ROC- not living together

[drtuti 1]

Hey everyone!

does any one have any experience with removal of conditions when the husband and wife have nt been livig together for a year... for a very good reason......

I am going to school in Boston and my husband works in NYC... he may or may not get a job there...and if he does not we will have to live in different cities...

i know the IO s are trained to think in a certain way...but its an unvaiodable situation for both of us...when we file for ROC in 2015 it will be a year since we would be living in different cities...

obviously we will be meeting each other very often ...but im in a fix...would it raise red flags??

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

It's a red flag, but they do understand economic necessity.

You will need lots of proof of communication, meeting at weekends (or whenever), and co-mingling of finances.

[victorian221b 12]

I don't have experiences in that so my advice would not carry as much as those that have been in your situation and approved. A few things I can think of would be to collect as many hard evidences that you are communicating with each other very frequently. Maybe if there is any way you can add each other on benefits even though you are living apart. Such as what the previous post said - get as much evidence proving your finances are comingling. As for the residence issue, maybe you can consider using one address instead of 2 different addresses to lessen the reason for a red flag. You may not be able to have a lease with both names (even though that can still be done even if you don't physically live together) but you should be able to have all documents point to the same address.

Good luck!

[JohnR! 5,495]

Ask your husband to keep a log of all job applications and interviews if he is unable to get a job in Boston. Names, dates and phone numbers would help, in case the USCIS wants to verify that he did a reasonable effort to get a job there. Keep records of financial transfers from his account to yours and v.v. Having credit cards and checking account in both names also helps.

in the end, your attitude towards ROC should be one that is self explanatory when asked why you have not lived together for the last 12 months or so. You should have means to explain and show evidence that living is separate cities was the only alternative, however undesirable.

Good luck!

Edited December 27, 2013 by Gegel

[gildayjason 2]

We haven't been approved yet, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I (LPR) had to take a job away from my husband (USC) a few months ago. We knew ROC was coming up, so we took special care to set everything up to show that we're indeed very much still together even though circumstances are requiring us to spend a lot of time apart. Some of it is easy, given that our marriage *is* real--plane tickets for regular visits, for example.

But the main thing is that I am maintaining my legal domicile (i.e., my permanent, principal home in the eyes of the law) in my family home with my husband--and all of our paperwork reflects that:

- I applied for ROC using the address where my husband lives full-time even though I'm currently only here for brief visits, because that's my domicile (it'd even be a different service center if I used the address of where I stay when I'm working). That does mean I had to do biometrics here; I got lucky that our appointment date coincided with a planned visit (I calculated a likely appointment date by looking at other people's and sent our packet accordingly, but it was still lucky). We're prepared to spring for a plane ticket if necessary if I get called for an interview.

- both of our names are on the lease to our apartment

- my driver's license and car registration are associated with our joint address

- all of our financial statements, joint and separate (including retirement accounts to which the other is a beneficiary), go to our joint address

- our joint car insurance goes to that address

- we sent in some photocopies of correspondence addressed to both of us over the years; all the recent cards and letters have our current joint address

- I attached an explanation of our current situation along with the list of our addresses for the past 5 years to the I-751

Good luck!

[drtuti 1]

Thanks guys!! appreciate your ideas and suggestions

its pretty daunting when you are in the marriage for real and something like this comes up that raises red flags and is totally unavoidable!

for now thats what my husband and i are planning ...(just in case he cannot find a job there)...to have the common residence in boston with a lease with both our names , car reg in boston, drivers licence and maintain that as the residence so when we file the ROC it will reflect the same address...and of course other things like joint tax returns joint bank accounts, frequent visits(tickets) , beneficiary to property etc...should they call us for an interview we can always explain and hope that they are reasonable enough to understand....

thanks again everyone!!!

[TBoneTX 45,284]

If you don't have them, create Wills, medical powers of attorney, et al. These are often overlooked as evidence to provide, and they're among the strongest.

[CharlineLP 3]

My husband and I were away for a year because he had orders (military). If you guys have documents showing both your names such as bank accounts, bills, last will, filing of tax, your vacation logs, anything that you could think of that can show that your relationship is genuine. You can also explain your situation in your cover letter. Best of luck