I-485 request for initial evidence

[Adam D 32]

Hi,

I received a request for initial evidence in the mail yesterday. It worried me! It said:

The petitioner on Form I-129F and the K-1 applicant did not marry within 90 days of the K-1's arrival into the United States; therefore, Form I-129F cannot be used as a basis for adjustment of status.

 

It then says

You must submit evidence that a valid immigrant visa petition has been filed on your behalf 

 

But it does not specify what that evidence is. In my original application bundle I of course included a copy of my Passport with the K1 visa and the entry stamp, showing Jan 17 2017. I also included a copy of our marriage certificate showing marriage date of 18 February 2017. So clearly we did marry within 90 days of my arrival. This was not a certified copy, but everything can be clearly seen.

 

I was able to speak to someone on the phone yesterday who just told me to 'just submit everything they are asking for', to which I replied, 'they haven't specified anything'. SO I have sent in my passport page again (with as clear a copy as I could get at FedEx) and a copy of my boarding passes (I flew in to Philadelphia, where I was processed, then got a connecting flight to Baltimore, so I provided both)

 

I have this morning made an appointment to speak with someone who can actually see my case files, in Baltimore on 30 June, as the person on the phone could not. This is a long time to sit and wait though. Next week I have my biometrics appointment.

 

Has anyone else had this, where they sent in proof of arrival and date of marriage (within 90 days) but this was the reason they had a request for initial evidence? Also, do you know if this will stop the progress on my EAD which I filed for at the same time? All the guy on the phone could say was 'those pages probably got lost'. Is that really likely that a couple of specific pages in the middle of a bundle which I paper clipped together could 'go missing'? They were definitely sent. I kept a copy of my whole bundle for myself. Also, if it is because the marriage certificate was just a regular copy and not a licensed copy, why couldn't they say that?

 

Yours in lots of worry and a little frustration!

 

Adam

[Scandi 4,180]

Did you also include a copy of the i-129f NOA2?

[Adam D 32]

3 minutes ago, Scandi said:

Did you also include a copy of the i-129f NOA2?

Hi Scandi,

 

Yes, with my original bundle. Not with this response I just sent yesterday though. 

 

I followed the very helpful Visajourney checklist to the letter, even in the order it suggests. We had some legal advice and she even suggested a G-325a for my husband (the petitioner) as well as mine, so I included both. 

Edited June 16, 2017 by Adam D
Additional information

[Scandi 4,180]

Maybe they lost your marriage certificate or so. So since you already responded to the RFE I assume you sent - another i-94 to prove what date you entered the US and what date your 90 days were up, passport stamps and bio page in passport, marriage certificate etc to prove what date you got married and a little explanation (sometimes they're quite dumb).

[Scandi 4,180]

They're not required to give you more than one RFE so it's important to get the response right the first time. However, some people get several chanses, haha.

[Adam D 32]

2 minutes ago, Scandi said:

Maybe they lost your marriage certificate or so. So since you already responded to the RFE I assume you sent - another i-94 to prove what date you entered the US and what date your 90 days were up, passport stamps and bio page in passport, marriage certificate etc to prove what date you got married and a little explanation (sometimes they're quite dumb).

I did provide an explanation in a cover letter, along with a copy of their letter, just to clarify my timeline, but I wasn't smart enough to include my I-94 again, or indeed my marriage certificate. What I am going to do with that is go and get a certified copy and send that in, and I will include another copy of my I-94 with that. Again, all of that was in the original bundle but I was rather thrown by their RIE and so my response last night, to get things done as quickly as possible, was not as clearly thought out as it should have been, as your suggestions prove!

 

Thanks :-)

[Adam D 32]

6 minutes ago, Scandi said:

They're not required to give you more than one RFE so it's important to get the response right the first time. However, some people get several chanses, haha.

Oh! Is a request for initial evidence different from an RFE though? I'm hoping that as I have my appointment booked to discuss it now, I will at least be allowed to keep this application 'live' until that date?

[mallafri76 1,012]

43 minutes ago, Adam D said:

Oh! Is a request for initial evidence different from an RFE though? I'm hoping that as I have my appointment booked to discuss it now, I will at least be allowed to keep this application 'live' until that date?

 

It's the same things. They most likely lost your marriage certificate. US Immigrations loose things all the time. Make sure to send them a copy of your marriage certificate. That's the most important thing to show that you married within 90 days.

[Adam D 32]

17 minutes ago, mallafri76 said:

 

It's the same things. They most likely lost your marriage certificate. US Immigrations loose things all the time. Make sure to send them a copy of your marriage certificate. That's the most important thing to show that you married within 90 days.

Ok. Thanks. 

 

I will go and get a certified copy today and send it off along with the I-94 and the copy of the K1 entry page and boarding passes (again)

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1) 

The petitioner on Form I-129F and the K-1 applicant did not marry within 90 days of the K-1's arrival into the United States; therefore, Form I-129F cannot be used as a basis for adjustment of status.

 

To me that says something was wrong with the marriage certificate you provided and you should have looked at that more closely. Doubtful it just fell out of the package.

 

2)

You must submit evidence that a valid immigrant visa petition has been filed on your behalf.

 

This part is their suggestion of what to do now since you failed to get married in the required timeframe (in their opinion). They are saying you will have to submit an Immigrant petition (I-130) along with your AOS (or evidence like a NOA1 that the I-130 was already filed). That is the procedure when people arrive on say VWP and marry. They file I-130 + I-485 at the same time and get a greencard. 

 

If you properly respond to #1 (show that you did indeed marry within 90 days), then their #2 is N/A.

 

 

 

Edited June 16, 2017 by Wuozopo

[yuna628 9,712]

Did you indeed give them the marriage certificate? I say this because, when we were married we were given what I guess you would call a 'white paper' 'souvenir copy' and not the actual official certified copy (which you have to go to the clerks office to obtain and it looks different). It's easy to get the two confused. I would indeed obtain a certified copy of the marriage certificate (you should have several copies of them anyway just for your own records). A photocopy of the document may not cut it for some officers because some of the watermarks may not show up correctly. The I-94 is also important in showing when you entered the country.

 

Unfortunately if you have responded to the RFIE already without sending this stuff in, I'm not sure if they will respond positively... and you may have to start over again.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

Agree, the marriage certificate has to show it was registered in the county records. It might be embossed or stamped or have a county seal on it. And usually some kind of notation like "This is a certified record of  Rockwall County, State of Texas" and normally somebody signed off on it with a date. That part is the certification.  Every place may do it differently, so that is a general description of what they would be looking for. 

[Adam D 32]

Thanks to everyone who has replied. 

 

The copy of the marriage certificate i sent was literally a photocopy of the copy of the original document. I now realise a certified copy would have most likely been better received. 

 

As for having already sent a response in an envelope without the marriage certificate I know this is not due to arrive until Monday by FedEx. I will FedEx what I send today also to arrive on Monday latest so hopefully two envelopes will arrive on someone's desk at the same time or within moments of each other. I can only hope they don't send me back to the beginning. 

 

i also have my appointment on the 30th with someone who will be looking over my case file with me so I suppose I will find out then if not before. 

 

Thanks again to to everyone who has replied. :-)

[Dotagirlandboy 30]

But was the "original document" the one they give you when you get married? Or is it the one you got from the county clerk? For Nevada, we had to wait about a week after we got married to be able to request the marriage certificate and it was $14. But we had the original certificate that the pastor signed that had all the information but that is not valid for immigration purposes. 

[Adam D 32]

8 minutes ago, Dotagirlandboy said:

But was the "original document" the one they give you when you get married? Or is it the one you got from the county clerk? For Nevada, we had to wait about a week after we got married to be able to request the marriage certificate and it was $14. But we had the original certificate that the pastor signed that had all the information but that is not valid for immigration purposes. 

It was the one we got when we got married. So all I supplied was a photocopy of that. Clearly I need a certified copy. I'm currently sitting in the courthouse waiting to get it right now!