Co-mingling of finances

[chrisyu 0]

Hello all,

 

Pardon my long long post

I'm new to visajourney and pardon me if I created my thread under the wrong topic. My wife and I will be jointly filing our I-751 petition in early September since her green card expires in early December. I'm in the process of organizing our packet of evidence for the petition and found that us having some questions about evidence etc. I have read some threads about evidence and about the dreaded Request for Evidence (RFEs) forms from USCIS if they want more evidence

 

In terms of evidence, I think we have a pretty good amount so far (evidence of co-habitation etc), with the exception of co-mingling of finances. Here is what we have so far in terms of co-mingling of finances:

 

2017 joint tax return

- joint bank account statements dating back to 2017 January. (We opened our bank account in January 2017).

 

We are in our early 30s so we don't have any joint stock options nor do we have a joint mortgage. We are still living in an apartment. 

 

Here is our evidence so far that we plan to submit to USCIS when our 90 day opens: 

 

 -6 month Temecula Apartment lease (from 17 March to 17 September)

 -12 month San Diego Apartment lease (from 17 September to now)

 -30 day notice of intent to vacate Temecula Apartment signed by both of us

 -Expenses owed by Temecula Apartment after moving out containing both of our names + followup form listing both of us that we have paid the expenses

-Statefarm Personal liability umbrella insurance document containing both of our names 

-2 Statefarm Renters Insurance Policy documents (one for Temecula Apartment and the other for San Diego Apartment) containing both of our names

-December 2017 to June 2018 driving insurance document, listing us as drivers for the 1999 Toyota 4Runner + insurance cards

-December 2017 to June 2018 driving insurance document, listing us as drivers for the 2017 Toyota Corolla + insurance cards

-Aetna Health insurance covering both of us for the year of 2017 to 2018 + healthinsurance cards

-United Healthcare insurance covering both of us starting in October 2017 to now (I began a new job at another employer) 

-1095 Healthcare tax coverage tax form listing both of our names

-January 2017 Orange County dentist visit application listing my insurance covering my wife's dental treatment

-August 2017 Temecula doctor visit application + medical records listing my insurance covering wife's medical treatment

-January 2018 Dental visit in San Diego listing my wife and I, with my dental insurance covering her wife's dental treatment

-T-mobile family plan from my parents listing my parents and my wife and I

-joint account checking and savings statements listing my wife and I (We plan to submit them 1 years worth of bank statements)

-2017 joint tax return

-at least 20 photos showing pictures of with just the two of us together , us together with my parents, and us together with my close friend since I have known from high school

-Plane tickets/boarding passes from our 2017 Las Vegas trip together with my parents

- transcripts of WhatsApp text messages between my wife and I, and my parents and my wife and I. My wife and I have communicated through WhatsApp ever since we met and my parents, wife and I have communicated almost weekly since 2017. 

 

As you can see, besides the joint account checking and savings, and the 2017 joint tax return, we don't have anything else that we can prove we intermingled our finances. My wife has had trouble finding a job and she finally found one in the end of January. In 2017, She did work very briefly (~about only 1 month) in Temecula, but that job did not work out. For the majority of these two years, I was the main breadwinner. 

 

Here are my two main questions: 

 

USCIS likes to see co-mingling of finances as a strong indicator of a bona fide marriage, what documents besides joint bank accounts, joint stock accounts etc are seen as evidence of co-mingling of finances by USCIS?

For the joint bank account checking/savings statements- for how many months should I include in my I-751 evidence? Should I include every single month from 2017 January up until I file the I-751? 

 

Thankyou so much for helping me out!! I'm already starting to feel the stress of filing the I-751 even though it is 6 months away. Feel free to ask me questions for any clarification in this post.    I want to do my application right the first time so I can avoid an RFE from USCIS. 

 

                          

                                   

 

[geowrian 22,338]

12 minutes ago, chrisyu said:

I have read some threads about evidence and about the dreaded Request for Evidence (RFEs) forms from USCIS if they want more evidence

Why dreaded? It's a delay, but isn't a sign of anything bad or wrong.

 

Everything you've listed sounds fine...I don't think they'll have an issue with it.

 

15 minutes ago, chrisyu said:

- joint bank account statements dating back to 2017 January. (We opened our bank account in January 2017).

Do you actually use said bank account for expenses together? A common misunderstanding is that just having a joint account is sufficient, but showing commingling of finances with a joint account means actually using it for expenses together.

 

17 minutes ago, chrisyu said:

USCIS likes to see co-mingling of finances as a strong indicator of a bona fide marriage, what documents besides joint bank accounts, joint stock accounts etc are seen as evidence of co-mingling of finances by USCIS?

Tax returns, insurance, life insurance (if any), listing each other as beneficiaries on retirement accounts, wills and living wills, etc. There is no preset list of items that prove or disprove it...you send what you have. But, as noted above, it sounds like you have plenty.

I would send one statement for each month just to be sure, but I'll defer to others here.

 

Good luck!

[chrisyu 0]

Hi geowrian,

 

Thankyou for replying to my post. Yes, that joint checking bank account is what we use for our daily expenses; grocery shopping, car payment etc. When preparing the monthly bank statements, I'm planning to also include transactions for that specific month. For the joint savings, we don't really use it. I put money into it each time I get paid and we use it for emergency expenses. 

 

[geowrian 22,338]

Cool. Sounds good to me.

Edited March 4, 2018 by geowrian

[cablewyres 38]

On 3/4/2018 at 2:20 PM, chrisyu said:

2017 joint tax return

- joint bank account statements dating back to 2017 January. (We opened our bank account in January 2017).

You've been married for at least two years now. Did you file 2016 taxes as married jointly? That's important. Also, I would advice you send tax transcripts instead of tax returns as it bears more weight being an official document from IRS showing what you have actually filed in their records. And you can order it for free via online, mail or phone.

Do you have any joint bank account statements that go back to 2016?

The goal is to present evidences that span the entire duration of your marriage. Not all documents may go back to the date of your marriage but as long as you show evidences that go back since then and being accumulated as you progress in your marriage, that should be fine.

Like for me and my wife, the only evidences that actually go back to the time of our marriage are our joint checking, wedding congratulatory cards from family, and pictures. And months later, I was added to our lease and got the internet bill under my name. It wasn't till later after our marriage that we also got some joint insurances (dental insurance was made joint 2 months later, car insurance was a year later, and renters insurance was 15 months later when we became wiser Lol)...

We have pictures together with friends and family during different events that span during our marriage and out of town travel itineraries...

To my understanding, they want to see that your marriage is not only currently on going but has been on going

You have a lot of evidences that prove that...i still do think that the joint taxes and joint bank account are major evidences so if you can secure that, you got this in the bag, Wish you both the best!

[chrisyu 0]

Hello cablewyres,

 

Thankyou for your response! We married in July 2016, so our first joint tax filing was in April 2017 (this pertains to the 2017 joint tax statement). So for the year 2016, I did not file jointly with my wife as we were not married yet. 

 

I will definitely go onto the IRS and get an official tax transcript for the tax returns. I will be sure to get evidence to cover each of year of marriage up until the time of filing.  

[cablewyres 38]

Just now, chrisyu said:

Hello cablewyres,

 

Thankyou for your response! We married in July 2016, so our first joint tax filing was in April 2017 (this pertains to the 2017 joint tax statement). So for the year 2016, I did not file jointly with my wife as we were not married yet. 

 

I will definitely go onto the IRS and get an official tax transcript for the tax returns. I will be sure to get evidence to cover each of year of marriage up until the time of filing.  

You're welcome. Oh I was referring to tax period. To my understanding, you have filed tax joint on 2017 for tax period 2016. In that case, do include as well your joint tax filing this 2018 for tax period 2017.

And yes, submit evidences to cover each year of your marriage, you should be all set!  

 

**Disclaimer: My advises are not my personal legal advice nor are they from my own personal experience, but from people who have successfully gone through the process and are going through it --advises from my lawyer, public sources, friends and family.

 

We will be submitting our ROCs around the same time as you are. Our window time is on October this year. Hope we can continue to keep in touch and updated.