Primary evidence

[Mehmet&Elena 20]

Hello All,

My wife's 2 year green card expires in October of 2013, however I want to begin gathering documents now. My wife is on our apartment lease as an occupant. When we moved last November she did not have enough credit built up to be a co-applicant of the lease. However she is listed as an occupant. The lease will expire in February and at this time we plan on making her a co-applicant. Can I still use the lease as primary evidence?

Thank you!

[markiweiss49 4]

yes, you can use the apartment lease. as long as your wife is on the lease and she has your last name, it should be no problem.

[bigdog 376]

What i did was throw everything into a folder, that I thought was even vaguely related (after looking at what others had compiled) and sorted it out when we filed.

[katie & sifa 25]

yes, you can use the apartment lease. as long as your wife is on the lease and she has your last name, it should be no problem.

She doesn't have to have your last name. Use any and all leases with both of your names on them - they just want to see that you live in the same place.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

yes, you can use the apartment lease. as long as your wife is on the lease and she has your last name, it should be no problem.

WHOA! She does NOT have to have his last name. My wife never had my last name until she got citizenship. YES you can use the lease regardless of her "position" on the lease, it shows a common residence. Your wife absolutely does NOT have to have your same last name.

From the time Alla arrived, I kept every document which could be useful in a folder for ROC. Medical records showing you as emergency contact/spouse, school records, life insurance, medical insurance, car insurance, drivers lisences with same address, correspondence from our son's school addressed to both of us as "parents of Pasha..."

Utility bills showing same address. Utility bills do NOT have to be joint accounts and NONE of ours are. The internet and telephone are in Alla's name, gas and electric in my name, they all have the same address. What this shows is that Gary and Alla live at the same address, utility bills prove nothing else anyway since you can add anyone to your utility bill. We have NO joint credit cards, NONE. But the statements all show the same address and different names (or they were different at that time)We got our ROC without an interview.

We did not send ANY photos. -0- We did not send ANY "affidavits" from friends or family. I used ALL evidence generated by normal life in normal practice.

Alla kept her maiden name throughout her period as an LPR and it saved us all the hassels of green card in one name...passport in another. She changed her name with her citizenship, which is an option done at the same time, and got her US passport in her married name, changed her drivers license and SSN a few weeks later and is still in the process of changing everything else, but she is a citizen now so...who cares?

What i did was throw everything into a folder, that I thought was even vaguely related (after looking at what others had compiled) and sorted it out when we filed.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hello All,

My wife's 2 year green card expires in October of 2013, however I want to begin gathering documents now. My wife is on our apartment lease as an occupant. When we moved last November she did not have enough credit built up to be a co-applicant of the lease. However she is listed as an occupant. The lease will expire in February and at this time we plan on making her a co-applicant. Can I still use the lease as primary evidence?

Thank you!

Make SURE you filed a form AR-11 for each move. If you did not do it last November, do it now. It is free but you MUST keep USCIS informed of her address. Fill it out, send it (it's free) and keep a copy. Attach a copy to your ROC paperwork to show she has been in compliance with the law.

[Dave&Roza 748]

Make SURE you filed a form AR-11 for each move. If you did not do it last November, do it now. It is free but you MUST keep USCIS informed of her address. Fill it out, send it (it's free) and keep a copy. Attach a copy to your ROC paperwork to show she has been in compliance with the law.

Also do not forget to file the change of address form, I-865, for the USC sponsor if he/she also moves. Since the primary sponsor is the spouse for the immigrant, when one moves usually the other moves and most people forget that this is a requirement placed on the USC to keep USCIS up-to-date on their current address.

IMHO, joint tax returns go a long way to show co-mingling of your lives as do listing each other as beneficiary to life insurance and other benefits.

Sounds like you are on top of things.

Good luck,

Dave

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Also do not forget to file the change of address form, I-865, for the USC sponsor if he/she also moves. Since the primary sponsor is the spouse for the immigrant, when one moves usually the other moves and most people forget that this is a requirement placed on the USC to keep USCIS up-to-date on their current address.

IMHO, joint tax returns go a long way to show co-mingling of your lives as do listing each other as beneficiary to life insurance and other benefits.

Sounds like you are on top of things.

Good luck,

Dave

Thanks Dave. The LPR MUST file tax returns even if they have -0- income. A joint return "kills two birds with one stone" You should include the past 2 or 3 years of tax returns (any filed since they were an LPR) to show they have complied with the law. Print an extra copy, attach the w-2 forms and add it to your ROC folder. You are going to need all this stuff for citizenship also so maybe make TWO copies and start a 2nd folder for that. I had separate folders for I-129f, visa applications, AOS, ROC and citizenship. Once citizenship was received I threw out all the supporting documents and kept only the official notices.

[Mehmet&Elena 20]

Thank you everyone for your support and info!

[Mehmet&Elena 20]

Make SURE you filed a form AR-11 for each move. If you did not do it last November, do it now. It is free but you MUST keep USCIS informed of her address. Fill it out, send it (it's free) and keep a copy. Attach a copy to your ROC paperwork to show she has been in compliance with the law.

Hi Gary,

I did not make a copy of the form I sent, however I have an electronic form I filled out and saved on the computer. So it does not have her signature. However I do have the certified mail receipt and proof of delivery signature card. They used a stamp rather than printing their name: M. Thomas, dated 12/12/2011. The card shows that I mailed it to: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Att: Change of Address, 1344 Pleasant Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22801. Will this be ok? Should I attach a copy of the AR-11 I have on my computer anyway?

Mehmet

[Mehmet&Elena 20]

Two more questions.

My wife's name is Elena, however we filed all her documents with USCIS as Olena. Olena is the name on her Ukrainian international passport. She made a mistake when filling out the paperwork for the apartment lease and put Elena. Could this be a problem? I remember seeing an area for other names used on the paperwork for I-751. Maybe I should add her name Elena here?

I only added her to one utility, gas company. We have joint checking accounts and savings, a couple joint credit cards and we bought a new car together. I still have to add her as a beneficiary to one more retirement account. Do they, USCIS, care at what point you add your spouse as a beneficiary or include them in the utility bills? I understand the sooner the better for proof of ties. However if I have some evidence showing this, will it do harm to make her a beneficiary now or add her to another utility?

Thank you!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi Gary,

I did not make a copy of the form I sent, however I have an electronic form I filled out and saved on the computer. So it does not have her signature. However I do have the certified mail receipt and proof of delivery signature card. They used a stamp rather than printing their name: M. Thomas, dated 12/12/2011. The card shows that I mailed it to: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Att: Change of Address, 1344 Pleasant Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22801. Will this be ok? Should I attach a copy of the AR-11 I have on my computer anyway?

Mehmet

Yes, that will be fine. You just need to show something that you have followed the law. No big deal, but why give them a reason to question anything?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Two more questions.

My wife's name is Elena, however we filed all her documents with USCIS as Olena. Olena is the name on her Ukrainian international passport. She made a mistake when filling out the paperwork for the apartment lease and put Elena. Could this be a problem? I remember seeing an area for other names used on the paperwork for I-751. Maybe I should add her name Elena here?

I only added her to one utility, gas company. We have joint checking accounts and savings, a couple joint credit cards and we bought a new car together. I still have to add her as a beneficiary to one more retirement account. Do they, USCIS, care at what point you add your spouse as a beneficiary or include them in the utility bills? I understand the sooner the better for proof of ties. However if I have some evidence showing this, will it do harm to make her a beneficiary now or add her to another utility?

Thank you!

The name thing is no big deal. USCIS is aware that there are many transliterations of the same name.

Having joint utility accounts is not important, we have NONE. We have NO joint credit cards and Alla's car is in her name only (and was when we filed for her ROC) However all her documents sho wthe same address as I have. There really is no such thing as "co-mingling" utilities,it is just an electric bill. It would be more important to co-mingle a lease or mortgage. And to have lots of documents showing you live together. Insurance is more important than anything and no it does not matter when you add her. I would not even bother to add her to utilities, we never did.

[markiweiss49 4]

It will help if the bills were in both of their names. Also, if there are 2 different last names on their lease, uscis might question it. Most important is the joint tax returns, medical insurance, and so on. If i were you, i would put your wife's marry name on the lease.

[markiweiss49 4]

It will help if the bills were in both of their names. Also, if there are 2 different last names on their lease, uscis might question it. Most important is the joint tax returns, medical insurance, and so on. If i were you, i would put your wife's marry name on the lease.