A# for i 751 form

[Teddy B 17,252]

My question was, if the following documents seem to suffice, I will not include our driver's licenses and bank statement:

1. Apartment lease with both our names
2. Utility bills with wife's name on electric bill and my name on the internet bill at the current address
3. Health insurance card with both our names
4. Auto Insurance with voth our names
5. Tax account transcript from IRS website for last 2 years with both our names as joint filing
6. Birth certificate of our newly born baby

I think that's a light package in regards to evidence, which is why I am stressing you send in the other paperwork/evidence that has a different address and just explain your move in the cover letter. Even though the old drivers licenses show a different address, they still show that you were residing at the same address, which is evidence in your favor. The same goes for the bank account. The more evidence you send, the fewer hassles you have down the road.

A simple paragraph in your cover letter explaining that you moved will suffice. Much easier than getting an RFE in a month or two.

[merc0230 28]

I think that's a light package in regards to evidence, which is why I am stressing you send in the other paperwork/evidence that has a different address and just explain your move in the cover letter. Even though the old drivers licenses show a different address, they still show that you were residing at the same address, which is evidence in your favor. The same goes for the bank account. The more evidence you send, the fewer hassles you have down the road.

A simple paragraph in your cover letter explaining that you moved will suffice. Much easier than getting an RFE in a month or two.

I tend to disagree (but what do I know - I'll be filing for our ROC later this year).

To me the birth certificate should be a slam dunk for proving a bonfide marriage.

I'll be following this topic closely. Should be interesting as more people chime in.

[mmdude 1]

I completely agree with you merc0230.

I thought having a baby together and providing a birth certificate would be a very strong evidence!

[Dave&Roza 748]

I completely agree with you merc0230.

I thought having a baby together and providing a birth certificate would be a very strong evidence!

Sorry to burst your bubble, but a child only proves that the female had sex and got pregnant. By itself it is not proof of a bona fide marriage. If the husband is listed as the father that helps. IMHO, the USCIS wants to see financial risk between the two parties. That is why joint bank accounts, joint liabilities, and joint tax returns are important. They also want to see what is considered a "normal" married couple where their lives as two separate people slowly become one.

You get married and live together. You get added to your spouse's employer's benefits. You get a joint bank account. You get a joint credit card. You buy a car. Both are listed on the insurance. You create wills. You buy a house. You file income tax together. Maybe, as in your case , you have a child together. There is no one single piece that proves a bona fide marriage because if there was every visa scammer would be using it. If you actually read the CFR it is up to the USCIS to prove that you got married to avoid the immigration laws of the US. I flat out stated in our cover letter that we were two people who decided to get married to join our lives and not to circumvent the immigration laws of the US and we both signed that letter. So we were in fact making a pseudo sworn statement and included evidence that we were combining our lives. My wife was not and is not on the title to our home. We had a single joint checking account and a single CC. We had file two years of joint income taxes and my wife was listed as a beneficiary on my employer's benefits as well as covered on my health insurance. She does not have a DL yet. We did show that we live at the same address before we moved and after. We were approved in 4 months without an interview.

Each case is different and it is up to you to decided how you want to show that the two of you are coming together as a couple. I took the approach of submitting evidence as if I was on trial and had to show beyond a reasonable doubt that we got married to live together and not to circumvent the immigration laws of the US. YMMV.

Good luck,

Dave

[mmdude 1]

From all your comments and suggestions, I get a sense that what most of you recommend providing as much evidence as possible to make a strong case and not leave any scope for them requesting RFE.

So I am going to try my best to get as much evidence as possible.

I have the following questions:

1. I have not requested any affidavits so far. Are they a must?
2. I am also going to attach pictures of the both of us taken at family get togethers, of us eating out, at home etc. I am guessing 1-2 pictures from each occasion, so how many pictures should I include in total?
3. For out joint bank savings account, should I include multiple statements spanning last 1 year, say Jan 13-July 13-Jan 14?
4. I recently changed my employer, so also changed my health insurance. So should I also include our insurance ID from our previous health insurance?
5. Because I have always used paperless billing, I do not have bills older than last 2-3 months for utilities. Would bills for last 3 months be ok?

[Dave&Roza 748]

From all your comments and suggestions, I get a sense that what most of you recommend providing as much evidence as possible to make a strong case and not leave any scope for them requesting RFE.

So I am going to try my best to get as much evidence as possible.

I have the following questions:

1. I have not requested any affidavits so far. Are they a must? Did not use them ourselves. It is recommended to use these only if the other evidence is weak.
2. I am also going to attach pictures of the both of us taken at family get togethers, of us eating out, at home etc. I am guessing 1-2 pictures from each occasion, so how many pictures should I include in total? Any trips together? I would only include special occasions and not just the two of you at home.
3. For out joint bank savings account, should I include multiple statements spanning last 1 year, say Jan 13-July 13-Jan 14? Span the entire time from marriage to current or from time joint account opened to present. I submitted a statement for each quarter.
4. I recently changed my employer, so also changed my health insurance. So should I also include our insurance ID from our previous health insurance? I would as it shows that you included her on your benefits from the time of marriage to present.
5. Because I have always used paperless billing, I do not have bills older than last 2-3 months for utilities. Would bills for last 3 months be ok? Very weak evidence as utilities could careless who is on the bill. It does so a common address if both names are on it, but beyond that I do not see much value. We have no bills in my wife's name other than her own personal credit card.

You want to paint a picture of two people who meet, fall in love and decide to get married and begin living their lives together. You need to spam the time period from marriage to petition submittal. You need evidence that is convincing and hard to fake. What you have depends on your situation. Look at what you have and ask yourself if you believe that the two people in all this documentation are married because they love each other or if there is any possibility that the marriage is for getting a GC. You have made it thru the hard part which is getting the visa to come to the US. Most RFEs I have heard of here on VJ are for not covering the entire period of the marriage--they just submit evidence from AOS onward.

I think you have enough information.

Good luck,

Dave

[mmdude 1]

Guys, thatks for all your responses. As soon as I feel I am coming close to getting enough evidence, another queation pops up, and makes me feel I am getting no where.

I thought ROC should be easy, after I had spent 3 months on AOS!!!

This may be a silly question, but should our address from all the documents match?

We recently moved to a new apartment in Oct 13.

Our utilities (internet and electeric) from Oct 13 to Jan 14 have our new address, however our joint savings bank account statements still have our previous address (even though I believed I updated my address with the bank, they never did on this joint saving account)

Our driving lisences also have our previous address listed.

The result is that the address on the utilities (new address) does not match with the address on our joint savings bank account statement and driving licenses.

In this case, would you suggest only providing evidence with the new address (for the last 3 months), or as Teddy B suggested, we should provide the evidence and clarify the difference in the cover letter? Do they even read the cover letter carefully?

I do not want to trigger a RFE for having confused them with different address.