evidence for bonafide marriage

[riaz_m_syed 4]

Dear VisaJourney'ers

I got married in India May 26 2018. we have not lived together. what kind of evidence can I give for bonafide marriage. Its a very new marriage and we do not have any financial accounts etc.

We have only know each other since few weeks before marriage.

what kind of evidences can I provide?

[Crazy Cat 42,736]

Right now, the best evidence is your communication with each other.  I would suggest you begin to start creating legal documents such as a will, trust, health care proxy statements, etc to start building a case for a bona fide marriage.

[Roel 7,193]

Did you get married on your first meeting face to face? I mean getting married after only few weeks might raise some questions, especially if you have other red flags like age difference or religion differences. 

 

  I'd advice do as much face time as possible. Pictures of the events you attended together, plane tickets.. etc. Its all secondary evidences but that's better than nothing. 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

Truth is we didn't have much evidence either.  We only met in person 2 days before we got married and we got married overseas, so we really didn't have much to send in.

 

What I filed when I filed the I130:  The basic package.  I still have it scanned and will read it off:

 

Petition

G325A (not required anymore)

Our marriage docs (copies)

Her passport

My birth cert

My passport

Divorce decree

Support affidavit

 

That's it.  It passed.  Knowing what I know now I might have tossed in a few wedding photos but I did not send them in at the time.

At the interview, it was painless.  Because I was worried about the same things, and contacted the embassy and stayed in touch with them from the time the petition hit their desk until after the interview date. 

 

Some things she brought to the interview that I did not file:

 

I gulled my employer into adding her to the health insurance plan, so she was on the card

I switched her over to my life insurance as beneficiary

I switched her over to my retirement as beneficiary

Updated support affidavit

 

We had money that passed back and forth but they didn't ask about it and didn't look at it.  The above was about all I could do without a SS number or anything like that.

 

Good luck!

 

[riaz_m_syed 4]

17 minutes ago, Roel said:

Did you get married on your first meeting face to face? I mean getting married after only few weeks might raise some questions, especially if you have other red flags like age difference or religion differences. 

 

  I'd advice do as much face time as possible. Pictures of the events you attended together, plane tickets.. etc. Its all secondary evidences but that's better than nothing. 

i visited one month ago and met her couple of times in April and then i made a decision to get married to her in June

[NikLR 13,232]

was it an arranged marriage? if so then I suggest checking your regional forum for items couples from other arranged marriages also sent in. 

[riaz_m_syed 4]

36 minutes ago, NikLR said:

was it an arranged marriage? if so then I suggest checking your regional forum for items couples from other arranged marriages also sent in. 

Not sure if you call it arranged marriage or not. my family placed ad in news paper and then  I personally visited India to meet her in person couple of times. Then after i came back to usa we get to know each other for few more weeks on social media before i sent her proposal for marriage.

[pushbrk 13,260]

Yes, that sounds like an arranged marriage.  Disregard advice that seems not to apply to your specific circumstances.  Regional forum is the place to learn what you need on this subject.

[TNJ17 1,329]

You’re gonna need a lot of trips out there while you wait for the visa. Getting married on a first meet is a red flag and they might give you some scrutiny over it. 

[pushbrk 13,260]

19 minutes ago, TNJ17 said:

You’re gonna need a lot of trips out there while you wait for the visa. Getting married on a first meet is a red flag and they might give you some scrutiny over it. 

NO, it is not a red flag in an arranged marriage in India.  It is NORMAL.  It would be strange if he DIDN'T marry on the first visit.  Context matters.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

2 hours ago, pushbrk said:

NO, it is not a red flag in an arranged marriage in India.  It is NORMAL.  It would be strange if he DIDN'T marry on the first visit.  Context matters.

Exactly. It's a different culture and different things are considered normal there. 

[Michael2017 368]

13 hours ago, riaz_m_syed said:

Not sure if you call it arranged marriage or not. my family placed ad in news paper and then  I personally visited India to meet her in person couple of times. Then after i came back to usa we get to know each other for few more weeks on social media before i sent her proposal for marriage.

Did they put in the ad that a green card and live in USA is waiting for the successful women? If so, than maybe that raises eyebrows... 

[Crazy Cat 42,736]

8 hours ago, Michael2017 said:

Did they put in the ad that a green card and live in USA is waiting for the successful women? If so, than maybe that raises eyebrows... 

Excellent question.......and very interesting...

[pushbrk 13,260]

8 hours ago, missileman said:

Excellent question.......and very interesting...

Rather than take offense in behalf of the OP, I took the question as a joke.  Anything else (and really even that) would be highly disrespectful.  Please don't insult people based on your ignorance of their culture.  Arranged marriages have been around a lot longer than any other kind of marriage, and they have resulted in billions of happy marriages and wonderful families.  Modern methods result in a divorce rate of more than 50%.  No?

[Crazy Cat 42,736]

4 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Rather than take offense in behalf of the OP, I took the question as a joke.  Anything else (and really even that) would be highly disrespectful.  Please don't insult people based on your ignorance of their culture.  Arranged marriages have been around a lot longer than any other kind of marriage, and they have resulted in billions of happy marriages and wonderful families.  Modern methods result in a divorce rate of more than 50%.  No?

I meant no disrespect. I said it was an interesting subject.   I will respond to you as an adult per private message.