Received RFE!

[Omar G. 4]

Hi everyone, we received a RFE and we don't know what to do. The supporting evidence I sent in wasn't enough and I don't know why. I sent in everything we had, joint taxes 2009, 2010, 2011; auto insurance policy with both covered, cell phone bill in both names. 1 month bank statement with joint account, they elaborated on this one saying that it was only 1 month and not for the length of our marriage and we should show with transaction history with both of us "actively access and contribute to the account in support of the marriage."

One problem with this is that we both have separate accounts but he account is our 'joint' account. We use both accounts since we do transfers within our accounts but the main account where i pay the bills and write checks is my account which her name isn't on. Our joint account doesn't have enough transaction and "actively access and contribute to the account in support of the marriage." Tomorrow we are going to the bank to add her to my account and save all recent statements for a interview if neccessary.

Since we can't send in our bank statements, since this will definitly draw a red flag, what else can we submit?

We are going through had times but we are still working hard to get ahead. We rent and have been in the same apartment for 3+ years now (i signed the lease 2 weeks before my wife arrived). We have been month to month since that 1st year ended. I am going to ask my landlord if he can write us up a contract to submit.

Other than that, we don't have anything else to submit, no joint bank account showing depositis or withdrawals for the period of our marriage, utility bills in both our names (only my name since i set them up before she was here and never added spouce to acct), joint credit card account statements (i have 1 credit card that I'm trying to pay off, credit card hasn't been used for over 3 years, since not used never added spouse to the account). We don't have medical insurance, house, lease...etc.

I will have 3 people write affidavit letters testifying we are a bonified relationship; my mom and 2 aunts. Will this be enough? This really upsets us because we are a real relationship and just because we don't have much means we are not legit. We work very hard to get by in this great country and as a citizen, how can they deny what they believe is not a good faith marriage. What else can we submit or can we do? My wife's extension expires in March and I plan on submitting anything else I have this week.

Thank you!

(sorry for such a long post and I also saw another post similar but I didn't want to hijack his thread)

[bigdog 376]

Your bank should be able to do a one page print out of your account, how about AAA, Costco, statement from your insurance agent and her on your policies, life / health, at least three solid affidavits. Just some of the items we sent. I might be paranoid but ours was about 150 pages with income tax, marriage stuff photos, affidavits, insurance stuff etc. We did not want a delay with a RFE in a system that already is 6-9 months. Good luck. I even sent wife, looking like a cowgirl with the dog and tractor picture.

Edited November 16, 2012 by bigdog

[thairath 4]

Your bank should be able to do a one page print out of your account, how about AAA, Costco, statement from your insurance agent and her on your policies, life / health, at least three solid affidavits. Just some of the items we sent. I might be paranoid but ours was about 150 pages with income tax, marriage stuff photos, affidavits, insurance stuff etc. We did not want a delay with a RFE in a system that already is 6-9 months. Good luck. I even sent wife, looking like a cowgirl with the dog and tractor picture.

Adding onto what bigdog suggested, definitely get your landlord to draw up a lease, but get creative: do both of your licenses list the same address? what about holiday cards addressed to both of you, receipts, boarding passes, etc. from trips taken together - things like that. After you've collected all of the new evidence, I'd recommend including copies of the evidence you already submitted; that way when the evidence is being evaluated they'll have a nice, big packet with lots of evidence of the commingling of your lives.

[himher 634]

They really like to see co-mingling of assets as strong evidence of marriage however evidence of assets being used for and within the same household will probably suffice. Do you have a life insurance policy or a retirement account or anything listing her as beneficiary? Can you send statements of all 3 accounts (not every one but a random set covering the entire marriage time period? At least if your account and her account has the same address on it it does not matter that they are separate it matters that both accounts are addressed to the same place and both show activity related to your homelife.

If you dont get the RFE answered there wont be an interview LOL. It's too late to add her after the fact it would be better to show your account activity and her account activity with statements from each account and show that the activity is related to the same household.

THEN you might get an interview with a chance to explain it. Lots of couples have separate accounts but if you look at them together the co-mingling of finances can be evidenced. Add this to the suggestions listed above. Best of luck.

Hi everyone, we received a RFE and we don't know what to do. The supporting evidence I sent in wasn't enough and I don't know why. I sent in everything we had, joint taxes 2009, 2010, 2011; auto insurance policy with both covered, cell phone bill in both names. 1 month bank statement with joint account, they elaborated on this one saying that it was only 1 month and not for the length of our marriage and we should show with transaction history with both of us "actively access and contribute to the account in support of the marriage."

One problem with this is that we both have separate accounts but he account is our 'joint' account. We use both accounts since we do transfers within our accounts but the main account where i pay the bills and write checks is my account which her name isn't on. Our joint account doesn't have enough transaction and "actively access and contribute to the account in support of the marriage." Tomorrow we are going to the bank to add her to my account and save all recent statements for a interview if neccessary.

Since we can't send in our bank statements, since this will definitly draw a red flag, what else can we submit?

We are going through had times but we are still working hard to get ahead. We rent and have been in the same apartment for 3+ years now (i signed the lease 2 weeks before my wife arrived). We have been month to month since that 1st year ended. I am going to ask my landlord if he can write us up a contract to submit.

Other than that, we don't have anything else to submit, no joint bank account showing depositis or withdrawals for the period of our marriage, utility bills in both our names (only my name since i set them up before she was here and never added spouce to acct), joint credit card account statements (i have 1 credit card that I'm trying to pay off, credit card hasn't been used for over 3 years, since not used never added spouse to the account). We don't have medical insurance, house, lease...etc.

I will have 3 people write affidavit letters testifying we are a bonified relationship; my mom and 2 aunts. Will this be enough? This really upsets us because we are a real relationship and just because we don't have much means we are not legit. We work very hard to get by in this great country and as a citizen, how can they deny what they believe is not a good faith marriage. What else can we submit or can we do? My wife's extension expires in March and I plan on submitting anything else I have this week.

Thank you!

(sorry for such a long post and I also saw another post similar but I didn't want to hijack his thread)

Edited November 16, 2012 by himher

[milimelo 4,568]

Since you have individual accounts and a joint account but transfer between accounts to pay bills - print out those bank statements and highlight transfers. We have a joint account but I also have a personal one and I showed transfer from my to joint and also when I paid from my account different bills. We covered first three months, mid-three months and last three months of all bank statements before filing ROC.

Any insurance policies where you are listed as beneficiary? Also, if you have a medical insurance - get the statement of benefits showing who went to the doctor.

Any mail coming to either of you on the same address? I ripped last pages of magazines, junk mail coming to either one of our names and also included greeting cards and postcards our friends sent us over the time.

[Leenie 15]

OP, I am just curious, which office did you file with?

[Omar G. 4]

Thanks everyone, we filed with the Vermont service center. I added my wife to my secondary account which is basically her account now, my accout is where all the bills get paid from. My wife only had the bank account since february, basically since she started working. Therefore its not even a full year with a joint account, but she does transfer funds to my account to help as well as i do the same, so there is co mingling of money from both accounts throughout these months.

We don't have any insurance (health, life), only auto insurance which i already submitted. We don't have any other accounts like AAA, costco...etc.... All utility bills are in my name since i set up all accounts before she moved here. I am going to talk to my landlord to write me up a back dated lease contract and a notorized letter stating that we do both live here and are a married couple.

I don't know what else i can send and if this will be enough, i hope this will be enough because I will not be happy if they want an interview and try to intimidate and ask off the wall questions to try and confuse us.

Thank you all again

[BigDaddy28 228]

Thanks everyone, we filed with the Vermont service center. I added my wife to my secondary account which is basically her account now, my accout is where all the bills get paid from. My wife only had the bank account since february, basically since she started working. Therefore its not even a full year with a joint account, but she does transfer funds to my account to help as well as i do the same, so there is co mingling of money from both accounts throughout these months.

We don't have any insurance (health, life), only auto insurance which i already submitted. We don't have any other accounts like AAA, costco...etc.... All utility bills are in my name since i set up all accounts before she moved here. I am going to talk to my landlord to write me up a back dated lease contract and a notorized letter stating that we do both live here and are a married couple.

I don't know what else i can send and if this will be enough, i hope this will be enough because I will not be happy if they want an interview and try to intimidate and ask off the wall questions to try and confuse us.

Thank you all again

Regarding your bills, you can call them and tell them to add her name under yours in the address as "ATTN your wifes name" that's how I did with mine and my wifes and all of our bills are like that.