Evidence of a bona fide marriage, please help!

[PlingPlong 2]

Hello, we are planning to file for a CR-1 visa in the coming weeks and I am a bit worried about the evidence of a bona fide marriage.

While I think(..or hope ) it should be enough what we plan to send, it would be greatly appreciated if I would get some feedback.

Facts that might be important:

The beneficiary is German (me).

The petitioner is an immigrant herself, she came over from Vietnam when she was 11 years old.

We are together for two years

We have seen each other twice, six weeks in Summer 2012 and 11 days in October 2013

Age difference is two years, and we are 25 and 23 years old

It's a same sex marriage

Evidence that we are planning to send:

Documents of our domestic partnership from 2012 (I thought that should be a strong proof, because I partnershipped her even though I did not gain any visa options by doing so)

Amazon invoices from presents I bought for her over the course of two years (15 presents )

Calls from my computer to her mobile phone from the last six months(12 pages)

E-Mails, cards, and letters that she send me (10 pages)

Pictures of us both and of us with her friend (6 pictures)

My passport stamps and boarding passes

Bank withdrawals that I made near where she was/is living

Tickets for Six Flags and the LA Zoo that I bought for us both

It would be more than appreciated if some experienced people could tell me what they think of our evidence and if they see any "red flag" we might not have thought about yet.

Thank you in advance

[Blueberry Pancake 311]

I might be wrong, but I don't think domestic partnership provides the same immigration benefits as marriage?

Maybe someone more knowledgeable will chime in

[PlingPlong 2]

I might be wrong, but I don't think domestic partnership provides the same immigration benefits as marriage?

Maybe someone more knowledgeable will chime in

We got a real marriage on October 3rd, I was just planning to send the Domestic Partnership documents as a proof of a bona fide relationship, since I did not gain any advantages for immigration purposes and still entered the Domestic Partnership.

I thought (or hoped) that this shows that I'm not with her because of the Visa.

Maybe I'm thinking incorrectly though and it'll just confuse the USCIS!?

[dens 5]

Bona fide marriage in the same sex status Always remember that you must show extreme hardship both partners like you visit him/her last 2 years before filing petition,in your case this was the same as fiancee process.

as you stated above that is one of the requirements to prove both partners.

[Sukie 1,460]

The most important part of your bona fides is your marriage certificate. Your marriage must have been legal in the jurisdiction in which it took place. You do not mention where you got married.

Your domestic partnership info is fine - I myself registered as a de facto partner in Australia before we legally married in the US. My Australian registration would not have been sufficient for a visa - but it does show that we were a "couple" - at least in the eyes of another government.

Adding evidence of financial intermingling makes your case stronger.

Sukie

[PlingPlong 2]

The most important part of your bona fides is your marriage certificate. Your marriage must have been legal in the jurisdiction in which it took place. You do not mention where you got married.

Your domestic partnership info is fine - I myself registered as a de facto partner in Australia before we legally married in the US. My Australian registration would not have been sufficient for a visa - but it does show that we were a "couple" - at least in the eyes of another government.

Adding evidence of financial intermingling makes your case stronger.

Sukie

Awesome, thank you so much!

We got a got a Domestic Partnership in Santa Barbara, CA in August 2012 because our original plan was, that she moves here to Germany this October.

But now, since she can sponsor me for an US visa, we thought we rather do this.

Her German is pretty much non existant and this fact wouldn't really have made things like job search and the daily life easier for her.

We got married in October 2013 in Norwalk, CA and we are only waiting for the marriage certificate, that hopefully arrives soon.

The thing with the financial intermingling is probably difficult, since we are living in different countries and have financially completely independent lifes.

I know, that I can't put her as a co owner of my bank account, because she is not a German resident and I doubt that I can be one of her's, since that would require an SSN(as far as I know), which I don't have.

The only option that came to our mind was, that I could get a Credit Card in my name for her account, with her still being the only owner and therefore the only legally responsible person for the account.

I'm not really sure though, if that doesn't look too "purposely done for the Visa", if she applies now for a card for me and two weeks later we send in the I-130?!

Thank you again!

[Mark88 183]

The most important part of your bona fides is your marriage certificate. Your marriage must have been legal in the jurisdiction in which it took place. You do not mention where you got married.

I don't think that this is the most important part of proof, sine basicly anyone can get married to eatch other (hetero/same sex doesn't matter). More important will be the evidence around it: Trip records, pictures, phone records, skype chat transcripts, basicly anything proofing your marriage is real.

I know, that I can't put her as a co owner of my bank account, because she is not a German resident...

As long as you are the primary account holder in Germany and a EU-Citizen, you can add anyone, even if she isn't a EU-national. Especially since you are married. The bank might want German proof of marriage, so you might have to register your marriage (which will be good in the long run anyway) with your local civil registry office (Standesamt, i.e. here http://www.stadt-koeln.de/buergerservice/themen/anmelden-ummelden/eintragung-einer-im-ausland-geschlossenen-ehe/).

...and I doubt that I can be one of her's, since that would require an SSN(as far as I know), which I don't have.

You might not be able to have a joint bank account in the US, but she can always add you as the beneficary to the bank account.

The only option that came to our mind was, that I could get a Credit Card in my name for her account, with her still being the only owner and therefore the only legally responsible person for the account.

I'm not really sure though, if that doesn't look too "purposely done for the Visa", if she applies now for a card for me and two weeks later we send in the I-130?!

This won't really help much inform of evidence, since here you really can add anyone as a authorized user to a cc account. Adding someone as the primary beneficary would have more weight, imho. Focus more on the whole package of proofing your marriage is legit. At least with personal experience, I can say that if you apply as a German in Germany (Frankfurt Consualte) it usually is a little easier, since Germany is not considered a high fraud country.

Edited October 20, 2013 by Mark88

[Darnell 8,478]

back in the USA, she could add your name to most of her utility bills.