Re: RFE when couple does not share financial responcibilites

[Sara_1982 17]

This might not be an answer to this thread but I feel like everybody just jump on people who don't have joint bank accounts. I understand that it's a trust thing and a big thing but me and my husband have a very bonafide marriage but I (the beneficiary) would never put him on my bank account. He is a recovering drug addict and no matter how much I love him and trust him I would never even give him the option... His salary goes to my account so I guess that would be a trust thing that we have decided between us. I am the one taking care of all the financials. There's a lot of other proofs you can collect for ROC and I will be doing this as well since I will be there within the next year. Insurances, cars, utility bills, power of medical attorney, etc... Hopefully this will be enough... I know every case is different but if they deny me because we don't have joint bank accounts... Well then I guess we will be moving to Sweden... I wish you very good luck on your journey!

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Sweden is not a bad place to live

[Sara_1982 17]

Sweden is not a bad place to live

It definitely isn't If my husband didn't have a son, that's probably where we would live...

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

What did you send to begin with? What proofs of co-mingling your lives, finances and co-habitation do you have?

(strange that this post was moved but not indicated that it was by a mod/org)

[KawikaDavid 2]

Examples of documents showing a bona fide relationship (Submit COPIES only. Do not send originals):

1. A deed, showing co-ownership of your property or a lease agreement with both of your names on the

lease. 2. Utility bills, credit card bills, and other types of bills which have both of your names on them. Since many utilities will only put a bill in one person's name, some bills in one name and other bills at the same address but in the other spouse's name serve the same purpose: showing your financial & social lives intermingled. 3. Copies of actual credit cards, health insurance cards, or other "joint" cards that you have together,

showing same account number. 4. Car, health, or life insurance that has both of your names on the policy or the other spouse listed as the

beneficiary. 5. 401K or other retirement plan with spouse listed as beneficiary (right to survivorship is the technical term) 6. Bank or stock accounts with both of your names on them. 7. A copy of your joint federal and state tax returns (including W-2's and other applicable Schedules and attachments). Sending an official tax transcript from the IRS (for Federal) is beneficial and often preferred as it reflects what was actually filed. 8. A car title or other titles to property showing joint ownership with your spouse. 9. Birth certificate of any children that have been born to your marriage. 10. Documentation of any vacations that you have taken, including flight itineraries, hotel bills, pictures of you

together on vacation. 11. Other family pictures of you together. 12. Documentary proof showing evidence of your children together (Copy of Birth Certificate, photos, etc) 13. Copies of Christmas cards and other holiday cards addressed to you both

The above from the ROC guide. Bank accounts aren't enough, there is more to co mingle.

Wills and power of attorney are also good.

You have a choice to take a chance to be denied by presenting your concerns with a pre nuptial or make an effort to get approved by giving

them what they want, evidence of a co mingled marriage.

They are sticklers on bank statements from the inception of marriage and lots of RFE's go out for that when people

only submit a few recent months.

Have a variety of evidence.

Thanks Forest Child, Yea we have considerable evidence of social mingling e.g., vacations, family photos---2 marriage ceremonies --one in each country. We have had a joint bank account since marriage. I suppose I could get some of the utilities transferred to both names. In your opinion, would it be wise to do that now, this late in the game? They want this info in 7 weeks. Would it seem a little contrived if I all of a sudden changed utility bills to reflect both parties? thanks

[KawikaDavid 2]

This might not be an answer to this thread but I feel like everybody just jump on people who don't have joint bank accounts. I understand that it's a trust thing and a big thing but me and my husband have a very bonafide marriage but I (the beneficiary) would never put him on my bank account. He is a recovering drug addict and no matter how much I love him and trust him I would never even give him the option... His salary goes to my account so I guess that would be a trust thing that we have decided between us. I am the one taking care of all the financials. There's a lot of other proofs you can collect for ROC and I will be doing this as well since I will be there within the next year. Insurances, cars, utility bills, power of medical attorney, etc... Hopefully this will be enough... I know every case is different but if they deny me because we don't have joint bank accounts... Well then I guess we will be moving to Sweden... I wish you very good luck on your journey!

Thanks Sara....Yes I think couples can be in love and practical.

[babsloblaw 6]

Thanks Forest Child, Yea we have considerable evidence of social mingling e.g., vacations, family photos---2 marriage ceremonies --one in each country. We have had a joint bank account since marriage. I suppose I could get some of the utilities transferred to both names. In your opinion, would it be wise to do that now, this late in the game? They want this info in 7 weeks. Would it seem a little contrived if I all of a sudden changed utility bills to reflect both parties? thanks

I agree, it's going to be moot to make any last minute changes to your finances because USCIS wants proof throughout the whole marriage anyway.

Did you send in every billing statement for your bank account for each month of your marriage? Do you have any credit cards of which she's an authorized user, or vice versa? tax transcripts? Life insurance with your wife as beneficiary? Shared health insurance?

And good luck! I respect the financial decisions you and your wife agreed upon.

I also have a prenup but decided against sending it because it might send the wrong message that we have an exit strategy already.

[KawikaDavid 2]

I agree, it's going to be moot to make any last minute changes to your finances because USCIS wants proof throughout the whole marriage anyway.

Did you send in every billing statement for your bank account for each month of your marriage? Do you have any credit cards of which she's an authorized user, or vice versa? tax transcripts? Life insurance with your wife as beneficiary? Shared health insurance?

And good luck! I respect the financial decisions you and your wife agreed upon.

I also have a prenup but decided against sending it because it might send the wrong message that we have an exit strategy already.

Yea...I'm not going to submit the prenup. I will send all billing statements....she has her own debit card and personal account along with our joint. I have my own personal and savings accounts. We have been filing joint taxes....I pay for her health insurance but it is in her name. So....I guess we'll see. She has never had experience with these amounts of money. Having her responsible, at this point, doesn't make sense. I would have done it the same way even without a prenup. I can't ask her to pay for anything as little as she makes. I have no problem paying everything. There will come a time when things change....but she is getting used to USA now.

I agree, it's going to be moot to make any last minute changes to your finances because USCIS wants proof throughout the whole marriage anyway.

Did you send in every billing statement for your bank account for each month of your marriage? Do you have any credit cards of which she's an authorized user, or vice versa? tax transcripts? Life insurance with your wife as beneficiary? Shared health insurance?

And good luck! I respect the financial decisions you and your wife agreed upon.

I also have a prenup but decided against sending it because it might send the wrong message that we have an exit strategy already.

Yea...I'm not going to submit the prenup. I will send all billing statements....she has her own debit card and personal account along with our joint. I have my own personal and savings accounts. We have been filing joint taxes....I pay for her health insurance but it is in her name. So....I guess we'll see. She has never had experience with these amounts of money. Having her responsible, at this point, doesn't make sense. I would have done it the same way even without a prenup. I can't ask her to pay for anything as little as she makes. I have no problem paying everything. There will come a time when things change....but she is getting used to USA now.

[babsloblaw 6]

Yea...I'm not going to submit the prenup. I will send all billing statements....she has her own debit card and personal account along with our joint. I have my own personal and savings accounts. We have been filing joint taxes....I pay for her health insurance but it is in her name. So....I guess we'll see. She has never had experience with these amounts of money. Having her responsible, at this point, doesn't make sense. I would have done it the same way even without a prenup. I can't ask her to pay for anything as little as she makes. I have no problem paying everything. There will come a time when things change....but she is getting used to USA now.

Yea...I'm not going to submit the prenup. I will send all billing statements....she has her own debit card and personal account along with our joint. I have my own personal and savings accounts. We have been filing joint taxes....I pay for her health insurance but it is in her name. So....I guess we'll see. She has never had experience with these amounts of money. Having her responsible, at this point, doesn't make sense. I would have done it the same way even without a prenup. I can't ask her to pay for anything as little as she makes. I have no problem paying everything. There will come a time when things change....but she is getting used to USA now.

I guess some proof of you paying her health insurance might work too? Can you pull it out of her health insurance and your billing statements so the numbers match up? Did you send in your joint tax transcripts for all years of marriage?

I'm kind of reaching but I'm hoping that could get you the proof you need to appease USCIS.

I'm also from the Philippines, and judging from the ROC submission, me and your wife probably arrived at the same time. I'm working full time and taking my masters, while supporting my husband as he looks for a new job. I also worked with another Filipina who I transitioned my work to when I left my first job. She's taking SQL classes at night and selling beauty products on the side. I can speak for our resilience, so I'm positive she'll do well.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

We have a post-nup, but had some joint bank accounts and some separate.

Some other evidence that was submitted was things like both names on car insurance or authorized user of a credit card.

We also submitted evidence that we lived at the same residence even though my name is the only one on the deed.

I think you'll have to give us an idea of what you already submitted else than social evidence to see if there is anywhere to fill in.

Edited July 2, 2016 by N-o-l-a

[tool 3]

I very recently received and replied to an RFE for my Removal of Conditions application. I am kind of in the same situation as in my name is not on ANY of our utility bills or mortgage. We do have a joint bank account to which my salary is deposited, however, my name is not on the "main" bank account that contains the majority of our finances. When I received the RFE, I wrote a cover letter explaining our financial situation ie. My name isn't on the utilities or mortgage as I didnt have credit history when I entered the US Etc. I also explained why I am an authorized user on my husband's credit card but rarely make transactions on it. You should definitely include the following:

- Cover letter.

- Bank statements from your joint bank account spanning three years (I sent in one for every quarter). Even though we don't have a lot of money in this account it still shows a history of "co-mingling".

- Tax statement/transcripts

Do you have joint auto insurance? Even though you're paying if it shows her as being on the policy that would help also.

In total I sent in 107 pages and it was a pain but we got approved so it'll be worth it in the end!

[KawikaDavid 2]

I guess some proof of you paying her health insurance might work too? Can you pull it out of her health insurance and your billing statements so the numbers match up? Did you send in your joint tax transcripts for all years of marriage?

I'm kind of reaching but I'm hoping that could get you the proof you need to appease USCIS.

I'm also from the Philippines, and judging from the ROC submission, me and your wife probably arrived at the same time. I'm working full time and taking my masters, while supporting my husband as he looks for a new job. I also worked with another Filipina who I transitioned my work to when I left my first job. She's taking SQL classes at night and selling beauty products on the side. I can speak for our resilience, so I'm positive she'll do well.

Thank you Babsloblaw,

Yea she is great. She's been working fulltime since her arrival and always offers to pay for things, but I've told her to save her money. Your idea re: health insurance--and my billing statements will match and it's a good idea. Thanks for that. Afterthought: but will that help? That will again establish that I am paying for everything. I think they want proof of her contributing? I 'm not sure what they want, honestly. Where in Phils are you from? thanks.....

[LionessDeon 2,060]

Can you have separate finances and have a real bonafide marriage? Of course

But I thought we were talking about immigration and ROC requirements.

OPs initial post made it sound like his wife's name is on nothing and couldn't be because of a pre nup. Later post reveals otherwise.

There are all types of ways to show comingling...car insurance, health insurance, living wills, beneficiary listings, club memberships, etc

[Ash.1101 1,756]

There's a difference between meeting your view of what a real marriage can be, and satisfying the needs of USCIS.

When it comes to immigration, sometimes you have to bend a little and do what they want of you, at least for a while until you can live how you want.

With that said though, like Lioness said there are more than one way to prove commingling, granted bank account is one of the strongest ones, but there are other ways.


And no, they don't want proof of her contributing. They don't care if she's not working because you make enough to take care of the two, she doesn't need her own bank account or to work to satisfy requirements. They care that you are commingling finances, this doesn't mean you're both bringing in money, it means that you both have access to each others money, and that the money is pooled together into one bank account.

Yes, you can still have separate bank accounts, but it's HIGHLY recommended for immigration purposes that you at least have one joint account that you both have money go into. Generally this would be the "bill/rent/main place the money goes account" and then the separate accounts are the personal spending accounts, where you can buy what you want on your own account, and she can buy what she wants on her own account.



On a second semi-unrelated note: Why is she working a min-wage full time job, and why do you tell her to save it when she wants to help? Does she want to work? Does she NEED to work? Are you meaning for her to save it so she can spend it on what ever she wants, or save it for future needs? I could see this be something that an IO would ask at an interview. It could look like there's a chance, from the IO's point of view, that she's being set up to live on her own.

[Hank_ 9,174]

We recently received a I-797-E Request for evidence. The primary request was to submit evidence of comingling of finances. We do not do that because my wife (Filipina) only makes min wage and I make considerably more; also our prenup indicates that I assume such financial responsibilities.

Any helpful recommendations, suggestions?

thanks so much

David

You don't have a joint bank account?