i-751 Additional evidence required

[npson 0]

Hi All

On October 11, 2012, I submitted a joint petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. I was granted my green card in January 2011 (I am the green card holder and my wife is the US Citizen). I completed the biometrics and also submitted the following evidence as part of the joint petition:

i) Copy of my permanent resident green card

ii) Copy of our joint bank account statement

iii) Copies of our previous and existing joint apartment leasing contract

iv) Copies of our previous and existing joint renters insurance policies

v) Copy of our joint car finance loan statement

vi) Copies of previous and existing joint auto insurance policies

vii) A copy of my my life insurance summary that states my wife's name as the beneficiary

viii) A copy of a letter from my wife's life insurance provider that confirms my husband as the beneficiary

ix) A copy of our joint medical insurance coverage

x) A copy of our confirmed airline itinerary from a recent vacation

xi) Two sworn affidavits by U.S. citizens, attesting to our relationship and marriage

A few days ago (April 26, 2013), we received a blue letter from the USCIS saying they needed additional evidence to process my form. They stated that "the evidence provided does not sufficiently establish that you and your spouse entered the marriage in good faith and continue to share a life together." Their comments were as follows (I have placed my comments/questions in red next to each bullet to give readers of this post context):

"You submitted:

a) Joint account monthly statement cover pages that do not include transaction details showing you and your spouse have actively used the account throughout your marriage (I am going to send 12 months of full statements of the first year since I was granted conditional residence and then provide statements for every other month thereafter to date - will this be sufficient enough?)

b) expired joint leases for a former residence (the reason why this is now expired is because I submitted all of my evidence back in October 2012 along with my I751. My wife and I purchased a home in Feb 2013 - i notified the USCIS of this address change - I will explain this in a cover letter and send will will send them a copy of the deed that has both our names on it - will this enough to be resolve this issue?)

c) homeowners tenant policy for a former residence (this relates to my comments in "b" i.e. we have since moved from that residence)

d) expired joint auto insurance ID card without proof of premium payments (i provided insurance cards from the point I received conditional residence to the point I submitted my I751 - again all valid when I sent all of this back in Oct 2012. I can provide updated information given I only received a response to my original petition a few days ago.

e) employment verification letter (neither my or I submitted an employment verification letter - we provided a letter from my wife's employer life insurance policy stating I was the sole beneficiary along with the effective date, the date of which - I am not sure what do here other than re-state this - should I re-submit this - it says not send items that have already been submitted?

f) joint health insurance card that does not verify the duration of the coverage period (I printed out an online summary page of our health coverages which shows the effective date - what do they mean by "Does not verify the duration of the coverage? What are they looking for here?)

g) travel itinerary

h) third-party affidavits that do not provide detailed, specific information regarding the affiants' knowledge of your marital relationship

The evidence you provided does not show in sufficient detail covering the period of your marriage that you and your spouse have lived together, shared responsibility and ownership of financial resources and obligations or have made joint health coverage, estate and financial planning arrangements.

Please submit evidence to show that you and your spouse entered the marriage in good faith and continue to share a life together. The evidence should cover the entire period of your marriage and may include one or more of the following:

- evidence that you and your spouse resided together and shared responsibility for a common residence

- leases in both names showing joint occupancy

- deeds and mortgages in both names showing joint ownership (can I provide them with update information for a, b, d - based on the context I have provided above?)

- evidence that you and your spouse have combined financial resources may include financial records showing joint ownership of assets and joint responsibility for liabilities such as joint checking and savings account statements showing deposits or withdrawals for the period of your marriage, insurance policies that show the other spouse as the beneficiary, joint tax returns (my intention is to provide the USCIS with what I set out in "a" above - is this the correct approach?

- evidence that you and your spouse have made estate health and financial planning arrangements with each other: a will, a trust or a durable power of attorney, for health care or property or both (we do not have a will in place but we our both the respective beneficiaries for the life insurance through our employers life insurance policies - how can I resolve this issue? I do not understand what they would need from my comments in "f" to understand what they are looking for regarding duration?

-affidavits from third parties who have knowledge of the bona fides of your marital relationship. An affidavit should be supported by documentary evidence and must be sworn to or affirmed by at least two people who:

- have known you and your spouse since your conditional residence was granted and have provided information about their relationship to you or your spouse

- have personal knowledge of your martial and have provided a detailed explanation about how this knowledge was acquired

- may be required to testify before an immigration officer regarding the affidavit's content and have provided their full name, address, date and place of birth.

(We submitted two affidavits one from a friend (a doctor) that provided info saying he had known us for just over a year at the time we submitted the I-751 back in Oct 2012, he dines with my wife and I on a regular basis whether it is out or that he comes over to our home, that we all go out together in a group, he has met my wife's family and that he sees first hand we are both truly happy and loving towards one another, we are planning on buying a house and anticipate extending our family with children. The second affidavit was from my wife's uncle who along with his family attended our wedding nearly four years ago, that when we moved from London to Houston. My wife and I lived in his family home, sharing many happy memories during that time and helped us with settling into our new surroundings in Houston, has maintained a close relationship with his entire family and we often meet for dinners/social and religious occasions. I am not sure what more they need here as they say it does not provide detailed specific information of the affiant's knowledge of our marital relationship?? Does anyone have any advice to offer here? We are planning for other family members and friends to provide additional affidavits??? We were even thinking for my wife to submit an affidavit?

- any other relevant documents not already mentioned, please do not send copies of documents previously sent ( we are going to now send pictures since we met through to the present day - anything else here that will help?

We would be really thankful for help on this!!

Edited April 29, 2013 by npson

[VJ-Newbie 5]

deleted

Edited April 29, 2013 by VJ-Newbie

[VJ-Newbie 5]

Hi npson,

I'm not an expert and am still waiting for a decision on my submission; but wanted to offer my thoughts based on other postings. It sounds like your RFE is a case of not enough evidence spanning the entire length of your marriage and some additional details needed. Be encouraged!

In addition to what you plan to send, perhaps consider the following:

1. To further establish that you have shared and continue to share the same residence:

a. Perhaps front and back copies of drivers licenses/IDs showing communal residence at (a) your former and (b) current residences

2. Re: d - auto insurance - perhaps include full premium payment statements spanning the entire length of your marriage

3. Re: f - health coverage - perhaps ask your health insurance folks to simply send you a verification letter with both of your names listed indicating that you both have been covered from date xx/xx/2010 - present; also, perhaps include any EOBs that demonstrate both of you have used and paid for medical expenses covered by your insurance company

4. Re: joint financial liabilities -

a. bank statements - I think you should submit evidence spanning your entire marriage until now - as many statements as possible; and if you can get the bank manager to write a letter verifying the dates you both opened the account and a summary of transactions, that might help as well;

b. joint tax returns - did you send them in previously? This is a must.

3. Re: affidavits - though most folks on the boards say affidavits are not necessary, since your RFE specifically asked for it then somethings to help might be doing the following: a. my lawyer friends said it's key to be thorough and detailed (and follow legal formatting since an affidavit is a legal document); and if possible include "Exhibits" (documentary evidence: photos of you and your spouse with the affiant; include dates and location in a caption). My friends, family members, and co-workers specified dates, locations, and as many details as possible when chronicling their interaction with us.

5. Not sure if it's really helpful at this stage and given USCIS emphasis on financial comingling habits, but re: further proof of a shared life - perhaps include more than just travel itinerary but the boarding passes of your trips and photos; We were told at our AOS interview that photos with other people present were a good thing; be sure to caption with date, location, and people

Be encouraged!

Edited April 29, 2013 by VJ-Newbie

[npson 0]

Hi VJ-Newbie

Thanks for the post, in response your helpful suggestions, please see my comments in red below.

1. To further establish that you have shared and continue to share the same residence: I was planning to send them copies of our respective drivers licenses which show our communal address - both for our previous address and current home.

2. Re: d - auto insurance - perhaps include full premium payment statements spanning the entire length of your marriage we usually make a full payment for the duration premium - can we just highlight that payment from our joint account bank statement? You mention entire length of our marriage. My understanding is that they just need info from the point at which I received conditional status.

I have nothing to hide it is just that my wife (US citizen) and I lived in the UK and we started our i-130 process with the UK embassy which was all approved. We both moved to the US once I received my green card in January 2011 and have joint accounts, joint auto insurance policies etc from Jan 2011 to the present day. Prior to that that, (in the UK) we were living at my mothers house and we had provided all evidence of our joint UK bank accouint (the funds in this account are now at 0 as we transferred this to our US joint account). I have read in the USCIS forms NOT to submit evidence that was previously sent as part of an application. You mentioned entire length of your marriage and wanted to give context. Any thoughts? Will showing the payment from our joint account covering each policy be sufficient?

3. Re: f - health coverage - perhaps ask your health insurance folks to simply send you a verification letter with both of your names listed indicating that you both have been covered from date xx/xx/2010 - present; also, perhaps include any EOBs that demonstrate both of you have used and paid for medical expenses covered by your insurance company I have been on the phone with my employer benefit hotline asking for a letter that fits this descrption but they are saying they only have a standard letter that does not provide a "to" date as it remains open ended as benefits can change etc. The info I provided already shows my name, my wife's name our DOBs and when the coverage started - with that I am not sure what else they would need, am I missing something here?

4. Re: joint financial liabilities -

a. bank statements - I think you should submit evidence spanning your entire marriage until now - as many statements as possible; and if you can get the bank manager to write a letter verifying the dates you both opened the account and a summary of transactions, that might help as well; see my comments in red above in 2 regarding when we moved to the US

b. joint tax returns - did you send them in previously? This is a must. Thanks for the tip - we can send them the last two years of our joint tax returns!

Re: affidavits - though most folks on the boards say affidavits are not necessary, since your RFE specifically asked for it then somethings to help might be doing the following: a. my lawyer friends said it's key to be thorough and detailed (and follow legal formatting since an affidavit is a legal document); and if possible include "Exhibits" (documentary evidence: photos of you and your spouse with the affiant; include dates and location in a caption). My friends, family members, and co-workers specified dates, locations, and as many details as possible when chronicling their interaction with us. Thanks - we will ask our friends and family to be more detailed. Can we request for the two individuals who already submitted their affidavits to re-write a more detailed description? Also, can anyone write the affidavit or does it have to be a US citizen or US Perm Resident? I ask as we could request for our family and friends from London to write and affidavit.

Additional advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Nilesh

Edited April 29, 2013 by npson

[VJ-Newbie 5]

Hi there npson - My response to your red response is in blue.

1. To further establish that you have shared and continue to share the same residence: I was planning to send them copies of our respective drivers licenses which show our communal address - both for our previous address and current home. I think that's the right thing to do. Some folks also include bills/mail they received addressed to both of you/either of you at your address.

2. Re: d - auto insurance - perhaps include full premium payment statements spanning the entire length of your marriage we usually make a full payment for the duration premium - can we just highlight that payment from our joint account bank statement? Good question. I'm unsure. My sense is that a combination of the actual payment statement from yoru auto insurance (you could probably call them and ask for it) and highlighting your joint bank account statement may be the way to go. You mention entire length of our marriage. My understanding is that they just need info from the point at which I received conditional status. I have nothing to hide it is just that my wife (US citizen) and I lived in the UK and we started our i-130 process with the UK embassy which was all approved. We both moved to the US once I received my green card in January 2011 and have joint accounts, joint auto insurance policies etc from Jan 2011 to the present day. Prior to that that, (in the UK) we were living at my mothers house and we had provided all evidence of our joint UK bank accouint (the funds in this account are now at 0 as we transferred this to our US joint account). I have read in the USCIS forms NOT to submit evidence that was previously sent as part of an application. You mentioned entire length of your marriage and wanted to give context. Any thoughts? I'm hoping that some of our VJ friends can respond. I'm not as familiar with the I-130 process and am unsure if you should include additional information prior to your arrival in the U.S. Will showing the payment from our joint account covering each policy be sufficient?

3. Re: f - health coverage - perhaps ask your health insurance folks to simply send you a verification letter with both of your names listed indicating that you both have been covered from date xx/xx/2010 - present; also, perhaps include any EOBs that demonstrate both of you have used and paid for medical expenses covered by your insurance company I have been on the phone with my employer benefit hotline asking for a letter that fits this descrption but they are saying they only have a standard letter that does not provide a "to" date as it remains open ended as benefits can change etc. The info I provided already shows my name, my wife's name our DOBs and when the coverage started - with that I am not sure what else they would need, am I missing something here? I contacted the health insurance company (e.g. Blue Shief, Aetna, etc.) directly and they were the ones to write the letter instead of my employer's benefit office.

4. Re: joint financial liabilities -

a. bank statements - I think you should submit evidence spanning your entire marriage until now - as many statements as possible; and if you can get the bank manager to write a letter verifying the dates you both opened the account and a summary of transactions, that might help as well; see my comments in red above in 2 regarding when we moved to the US

b. joint tax returns - did you send them in previously? This is a must. Thanks for the tip - we can send them the last two years of our joint tax returns! Be sure to request IRS tax transcripts! I am pretty sure that is what USCIS wants to see.

Re: affidavits - though most folks on the boards say affidavits are not necessary, since your RFE specifically asked for it then somethings to help might be doing the following: a. my lawyer friends said it's key to be thorough and detailed (and follow legal formatting since an affidavit is a legal document); and if possible include "Exhibits" (documentary evidence: photos of you and your spouse with the affiant; include dates and location in a caption). My friends, family members, and co-workers specified dates, locations, and as many details as possible when chronicling their interaction with us. Thanks - we will ask our friends and family to be more detailed. Can we request for the two individuals who already submitted their affidavits to re-write a more detailed description? Hmmm -- I am unsure. I would say yes and ask two additional folks to write a letter. Also, can anyone write the affidavit or does it have to be a US citizen or US Perm Resident? Good question. I'm unsure. I ask as we could request for our family and friends from London to write and affidavit.

Additional advice will be greatly appreciated! I hope our VJ friends can help you out soon!

[npson 0]

Thanks VJ Newbie