the common residence? It's not hard to do at all, you just have to go to DMV and change the address.

[Kim & Gesner 14]

even if you don't have financial minglings, at least add the name (or add as an authorized person) on the lease to show that you live together. Also, what about a copy of your driver's licenses showing the common residence? It's not hard to do at all, you just have to go to DMV and change the address.

He doesn't have a drivers license as he is not from here. Our wedding was originally planned for Dec 2012 but in May we eloped. We had planned for him to go back after the wedding but since he is here and still had time before his I-94 expired, we decided to AOS. I wonder if he can get an ID Card?

[Dave&Roza 748]

We were going through all of the paperwork tonight and I was using a copy of other's "table of contents" as a guideline. So I got to the evidence of marriage and realized since we just married in May, we do not have anything like a lease, bank statements, insurance, beneficiary on insurance, etc because he never intended to come and stay and we originally planned to marry in Dec 2012 but instead, we eloped in May, right before our trip to Texas for my sons graduation. So I am not sure what to show as evidence. Here is what I do have and copied, ready to submit:

10 Wedding Photos (there are no family in the photos since we eloped. It was just him, myself and the minister and his wife took photos)

5 Photos of our visit to Texas right after the wedding for my sons graduation. We have a mix of some with us together, him and my mother, him and my sons. Some are from the graduation, some are all of us in in the pool lounging. Not a lot and now I regret not taking a lot more!! But I have what I have and can't do anything more about it.

1 Photo of us together when we met in Turks and Caicos.

2 Photos of his visit to the US in Dec 2011

3 random photos of us together from March 2012 - present

I have a card from him when I left Turks and Caicos, along with contact info so we can keep in touch.

A birthday card I sent him in October 2011.

Western Union receipts from him sending me money for cell phone bills, lol not that I couldnt pay my bill, he just felt he should help with the bill - a total of like $200

Western Union from his uncle in Florida for $100 Wedding Gift.

A wedding card from his aunt and cousin in New York.

Boarding Passes from all of our trips alone and together. My original boarding passes to Turks and Caicos not that it's important because I didnt know I was going to meet him (but it was my first trip outside the US so I would have kept it anyway lol) - His boarding passes from Turks to DC and DC to Haiti in Dec 2011. His trip to DC in March. Our trip to Texas together in May and return trip in June.

Phone Records from October through December 2011 - I didn't print any after his visit in Dec 2011 but there are hundreds of calls in that time and like 40+ pages, lol apparently we kept in touch but I didn't want to send a book of call logs. Also some facebook chats, I could do skype logs as well I think but these arent really "marriage" evidence so not sure they are relevant.

I think that's all I have. I am not sure what else we have or anything I am not thinking of. Any suggestions or is this enough?

For AOS it is about the wedding and joining your lives together. Ths USCIS puts more weight on joint fiancials than anything as it shows you are taking a risk with your money and that is what most "normal" people do. For our AOS we sent in a certified copy of the Marriage Certificate, a car tile, proof she was on my employer's benefits as beneficiary, a joint tax return, and the application. We did not have any joint accounts, she was not on the lease, and we took a few photos of the wedding to the interview. The IO mentioned the i-693, the I-864 and then began asking questions to confirm the I-485. 20 mintures later we walked out approved. If you get married and file AOS soon after, there is not much time to combine two seperate lives. That comes at ROC. I would say you have more than enough.

Good luck,

Dave