I-130 - Proof of Shared Residence?

[LeonieJensen 0]

Hello!

My husband (American Citizen residing in Germany) and I (German citizen) have decided to move to America.

 

I read the checklist for the I-130 and it's asking for Evidence of a bona fide marital relationship, such as shared residence, joint bank accounts or birth certificates of children. 

 

We don't have any kids and don't plan on having children in the near future either. We're in the process of getting joint bank accounts but I don't know how long that takes. We live in the same house. however we currently live with my mother who owns the place so we don't pay any rent (expept for 50€/month for electricity and water), which means we don't have a lease. 

 

Naturally, we're registered at the same adress. So I'm wondering, if both of us added our residence registration to the I-130, would that be enough to prove shared residence? Or could my mother write a lease?

[agripa 100]

8 minutes ago, LeonieJensen said:

Naturally, we're registered at the same adress. So I'm wondering, if both of us added our residence registration to the I-130, would that be enough to prove shared residence? Or could my mother write a lease?

If you don't have a lease at this point, I wouldn't create one all of a sudden. It would look kind of funny if you had a lease generated automatically prior to applying. I'd recommend that you get a sworn affidavit from your mother just describing how she has let you guys live rent free at her house from such and such date. Then gather as much paper showing both your names and your address, some suggestions include --

1. The residence registration sounds great and could be enough.
2. Any cards or pieces of mail sent to the both of you?
3. Do you each have individual bank accounts at the moment? Do you have any bank statements which might have been mailed to you (or that you can get mailed to you)? This would show that both of your individual accounts are registered to the same address?
4. Do you both have a driver's license with the same address on it?
5. You mentioned that you pay for utilities; do you have any utility bills with both your names and the shared address on it?

The general idea would be to find as much paper that has both your names and your common address on it. Good luck!

[LeonieJensen 0]

14 minutes ago, agripa said:

If you don't have a lease at this point, I wouldn't create one all of a sudden. It would look kind of funny if you had a lease generated automatically prior to applying. I'd recommend that you get a sworn affidavit from your mother just describing how she has let you guys live rent free at her house from such and such date.

Thank you! I'll ask my mother to write something for us and gather a few documents. 

 

Regarding the residence registrations... they're in German. Now I'm aware they need to be translated, but do I need to send them to a translation office? I remember getting my husband's birth certificate translated for the wedding, and it cost me 82€. We're trying to save the money we have for our move the America, so paying 160€ to translate something that I could translate just fine would hurt a little. Could I translate said documents and write an affidavit where I assure that I translated everything correctly or is there no way around a translation service?

[agripa 100]

1 minute ago, LeonieJensen said:

Regarding the residence registrations... they're in German. Now I'm aware they need to be translated, but do I need to send them to a translation office? I remember getting my husband's birth certificate translated for the wedding, and it cost me 82€. We're trying to save the money we have for our move the America, so paying 160€ to translate something that I could translate just fine would hurt a little. Could I translate said documents and write an affidavit where I assure that I translated everything correctly or is there no way around a translation service?

You shouldn't translate the documents yourself; this is kind of a conflict of interest and could result in an RFE (a request to get it re-translated). I believe it is okay to have a friend or neutral third party (i.e., like a colleague at work, a neighbor, etc) provide the translation, but honestly, I would stick to a professional translation service. I realize I'm being somewhat conservative (and going the free way I suggested is probably OK), but it's what I would do. 

 

Also, it sounds like you and your spouse both reside in Germany. Are you going through direct consular filing? It's probably much faster.

[LeonieJensen 0]

5 minutes ago, agripa said:

friend or neutral third party

Would my mother be considered a neutral third party?

 

7 minutes ago, agripa said:

Also, it sounds like you and your spouse both reside in Germany. Are you going through direct consular filing? It's probably much faster.

Yeah, we'll be going through DCF. According to the Website of the US consulate in Frankfurt, it'll take about four to six months via DCF as opposed to six months to two years the "usual" way.

[agripa 100]

16 minutes ago, LeonieJensen said:

Would my mother be considered a neutral third party?

Best to find someone not related to you. Again, I would strongly urge you to consider using a professional translation service.