Removal conditions RFE - What did I miss? Help!

[bellaling 6]

Hi there! I've been reading Visa Journey a lot since I started the immigration journey. This has been my main source of information, so for all of you who regularly posts guidelines and advice - thank you very much! Even those who are not members learn from you guys A LOT!

Today, I need your help so I'm hoping you'll be patient in reading through and kind enough to respond, and thank you so much in advance to those who will offer advice. Warning though, this is a long post, I've detailed everything I sent for clarity's sake.

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So today, we got a letter from USCIS and hubby (the USC) was so excited thinking it was my green card - we applied for the removal of conditions with a very thick packet of evidence and documents in April. I went for biometrics in Aug 29, and the guy there said just wait for the green card in the mail. Took this with a grain of salt, because like I said, I regularly read here and RFEs happen to the best.

So the letter said the usual that we did not establish good faith marriage and the documents we submitted were insufficient because of these two primary reasons:

• 2013 and 2014 tax returns submitted were incomplete. You did not include all required schedules, statements and W-2 records.
• The CPR submitted little evidence to support commingling of assets.

We submitted Form 1040s for both 2013 and 2014, not the W2s. So hubby is already looking for those. But what we don't know is, what are statements? We submitted the complete Form 1040s so hubby thought that was the full thing needed. I don't work, so he filed joint for both of us in both years.

As for the second, "little evidence to support commingling of assets", we really, really thought, we submitted everything. Please take a look below and let me know what else we can add to the response we am gathering now.

So the letter went on to state that we need to submit further documents such as:

- DL and identity cards (we submitted those, even membership to state parks and Costco)

- birth cert for children (we're still trying, no success there yet)

- bank statements - submitted statements and notarized letters from the bank stating how long the accounts were

- mortgage, deeds, etc - we have none but we submitted rental agreements from the time I came here, renter's agreements, car rental receipts (I read that it's a good idea to show range, so these are usually from different months starting from 2013 to just before we submitted the application in April this year)

- credit card statements - submitted, we also submitted copies of the cards

- car loans, business loans - we have none

- state and federal tax returns - we submitted Tax returns but not the W-2s

- utility bills - submitted mobile phone subscription and internet, since the other utilities (electricity and water) are only in hubby's name

- any other documentation.

All evidence we submitted by the way, started when I arrived in the USA in July 2013, not from when we got married. We had little evidence from that first year, because we stayed in my apartment in the UAE, which was under my name and my car was also under my name alone. And I read somewhere that since those were already submitted for the first visa, you start off from when you enter the USA - was that wrong?

So here's the full list of what we submitted back in April, I copied this from the actual cover letter I sent with the packet (given that sensitive info were generalized and some explanatory comments inserted):

I. Application for Removal of Conditions

A. Form I-751

B. Filing fee - check worth $590 payable to U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued

from our joint checking account

C. Copy of my I-551 (Permanent Resident Card)

D. Copy of my Passport

B. Copy of my SS Card

II. Proof of Communal Residence - we have been living in the same address since 2013

A. Copy of apartment contract 2015 - in both our names

B. Copy of apartment contract 2013-2014 - in both our names

C. Copy of renter's Insurance 2015 - in both our names, renter's insurance was only required by the apartment management this year, so we did not have this before

III. Proof of Joint Financial Records

A. Bank accounts

1. Original Notarized bank letter stating joint ownership of two bank accounts

2. Original Notarized bank letter stating bank memberships since 2013

3. Bank statement - February to March 2015

4. Bank statement - June to July 2014

5. Bank statement - December 2013 to January 2014

B. Joint Federal Tax returns - these are the complete Form 1040

1. 2014

2. 2013

C. Credit card - this is under my name but hubby is authorized user

1. credit card - printout of online accounts page showing our credit cards, the statements showed payments to accounts we have (itemized in no. 4)

2. Scan of the actual credit cards

3. credit card statement - November to December 2014

4. credit card statement - January to February 2015

5. credit card statement - March to April 2015

D. Other Documents - water, electricity and internet bills are all under hubby's names so we sent the following instead:

1. Health Insurance

i. Copy of health insurance cards - both of our cards

ii. Health Insurance Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from our insurance company:

- October 2013 - mine

- October 2013 - hubby's

- January 2014 - hubby's

- August 2014 - mine

- February 2015 - mine

- February 2015 - hubby's

2. Car insurance - we do not own a car but we rent regularly

i. Car Insurance - my hubby's parents included us in their car insurance so we have coverage when we rent, we sent the insurance info showing his parent's names and ours under the same account

ii. Car Rental Receipts - we alternate renting from the same company, depends on who was willing to get out of the house that day

- December 2013 - rented by hubby

- April 2014 - rented by hubby

- August 2014 - rented by me

- October 2014 - rented by me

- November 2014 - rented by me

- January 2015 - rented by hubby

- February 2015 - rented by hubby

ii. Car Rental in Las Vegas receipts - I do not have the flight info for any flights we took together, so we sent car rental receipts instead, the receipts shows who rented and who was the additional driver

- August 2014 - rented by me, hubby as additional driver

- November 2014 - rented by me, hubby as additional driver

3. Mobile Phone Subscription - paid with our credit card (which was the same credit card from above - the screenshot shows the card type and last four numbers of the credit card used)

i. mobile phone accounts page showing telephone numbers

ii. mobile phone accounts page showing serial numbers

iii. mobile phone payment history - last three months

4. Netflix and internet accounts - paid with our credit card (which was the same credit card from above - the screenshot shows the card type and last four numbers of the credit card used)

5. Licenses and other memberships

i. Copy of both our driver's licenses

ii. Copy of both our Costco Membership cards

iii. Copy of National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Pass signed by both of us

7. Photographs through the years - these photographs show us with our respective families, different friends in different places, travels to Utah, Arizona, Las Vegas, captions state month, year and location

- 2015 - January to April

- 2014 - September to December

- 2014 - January to September

- 2013 - July to December

IV. Original Sworn Affidavits from our US citizen family and scans of letters sent to us:

1. Affidavit from hubby's parents

2. Affidavit from hubby's brother

3. Affidavit from my USC uncle

4. Scans of letters and cards sent by family and friends

So do I just resubmit all these based on their second reason "CPR submitted little evidence to support commingling of assets"?

And what else can I submit? I can't really think of anything else, except updated bank and credit card statements (add more recent ones). We don't have loans or any properties at all.

Again, thank you, appreciate your insights.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

You need the complete tax returns, with all forms, schedules, attachments, W-2s and/or 1099s, OR tax return transcripts from the IRS.

You should show proof of co-mingling finances and bona fide relationship for the entire length of your marriage. You will of course have more evidence from after you arrived in the US and you are living together.

Make sure all the credit card info you show proves that the other spouse is an authorized user on the account. It won't do much just to show statements from the card without proving you two share the account somehow. Is that the only credit card the two of you share? If not, send proof of others, even store cards.

Show bank statements from joint accounts for the entire time you have had the joint accounts.

Any life insurance policies listing the other as beneficiary? Wills? Power of attorney? Health directives?

Anyone have the other spouse listed as an emergency contact for work, school, etc.?

You went on trips together as a married couple. Show the itineraries, plane tickets, hotel receipts, and such from those planned trips together, and not just the photos.

Show any and all evidence you can think of that shows co-habitation and co-mingling of your finances and lives.

~ Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process to Removing Conditions - topic is ROC ~

[JamesSheila 4]

We also sent both our wills showing each other as executor of estate. We included enough bank statements to show the bank accounts were actually being used by both of us.

[oceanborn 33]

First of all; don't panic! RFEs are sent fairly often, and sometimes you simply don't have significantly more documentation to provide than what you originally submitted.

That being said... the best thing you can do now is overwhelm them with paperwork. You mention joint bank account statements - print out every single statement you've had for the entirety of the past two years! Get tax transcripts from the IRS, and for good measure, also submit copies of W2s etc. Got many friends who know you both as a couple? Ask them if they'd be willing to submit affidavits - the more the better. Took any trips together? Great! Get those old flight tickets, hotel booking confirmations, photographs et al. Did you make any large purchases together / were either of you the co-signer on a loan? Grab those loan documents from each month, and call the company to ask for a letter stating it was taken out in both of your names.

At this stage, you're trying to avoid an interview, so the more paperwork you can submit the better! Still, you will of course be given the opportunity to represent yourselves in person if you cannot provide enough for the Interviewing Officer to be happy to approve -- so just keep on plugging away.

Cheers.

[bellaling 6]

Thanks so much for all the response. From everything I've read here so far, I was under the mistaken impression that I already deluged them with information. My packet was thick and I included even State Park cards we have signed for! But from your responses I do see the gaping holes like what Happy Chic said about the credit cards. I should have looked into this before, turns out we would have been better off with Amex (not to plug or recommend any particular bank) because they do list individual authorized users and their purchases. Unfortunately we don't have Amex. With Discover, you can view each transaction to show who used it and with Chase, there's no option like that at all. This RFE had me scurrying around to find more documents, I actually got in touch with the banks to find out if you can show authorized user's name and transactions and how. I was up last night printing ALL credit card statements and transactions by hubby. I'm working on bank statements now. I'm even throwing in health savings reimbursements we filed last year. (Ugh, huge waste of paper and ink!)

One clarification please, I read in another thread here at VisaJourney about the same topic that TAX information is the most important. However, I am still not clear on what tax transcripts are? We originally submitted the Form 1040s (all pages of it). Is there a different form that is called transcript? Sorry but even hubby is flummoxed, he thought the transcripts meant just the Form 1040s. But I'll be sure to add the W2s too in my RFE packet plus these transcripts when we find out what they are. The other good thing is we can also include the 2015 ones, so that's additional info for them.

Also, we don't have life insurance yet - life has been rocky (like the path to migration) and we've only started looking into it them. Would it be a point against us if it was signed after the RFE was sent?

Edited August 31, 2015 by bellaling

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

IRS tax return transcripts are free, and you can use them in place of a complete copy of your returns. Just the 1040 forms alone are not enough.

You can get them through the online form(http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript), or the automated phone transcript service at 1-800-908-9946. You can also get them in person at an IRS office.

[bellaling 6]

Oops my mistake, no 2015 taxes yet. That's me dreaming. We used Turbo Tax - would printing out "All Forms and Worksheets" cover their requirement for tax info? Sorry about the repeated questions on Tax, I just want to make sure that I submit everything right this time. Thanks again!

IRS tax return transcripts are free, and you can use them in place of a complete copy of your returns. Just the 1040 forms alone are not enough.

You can get them through the online form(http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript), or the automated phone transcript service at 1-800-908-9946. You can also get them in person at an IRS office.

Thanks! I'll check that out now.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Printing out all forms, schedules, worksheets, etc. from the filings, PLUS adding the copies of W-2s and/or 1099s will work. You need everything all together for each year. Using an IRS transcript is easier because that is all you need. You don't have to worry about whether or not you included every form because all the info needed is included in the transcript.

[bellaling 6]

- You say you don't have any information about the flights you took. Wouldn't you have boarding passes/tickets or e-mails confirming your flight schedules? You may even be able to go to the airline's website and retrieve past tickets up to certain number of months.

- Just couple things I didn't see others suggest (unless I missed):

1) include your marriage license from the Philippines, if you have one or any other government of Philippines document attesting that you're married. Validating your marriage in your home country shows that you take your marriage seriously.

2) Do you have any brokerage accounts together? There are different types of brokerage accounts you can include: joint spouse accounts, accounts where the other spouse is listed as a beneficiary and account where the other spouse has full trading authority.

I think this is all I could come up with extra. Good luck!

Got a couple of ITs in the email. The older ones have long gone to email heaven, airline accounts do not show the actual IT anymore, just mileage accrued.

We don't keep receipts much but thanks for your email idea, I was able to trace some of those we booked online and paid with the credit card. So I'm just refurnishing them with parts of the credit card statements corresponding to purchases in those area and in those dates.

[bellaling 6]

Alrighty, wish us good luck! Packet dropped off at the post office today. Thanks so much for all the replies and suggestions.

It's quite funny, USCIS sent a standard self-addressed envelope for the RFE response - only my cover letter would have fitted in it! This time, I tried to be as exhaustive as possible as per your kind suggestions. The packet was probably more than five inches thick, I had to put it in a USPS medium priority mail box. We included the Tax transcripts, W2s and for safe measure, the full copies we filed with IRS for the last two years (about 73 pages each!).

We also included an outline of all the attachments which included cross references on credit card purchases so that both our names will show up. So hopefully, those cross references (purchases in credit card statements had actual merchant receipt attachments) will not be too confusing. A couple of the credit cards we use only has my name on the statements but the individual transaction shows his name. We also added:

• screenshots of our medical provider's account pages showing each other as emergency contacts - we're hoping that's acceptable
• copy of his son's school's emergency contact form listing me as the emergency contact
• copies of our health insurance claims from our health insurance savings plan last year
• USC's employee benefits showing me and his son as beneficiaries
• bank denial for a joint loan application - figured if loans are acceptable, then denials should be too
• a couple of apartment management notices which are addressed to both of us
• all pages of our joint bank statements since it was opened, with notarized letter from the bank stating when the account was opened
• all travel related receipt we could still find

Plus a handful of others documents.

I'll update this thread when I get my response, in case it may be of help to future filers. I do hope we get a response soon and not another five months before we hear something. Crossing our fingers.

Thank you again!

[bellaling 6]

Yey! I did a quick check online a couple of days ago and luckily enough, on that day, Sept 21, eight days after mailing my RFE packet, the status said:

New Card is Being produced!

I started clearing up my piles of documents after mailing the RFE packet and discovered I left out a section of the Travels portion (with receipts and air flight details - ugh, double checked, double checked and still made a mistake) which of course caused so much stress. So reading this status was such a relief! I guess all the other documents were sufficient enough and of course I'm not sure but I have a feeling it's mainly due to the complete Tax transcripts which I missed before.

So again, dear fellow Visajourneyers, thank you for all the help!

Will have a few months to relax before the next step. Cheers everyone!

[TBoneTX 45,319]

That's great news -- thanks for the update.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Congrats!

[bellaling 6]

Received the new card today! Yey!

[TBoneTX 45,319]

That's even better news!