About list of evidence

[girlwithquestions 2]

Hi everyone, I need some advice on the evidence to submit and here's the list I am going to submit:

1. Joint tax returns 2013 -2014

2. Birth Certificate of our daughter

3. Joint health insurance ( I am on his work plan)

4. Beneficiary to his life insurance

5. Joint credit card account ( he is primary account holder and I am secondary)

6. Joint Car insurance

7. Joint phone bill account

Questions:

1. I am a stay-home mom so I don't pay for his mortgage for the houses and we don't have a joint savings account ( and we don't need cause he pays off everything anyway) . Is that going to be an issue?

2. Are pictures and affidavit letter really necessary?

3. Any advice on the evidence?

My card is going to expire the end of January and hopefully i will have enough time to finish it up...nothing is guaranteed with a 1-year old haha

Thanks :-)

[NikLR 13,227]

Pictures for you would be helpful, affidavits are secondary. Because you have a child I highly suggest you get some wills done.

You don't have a choice to get this sent and recieved by the the time your card expires. I doubt "I have a one year old" will be a good excuse for why you've filed late.

I assume you also don't have any bills etc in joint names? Do your driver's licenses have the same address?

[SM & EF 41]

In addition to NLR's comment, I think you should be added as joint on the savings and checking account. That way, instead of saying he is paying his mortgage out of his account, you can say the family's bills are being paid out of your joint account.

[NikLR 13,227]

Out of curiosity, how do you pay for things if you don't have a joint account? Does your husband just take out cash and give that to you?

[girlwithquestions 2]

Yes, my DL is the same address as my husband.

We have 2 credit cards together that I would pay things off occasionally.

And I have my own savings/checking accounts and so does he. We dont think it is necessary to have a joint bank account is all. But if it is important to get the GC thing done, we can open one..

[girlwithquestions 2]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! :-)

My DL has the same address as my husband and we have lots pictures to show.

I am the primary beneficiary and our daughter is the secondary beneficiary to all of my husband's benefits. Does that count as a will?

The only bill we pay together is one of our credit cards. I have my name and card listed there but the only thing i can provide prob is a screenshot of the page showing that.

As for how I pay for my stuff....I have my own bank account...savings and checking account. 99.9% of the time I pay with our credit cards though. If i need cash I get them from my bank.

[NikLR 13,227]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! :-)

My DL has the same address as my husband and we have lots pictures to show.

I am the primary beneficiary and our daughter is the secondary beneficiary to all of my husband's benefits. Does that count as a will?

The only bill we pay together is one of our credit cards. I have my name and card listed there but the only thing i can provide prob is a screenshot of the page showing that.

As for how I pay for my stuff....I have my own bank account...savings and checking account. 99.9% of the time I pay with our credit cards though. If i need cash I get them from my bank.

No. A will is a will, being a beneficiary on life insurance etc is not a will.

If you have a joint credit card then submit those statements.

Also you can easily add each other to already opened accounts if you choose, vs opening a whole new one.

Edited December 6, 2015 by NLR

[SM & EF 41]

I might be wrong, but they are looking to see comingiling of assets. Having his money in his account and your money in your account might lead to questions.

I'm sure it's happened before, so you can decide what works for you and be prepared to explain just in case they ask

[NikLR 13,227]

You are right SM&EF. They want to see you've co-mingled your assets the most which the OP has only done with a joint credit card. Because of this they have to submit more evidence of another nature, which they have so they should be okay.

Not everyone has joint accounts, but as immigrants, it's something you need to think about MORE than if you were a "normal" couple who has nothing to prove to the government. In reality you may get an RFE, and then an interview. If you're a genuine couple the interview would be easy,

[Alaska2012 462]

Joint bank accounts is not necessary. We never had any...heck my husband doesn't even have a bank account an that was never an issue in any of my steps.

Do you have other joint things? Like costco membership, gym membership, Sam's club? Stuff like that plus joint tax returns and our kids birth certificates, pictures an such has always been enough for us.

[NikLR 13,227]

joint memberships to clubs and stores are pretty low on the evidence scale. There's no financial gain or loss there.

You can add them of course. But the joint credit card, the child, and life insurance beneficiary so far are the OP's trump cards.

[tittysprinkles 4]

Hi everyone, I need some advice on the evidence to submit and here's the list I am going to submit:

1. Joint tax returns 2013 -2014

2. Birth Certificate of our daughter

3. Joint health insurance ( I am on his work plan)

4. Beneficiary to his life insurance

5. Joint credit card account ( he is primary account holder and I am secondary)

6. Joint Car insurance

7. Joint phone bill account

Questions:

1. I am a stay-home mom so I don't pay for his mortgage for the houses and we don't have a joint savings account ( and we don't need cause he pays off everything anyway) . Is that going to be an issue?

2. Are pictures and affidavit letter really necessary?

3. Any advice on the evidence?

My card is going to expire the end of January and hopefully i will have enough time to finish it up...nothing is guaranteed with a 1-year old haha

Thanks :-)

A few comments to your list:

1. Given you havent filed yet, dont just pull the tax returns. You can get actual receipts from the IRS to show "this is what was actually filed". I forget what they're called (transcripts?) but they take a week to arrive and would be worth your time in getting them. I presume you filed as "Married Filing Jointly"?
2. It's worth to print off EVERY MONTH for the credit card statements throughout the entire marriage. a "one year summary" wont cut it, nor will scattered statements i.e. first and last. Worth adding all of them to show that you are buying groceries from HEB together, and that you're putting expenses on a joint card regularly.
3. No, a beneficiary designation is not the same as a will, but for goodness sakes it's a start, particularly if the policy means you get some serious cheddah if he kicks it on the job.
4. "Mortgage for the HOUSES"??? Y'all got a bunch of houses and you dont have your name on ANY of them?
5. In Texas we added Property Tax statements each year given that both of our names are on the deed, but if you're not on the deed I'm guessing this doesnt help.
6. My card expires early Feb and I got my application in a few weeks ago, so better get on that. It's just a hassle to get any sort of extension.
7. Have you ever worked before with a 401k or RRSP? You can designate that to him so it doesnt look like it's a one-way street.
8. Consider adding photocopies of drivers licenses to show the same shared address as well as the car insurance forms
9. We also added photos throughout our marriage (annotated with location, date, and who was in them) as we travelled a lot up until recently.

We've got a 2 month-old. Let me give you some unsolicited advice: Sooner than later, make wills and trusts. You have dependents now, so it's important to spell-out where you want your 1-year old to go in case the 2 of you kick it together.

Good luck.

[Alaska2012 462]

Just saying I managed to get all the way through to a citizenship without a joint bank account. It really isn't necessary

[M J 11]

Is the list of evidence you need to prove you are married? I am actually gathering up my stuff now to mail out tomorrow for an RFE we received to show proof of a valid marriage. We did not need to do an interview, and after almost a year since we submitted her AOS, we now got an RFE. The letter we received gives a list of things which would support a bona fide marriage.

The letter says to send an original marraige certifiacte and any of the following:

• Birth certificates of children born of the marriage.
• Rental/Lease agreements.
• Life, health and/or Auto insurance policies.
• Joint bank account and/or credit accounts.
• Proof of joint ownership of property such as: hoome, invenstments, automobiles.
• Joint income tax returns.

My wife and I tried repeatedly to add her to my bank account with Chase, but were denied every time. The last thing she needs is something showing her address on it. For some reason all the letters she received from USCIS, and even our tax transcripts from the IRS were not good enough. I was frustrated to the point of seriously considering closing all my accounts and moving to a different bank. My wife has recently started working and a pay check is one thing Chase accepts, so we will try again when she gets that. We have also been unsuccessful getting here a state ID in Illinois which would have solved the issue. At this point I think we have enough other things from the list and do not need the joint bank account right now.

Edited December 6, 2015 by M J

[girlwithquestions 2]

Is the list of evidence you need to prove you are married? I am actually gathering up my stuff now to mail out tomorrow for an RFE we received to show proof of a valid marriage. We did not need to do an interview, and after almost a year since we submitted her AOS, we now got an RFE. The letter we received gives a list of things which would support a bona fide marriage.

The letter says to send an original marraige certifiacte and any of the following:

• Birth certificates of children born of the marriage.
• Rental/Lease agreements.
• Life, health and/or Auto insurance policies.
• Joint bank account and/or credit accounts.
• Proof of joint ownership of property such as: hoome, invenstments, automobiles.
• Joint income tax returns.

My wife and I tried repeatedly to add her to my bank account with Chase, but were denied every time. The last thing she needs is something showing her address on it. For some reason all the letters she received from USCIS, and even our tax transcripts from the IRS were not good enough. I was frustrated to the point of seriously considering closing all my accounts and moving to a different bank. My wife has recently started working and a pay check is one thing Chase accepts, so we will try again when she gets that. We have also been unsuccessful getting here a state ID in Illinois which would have solved the issue. At this point I think we have enough other things from the list and do not need the joint bank account right now.

Marriage certificate is not listed as the requirement but if they want It guess we will have to send it in again...I think what a good,document shows your wife's address is a driver's license. Banks usually only accept government issued ID..i am wondering what documents did you submit at first?