I-751 Request for Evidence Advice

[R & P 0]

My wife (foreign) and I (American) have been living in the USA for 2 years now and filed the I-751 in July. We gave the following evidence with the application:

- Copy of rental agreement with both our names on it

- Copy of joint federal and state tax return for 2011

- Copy of joint credit card account with both our names on it

- Affidavits for the veracity of our marriage from two friends

We have now (October) received a request for evidence which says:

"The conditional permanent resident (CPR) filed a Form I-751 with our office. The (CPR) provided some evidence of marital bona fides. However, the documentation submitted is insufficient because:

- You do not submit your joint finance.

- You do not submit your joint ability such as insurance"

And then it goes on to list the types of evidence they are interested in, most of which we unfortunately don't have.

- Copies of bank statements that reflect joint savings and/or checking accounts to include the transaction pages for each bank statement provided

We do not have a joint bank account. We tried to set that up one time, but our bank, an internet bank, (formally ING Direct, now CapitalOne 360) wouldn't add my wife as a joint unless she had some other US bank account. We never opened a brick-and-morter account because we had no use for it. Our finances are mostly routed through the credit cards, which I pay off each month from this bank account.

- Copies of insurance policies such as life insurance, medical insurance, vehicle insurance, homeowners insurance / or renters insurance, etc.

We do not have life/homowner's/renter's insurance. My wife has an individual medical insurance, separate from mine which comes through the University (I am a graduate student). My wife is not on the car insurance policy because she does not have a driver's license and does not drive.

- Copies of loan documents such as...

We don't have any loans.

- Copies of your State and Federal tax returns. Also include all required schedules, statements, and any attachments such as W-2 records.

We already sent them that. My wife does not have a W-2 because she continued working remotely for a company in Brazil. But we did declare our foreign-earned income in our tax report (and paid tax on it).

- Copies of utility bills such as telephone, gas, electric, water, cable, Internet, etc. or other statements issued to both names indicating the residential address.

My wife's name is not on any of the utility bills. I set up all of these before my wife arrived in the U.S., as she had to wait a while in Brazil for the interview. As a result, all of the utility bills have been in my name only.

- Identity documents: Submit legible copies of the conditional permanent resident and petitioning spouse's driver's licenses and or identity cards from the appropriate state's motor vehicle department

My wife does not have a driver's license or a state ID. Her ID has been her Resident Alien card.

- Marriage certificate

I can send this to them again (for the 100th time...). We were married in Brazil, so the certificate is from there and needs to be translated.

- Other documentation: Such documentation may include current mortgage records, wedding photographs, travel documents and any other evidence that you feel should be considered.

We don't have a mortgage. I can send photographs. I don't know what "travel documents" means... airline tickets? We took a vacation to Seattle once.

- Submit photos of you taken together showing date and place where taken from the date of marriage to present.

That's fine, we have plenty of photos.

My concern is they are asking for a lot of evidence that we don't have. Do people think it is worth explaining why we don't have the evidence they are asking for? As noted above, there are a few things they asked for that we can provide:

- Copy of mails from wife's health insurance, which at least shows she lives at the same address as me.

- Wedding certificate (again)

- Itinerary from our vacation to Seattle

- Wedding photos, other photos in USA

We haven't done anything wrong, it's just that we live in such a way that doesn't produce a lot of "evidence". What should we do? Also, they asked for some things that we already sent (tax return). Should we send them again?

One more thing: we do have a joint bank account in Brazil. Do you think they would be interested in statements from that account?

[cathy2904 97]

Have you looked through this thread? http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/220440-i-751-evidence/

Here are a few things off the top of my head:-

Did you send credit card statements that span the duration of your marriage and shows both of you having made transactions (not just one month's statement)?

Do you have any joint membership cards - gym, Sam's Club, museum etc, store loyalty cards?

Holiday cards from family and friends addressed to you both? I focused on the ones that used family names eg to or from Mum or Dad or Aunty Cathy etc as they show that we are viewed as a couple by our families.

Can you send copies of official mail sent to each of you separately but mailed to the same address?

Edited October 5, 2013 by cathy2904

[cathy2904 97]

One more thing: we do have a joint bank account in Brazil. Do you think they would be interested in statements from that account?

Yes, especially if there are transactions on it that span your marriage.

[amituttam82 5]

I have not been able to file this application yet but I can give you general comments about how to deal with evidence when it comes to Immigration offices nationwide. What they want from you is multiple sources of evidence. I think the mistake that you made is not to provide enough evidence on the first go. It seems that you do in fact have at least some evidence such as photographs and perhaps some letters and travel documents (boarding passes or iternary of joint trips). You should include this evidence and include a cover letter explaining why you don't have other evidence such as joint accounts, insurance etc.

Personally I think yours is a great case to understand how important it is to build evidence before applying to the USCIS offices. In retrospect how hard is it to add your spouse to credit card statements, create a joint bank account, add to your rental agreeemnt etc. I am not saying this to criticize you because I agree that the evidence you provided should be enough for a I-751 application but the rate of fraud in US immigration is very high which is why you have to proactively gather evidence before applying to any immigration application. If you feel overwhelmed please contact either a immigration attorney for further help or reach out to the nearest legal aid office.

For others applying for USCIS applications please think about how you will prove each point of evidence as required by the application. Please read either the guides on VJ or the application instructions page. Always provide at least 2 if not 3 sources of evidence for each point, a cover letter explaining all such evidence and listing clearly what proof you have included. If you want to avoid RFE's or delays be thoroguh no matter what application you are filing.

Edited October 5, 2013 by amituttam82

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Progress Reports to Removing Conditions on Residency Discussion.

[R & P 0]

On Oct 21st we sent the following in response to the request for evidence:

• Copy of Request for Evidence Notification
• [redacted] joint credit card statements
• Joint checking account statements from [redacted] Brazil, with translation
• Health insurance statements for applicant's policy, along with bank account statements from spouse's checking account showing payment.
• Health insurance policy ID card for spouse and letter from provider
• Auto insurance ID card
• Copy of joint Federal and Montana State tax return for 2012
• Copy of credit card offers to applicant
• Copy of wedding certificate with English translation
• Copy of spouse's Montana driver’s license
• Flight itinerary from May 2013 round trip [redacted]
• Flight itinerary from Dec 2012 round trip from [redacted]
• Flight itinerary from Jul 2012 round trip from [redacted]
• Flight itinerary from Dec 2011 round trip from [redacted]
• Wedding photos, selected photos from Sep 2011 until Sep 2013

We got the decision letter today: I-751 approved! Decision date was 10/31/2013. Wow, that's the fastest turnaround for anything in this process. Green card is in the mail, we're finally done! Hooray!

[victorian221b 12]

Congratulations! Turns out it wasn't so bad after all right?

On Oct 21st we sent the following in response to the request for evidence:

• Copy of Request for Evidence Notification
• [redacted] joint credit card statements
• Joint checking account statements from [redacted] Brazil, with translation
• Health insurance statements for applicant's policy, along with bank account statements from spouse's checking account showing payment.
• Health insurance policy ID card for spouse and letter from provider
• Auto insurance ID card
• Copy of joint Federal and Montana State tax return for 2012
• Copy of credit card offers to applicant
• Copy of wedding certificate with English translation
• Copy of spouse's Montana driver’s license
• Flight itinerary from May 2013 round trip [redacted]
• Flight itinerary from Dec 2012 round trip from [redacted]
• Flight itinerary from Jul 2012 round trip from [redacted]
• Flight itinerary from Dec 2011 round trip from [redacted]
• Wedding photos, selected photos from Sep 2011 until Sep 2013

We got the decision letter today: I-751 approved! Decision date was 10/31/2013. Wow, that's the fastest turnaround for anything in this process. Green card is in the mail, we're finally done! Hooray!

[H & M 3]

I realize this is an older thread, but it's helpful as we are in a similar situation with RFE.

It's discouraging that after all the work put into it, that it's still not enough.

I'm glad you got yours. Congrats!

[TBoneTX 45,308]

The OP hasn't logged on to VJ for a year, so receiving a reply is unlikely.

Old thread closed to further comment.