Too early to apply for AoS?

[Bullan 0]

We got married last friday (yay!) and it was very romantic. I was told however that it might look suspicious if we apply for the green card just a week after the marriage.

Honestly, I feel that we have nothing to hide, as we are a "real" couple who did this marriage because we want to spend the rest of our lives together. :-) . But I want to send in the documents asap so both of us can go home over the summer and visit family and friends and get the travel documents approved - which I've heard can take up to three months!

Also, we dont have any joint bank accounts or own any car or apartment together. His name is on the lease of our apartment and Im an occupant... Our evidence is mainly photographs and such... Is that too weak?

Edited March 18, 2013 by Bullan

[JohnR! 5,495]

We got married last friday (yay!) and it was very romantic. I was told however that it might look suspicious if we apply for the green card just a week after the marriage.

Honestly, I feel that we have nothing to hide, as we are a "real" couple who did this marriage because we want to spend the rest of our lives together. :-) . But I want to send in the documents asap so both of us can go home over the summer and visit family and friends and get the travel documents approved - which I've heard can take up to three months!

Also, we dont have any joint bank accounts or own any car or apartment together. His name is on the lease of our apartment and Im an occupant... Our evidence is mainly photographs and such... Is that too weak?

There is no such thing as 'too soon'. The intent of the K-1 visa is that the beneficiary enter the US with the purpose of getting married and adjusting status to resident. It is expected that AOS should follow. Nothing to worry!

Congrats and good luck!

[ppihtr123 68]

We got married last friday (yay!) and it was very romantic. I was told however that it might look suspicious if we apply for the green card just a week after the marriage.

Honestly, I feel that we have nothing to hide, as we are a "real" couple who did this marriage because we want to spend the rest of our lives together. :-) . But I want to send in the documents asap so both of us can go home over the summer and visit family and friends and get the travel documents approved - which I've heard can take up to three months!

Also, we dont have any joint bank accounts or own any car or apartment together. His name is on the lease of our apartment and Im an occupant... Our evidence is mainly photographs and such... Is that too weak?

Go for it! Start to combine those other things now and be ready to give copies once you get to the interview. Don't forget to do beneficiary updates at work.

[Inky 1,110]

There is no such thing as 'too soon'. The intent of the K-1 visa is that the beneficiary enter the US with the purpose of getting married and adjusting status to resident. It is expected that AOS should follow. Nothing to worry!

Congrats and good luck!

The OP is not on a K-1 visa. They are on an M-1 type of student visa.

[LizLovesFlor 11]

Pls clarify what visa you are on. It depends.

[JohnR! 5,495]

The OP is not on a K-1 visa. They are on an M-1 type of student visa.

I though this was a K-1. Thanks for clarifying.

It does not change the fact that if they are going to do AOS they just as well start sooner than later. They are already married and that is what the USCIS is going to be looking at.

[ppihtr123 68]

Pls clarify what visa you are on. It depends.

No bearing to original question. It may come into play on the process like where the interview is (here in US or in home country) but that is in the process details. OP can file the paperwork anytime they like as they are married. My opinion is the sooner the better!

[X Factor 1,112]

Did you get the official marriage license from the town as yet? That will usually be put in the AOS package.

Edited March 18, 2013 by Mr Smiley

[Bullan 0]

M-1 Visa.

I've been here since September, had no intention of staying after my school was done, but then my (now, yay!) husband got a good job in NYC and we decided that we both wanted to be able to stay here and work for a while. (My M-1 won't give me an OPT for more than a month.)

I was wondering what type of 'evidence' for our bona fide marriage we should include in the application? We have photos from various trips and family gatherings, we have the same address here in NYC, and we used to have one joint bank account in my home country but that one is cancelled now since we moved here. We were thinking of adding me to his health insurance as well (the one he gets from work). We're thinking of buying an iMac and be co-owners of that but the rest of our furniture is either his or mine - in terms of 'legal' ownership.

Did you get the official marriage license from the town as yet? That will usually be put in the AOS package.

Yep, we got that the same day. =)

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Include what you can from the list of suggested evidence in the I-130 instructions. Being a "co-owner" of a computer is not good evidence.

[Bullan 0]

Hello Harpa!

So what we will have to include, according to the list on the i-130 form, is an affidavit from two people that can prove that our relationship is real.

I found a template of this Affidavit here:

http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?276943-Affidavit-For-Bona-Fide-Marriage

Can anyone confirm if that's the right one?

Also, we only had one witness at our wedding and he can of course sign these papers. But I've heard that you need two people - can someone unrelated to our witness be the other one? It's my best friend who was supposed to be the witness but were unable to attend. Can we have two of our friends sign the affidavit? We don't want to ask our immediate relatives (parents or siblings) because of personal reasons.

[Inky 1,110]

Hello Harpa!

So what we will have to include, according to the list on the i-130 form, is an affidavit from two people that can prove that our relationship is real.

I found a template of this Affidavit here:

http://forums.immigr...a-Fide-Marriage

Can anyone confirm if that's the right one?

Also, we only had one witness at our wedding and he can of course sign these papers. But I've heard that you need two people - can someone unrelated to our witness be the other one? It's my best friend who was supposed to be the witness but were unable to attend. Can we have two of our friends sign the affidavit? We don't want to ask our immediate relatives (parents or siblings) because of personal reasons.

You should only really need an affidavit if you do not have enough evidence to give them. That said, the affidavit is just a letter from someone who has known you guys a while stating that they know you and know your married with their contact info. ( I cant open your template example so I don't know if thats what it has ) We had my husbands parents write up and sign an affidavit as well as my mother, both of whom have seen our relationship grow over time and attended our court house wedding. Just contained a paragraph of how they know us and stuff with their contact info saying to contact them for any further information or questions. There is no specific person it has to be, just people that know you and your relationship.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Hello Harpa!

So what we will have to include, according to the list on the i-130 form, is an affidavit from two people that can prove that our relationship is real.

I found a template of this Affidavit here:

http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?276943-Affidavit-For-Bona-Fide-Marriage

Can anyone confirm if that's the right one?

Also, we only had one witness at our wedding and he can of course sign these papers. But I've heard that you need two people - can someone unrelated to our witness be the other one? It's my best friend who was supposed to be the witness but were unable to attend. Can we have two of our friends sign the affidavit? We don't want to ask our immediate relatives (parents or siblings) because of personal reasons.

Oh, do not use a template at all. I have seen people be denied because their letters were "from the internet."

If you want to include affidavits, then have the person write up what they know about you and your relationship. The more personal, the better. An affidavit should include how the writer knows you, how you met, when they knew you were in a relationship, when they heard you got married, how often they socialize with you, things like that. Let them write it themselves. They should put their full name, address, phone, etc on it in case their are questions.

You can see that an affidavit with the above information is worth something, or even a lot. An affidavit that says " I swear this is a real marriage" is not very useful.

You should get on your husband's insurance, so you are covered in case something happens. Maybe you have another insurance right now, but there is a window to add a spouse to insurance and presumably you will want to be there eventually, so now is the time.

[mymarriagejourney 113]

We submitted our AOS paperwork the day after our wedding. My husband adjusted from an F1 student visa. We wanted the paperwork out of the way before we left on our honeymoon the next day, and we also wanted the paperwork done before we started our studies again the following month. (Married in July...classes started up again in August.) Timing was a non-issue. We didn't have co-mingling the day after our wedding, but by the interview 2 months later, we had bank statements and an updated lease. We were approved.

[MrsB2012 10]

Just to clarify, one of you is a US Citizen, correct? One of the posts above made it seem like both of you are here on visas.

You can file AOS as soon as you have all the paperwork together. We filed 13 days after getting married and we worked our butts off to get everything organized and in order. We also had to wait on the "official" marriage license, meaning the one that is recorded and stamped by the country clerk. I'm surprised you were able to obtain this on the same day. The petitioner will also need to complete the physical exam. Try to include any and all solid evidence that you can. Do you have documentation of your ongoing relationship prior to marriage? If so, include it. Include everything you can after marriage that shows joint assets. You can work on gathering more info to bring to your interview over the next few months, but try to send as much as possible from the get go.