AOS interview soon

[Tunisian_tunisia 13]

Hi,so i have my aos interview towards the end of next month,and i have got some qstions if u can helpp me pls

me and my wife we didnt have a ceremony,we just had a court marriage with her parents as our witnesses,we didn't change her name either,the reason why,is bcuz we r planning on having a wedding back in my country.

the only proofs of our relation that we have are, jont bank account,joint lease,and pictures and nothing more than that

im worried about qstions concerning why we didn't have a ceremony and why didn't we change her name, and if it may cause us problems with the IO,also the few proofs we have is making me nerves too

thank you

[Allie D 39]

5 minutes ago, Tunisian_tunisia said:

Hi,so i have my aos interview towards the end of next month,and i have got some qstions if u can helpp me pls

me and my wife we didnt have a ceremony,we just had a court marriage with her parents as our witnesses,we didn't change her name either,the reason why,is bcuz we r planning on having a wedding back in my country.

the only proofs of our relation that we have are, jont bank account,joint lease,and pictures and nothing more than that

im worried about qstions concerning why we didn't have a ceremony and why didn't we change her name, and if it may cause us problems with the IO,also the few proofs we have is making me nerves too

thank you

1. Many people get a court marriage. Many people have small weddings. Your bonus is that your wife's parents attended. USCIS will not grill you about this as long as you have legitimate proof of your relationship. Did you have a small reception with friends and close family? Do you have photos from that? 
2. You could also get affidavits from your wife's parents (do not have to be notarized) to support your statement that you intend to have a bigger wedding in Tunisia.
3. Your wife doesn't have to change her name. It's OK if she does this by choice (e.g. she intends to keep her name) or because you want to have a formal wedding ceremony in your home country once you have conditional residence in the US. Besides, this is 2017 -- many women don't change their names.
4. You came on a K-1 visa so USCIS will be sympathetic that you didn't have time to compile heaps of evidence (as is required for Removal of Conditions). Do you have a joint utilities bill since you live together? Are you listed as each other's emergency contacts, e.g. with a doctor or employer? Are either of you listed on the other spouse's employment benefits (health insurance, 401(k), life insurance, etc.)? If not, why not? If the immigration officer asks why a particular piece of evidence is not part of your case, be prepared to honestly explain why.
5. Being nervous is normal.  

[Tunisian_tunisia 13]

15 minutes ago, Allie D said:

1. Many people get a court marriage. Many people have small weddings. Your bonus is that your wife's parents attended. USCIS will not grill you about this as long as you have legitimate proof of your relationship. Did you have a small reception with friends and close family? Do you have photos from that? 
2. You could also get affidavits from your wife's parents (do not have to be notarized) to support your statement that you intend to have a bigger wedding in Tunisia.
3. Your wife doesn't have to change her name. It's OK if she does this by choice (e.g. she intends to keep her name) or because you want to have a formal wedding ceremony in your home country once you have conditional residence in the US. Besides, this is 2017 -- many women don't change their names.
4. You came on a K-1 visa so USCIS will be sympathetic that you didn't have time to compile heaps of evidence (as is required for Removal of Conditions). Do you have a joint utilities bill since you live together? Are you listed as each other's emergency contacts, e.g. with a doctor or employer? Are either of you listed on the other spouse's employment benefits (health insurance, 401(k), life insurance, etc.)? If not, why not? If the immigration officer asks why a particular piece of evidence is not part of your case, be prepared to honestly explain why.
5. Being nervous is normal.  

1.we only have picture of the court marriage,dinner with her family after court marriage,little small party ith her friends next dat thats,but we have a ton of pics  of trips we took together 

2. would that affidavit work ?

3.we didn't want to change her name only after the ceremony,and also bcuz she wanna change her full name not just her last name,so we decided to do that after marriage also so we don't complicate our AOS application with more paper work

4.i came on a k1 adn my AOS interview is only 3 months after i submitted my AOS,we have joint bank account and joint appartement lease thats all.

thank you

[A'n'L 735]

A small wedding is fine, not changing names is fine. The most important thing to show is that you live together (evidence of same address) and are co-mingling your financial (joint bank accounts/credit cards/loans etc) and judicial (wills/health insurance beneficiary etc). If your evidence of this is slim, pictures of the two of you together in different scenarios and with friends/family as well as evidence of trips/events you've attended will be very helpful. Affidavits aren't really worth much (anyone can say anything in a letter).

[Tunisian_tunisia 13]

1 minute ago, A'n'L said:

A small wedding is fine, not changing names is fine. The most important thing to show is that you live together (evidence of same address) and are co-mingling your financial (joint bank accounts/credit cards/loans etc) and judicial (wills/health insurance beneficiary etc). If your evidence of this is slim, pictures of the two of you together in different scenarios and with friends/family as well as evidence of trips/events you've attended will be very helpful. Affidavits aren't really worth much (anyone can say anything in a letter).

as i said, we only got a court marriage,and we only have house lease,and joint bank accounts together and pictures

[Allie D 39]

3 hours ago, Tunisian_tunisia said:

as i said, we only got a court marriage,and we only have house lease,and joint bank accounts together and pictures

If that's all you have, then that's all you have. Your interview is coming up soon so use whatever evidence you can accumulate to create strongest possible case. Don't try to hastily create more evidence as it might look fishy to the immigration officer, e.g. why did you do this so late and not earlier?

 

I agree with A'n'L that affidavits aren't worth much. They might be more effective if coming from a neutral and respected authority that knows the couple well (e.g. religious authority, family doctor, etc.). 

 

Edited May 22, 2017 by Allie D

[Tunisian_tunisia 13]

1 hour ago, Allie D said:

If that's all you have, then that's all you have. Your interview is coming up soon so use whatever evidence you can accumulate to create strongest possible case. Don't try to hastily create more evidence as it might look fishy to the immigration officer, e.g. why did you do this so late and not earlier?

 

I agree with A'n'L that affidavits aren't worth much. They might be more effective if coming from a neutral and respected authority that knows the couple well (e.g. religious authority, family doctor, etc.). 

 

it's not that i did this late,it's because i didn't know about these stuff

 

[Allie D 39]

43 minutes ago, Tunisian_tunisia said:

it's not that i did this late,it's because i didn't know about these stuff

 

I'm not accusing you of slacking off.  I'm referring to the fact that if you try to generate new evidence so close to the interview, the immigration officer might find the timing suspicious. Here's a quote from an article on red flags that make USCIS suspect marriage fraud: 

 

Quote

Attempts to manufacture evidence of shared life right before the interview. You will be asked to provide evidence of joint accounts, assets, memberships, and so on. Those items will likely have dates showing when they were begun. If those dates are mere weeks before the green card or visa interview date, it will create suspicion that you were trying to make your case look good rather than taking natural steps to join your lives.

 

[Tunisian_tunisia 13]

12 minutes ago, Allie D said:

I'm not accusing you of slacking off.  I'm referring to the fact that if you try to generate new evidence so close to the interview, the immigration officer might find the timing suspicious. Here's a quote from an article on red flags that make USCIS suspect marriage fraud: 

 

 

okay thank you,this is really so helpfull,wel beside  the pics and the joint lease and joint bank account,im getting mi driving license next week with the same adress as my wife,im adding that as a proof

but thanks for the help tho

[Allie D 39]

Just now, Tunisian_tunisia said:

okay thank you,this is really so helpfull,wel beside  the pics and the joint lease and joint bank account,im getting mi driving license next week with the same adress as my wife,im adding that as a proof

but thanks for the help tho

The shared address on the driving license is good proof of cohabitation. The DL is the most commonly used govt-issued ID in the USA and people link theirs to various important accounts.

[antoineD 36]

Isn't it common that people in the Maghreb don't change names after marriage anyway?

[Tunisian_tunisia 13]

42 minutes ago, antoineD said:

Isn't it common that people in the Maghreb don't change names after marriage anyway?

yes that's right,but i've seen that its common in the US

[antoineD 36]

17 minutes ago, Tunisian_tunisia said:

yes that's right,but i've seen that its common in the US

As other people pointed out, it's really not a big deal in 21st Century America. They may ask you - just out of curiosity - but they won't hold it against you.

 

Why don't you read this to learn about what useful things to bring up/ take with you to your interview will help: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/fiance-marriage-visa-book/chapter14-28.html

[Tunisian_tunisia 13]

On 5/23/2017 at 10:23 AM, antoineD said:

As other people pointed out, it's really not a big deal in 21st Century America. They may ask you - just out of curiosity - but they won't hold it against you.

 

Why don't you read this to learn about what useful things to bring up/ take with you to your interview will help: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/fiance-marriage-visa-book/chapter14-28.html

Thank u tho