Proof of bonifide marriage

[Desbaez 1]

For evidence of me and my husband’s marriage I am planing on sending in of course pictures, text convos, tickets of me traveling there and that’s about it. Would that be enough evidence and how many pages would you suggest that I send? 

[Khallaf 650]

6 minutes ago, Desbaez said:

For evidence of me and my husband’s marriage I am planing on sending in of course pictures, text convos, tickets of me traveling there and that’s about it. Would that be enough evidence and how many pages would you suggest that I send? 

I would recommend adding him to all the utilities, if you have a home add him to the deed, if you have just an apartment and depending on your landlord have him added to the rental lease as well.

 

File married filing joint, or married filing separate so that his name at least appears on the tax return

[Desbaez 1]

25 minutes ago, Khallaf said:

I would recommend adding him to all the utilities, if you have a home add him to the deed, if you have just an apartment and depending on your landlord have him added to the rental lease as well.

 

File married filing joint, or married filing separate so that his name at least appears on the tax return

Thanks for that information. When I do file would I need to print out the copy as well or is that something the can look up? 

[LilyJ 1,258]

37 minutes ago, Desbaez said:

For evidence of me and my husband’s marriage I am planing on sending in of course pictures, text convos, tickets of me traveling there and that’s about it. Would that be enough evidence and how many pages would you suggest that I send? 

25 minutes ago, Khallaf said:

I would recommend adding him to all the utilities, if you have a home add him to the deed, if you have just an apartment and depending on your landlord have him added to the rental lease as well.

 

File married filing joint, or married filing separate so that his name at least appears on the tax return

If he is not living with OP and is not actually involved with utilities or living at a place where his name is on a lease, I don't think that would be a good idea, USCIS may think you are trying to fabricate more evidence despite him not even living at the place on the lease. Adding him on to a DEED would be fine because that is a list of who OWNS the residence, but I don't think it's a good idea to add him on to a LEASE which is supposed to list the people who LIVE at the residence.

OP, you CAN however add him on your insurance policies as a beneficiary and whatnot though if you have any of those and use that for evidence. I just don't recommend adding him onto leases and bills that he doesn't live at or pay because that may smell fishy.

 

If not, just send what you DO have and make sure to frontload your petition with a good amount of it. My husband and I sent 22 pictures (4 wedding pictures, and pictures with friends and family, and of just us), 1 wedding receipt, photocopies of all our plane tickets to each other and photocopies of our passport stamps, a 3rd party affidavit (weightless but we included it anyways), theme park receipts with our names on it, etc.

Don't try to "create" evidence. Use what you already have. Also sidenote, having his name on your taxes is not evidence and means nothing (it's also useless to send your taxes anyways because they aren't needed until NVC stage)

 

[Khallaf 650]

7 minutes ago, LilyJohansen said:

If he is not living with OP and is not actually involved with utilities or living at a place where his name is on a lease, I don't think that would be a good idea, USCIS may think you are trying to fabricate more evidence despite him not even living at the place on the lease. Adding him on to a DEED would be fine because that is a list of who OWNS the residence, but I don't think it's a good idea to add him on to a LEASE which is supposed to list the people who LIVE at the residence.

OP, you CAN however add him on your insurance policies as a beneficiary and whatnot though if you have any of those and use that for evidence. I just don't recommend adding him onto leases and bills that he doesn't live at or pay because that may smell fishy.

 

If not, just send what you DO have and make sure to frontload your petition with a good amount of it. My husband and I sent 22 pictures (4 wedding pictures, and pictures with friends and family, and of just us), 1 wedding receipt, photocopies of all our plane tickets to each other and photocopies of our passport stamps, a 3rd party affidavit (weightless but we included it anyways), theme park receipts with our names on it, etc.

Don't try to "create" evidence. Use what you already have. Also sidenote, having his name on your taxes is not evidence and means nothing (it's also useless to send your taxes anyways because they aren't needed until NVC stage)

 

I had my husband name added to all utilities, and the apartment lease, he signed the lease from his country, this can be used in evidence to show ongoing marriage, it doesn't make it smell fishy.

 

I was not talking about send in the tax information for the purpose of USCIS step but for NVC.

 

also filing joint married on taxes does hold weight and is considered evidence of marriage, granted isn't needed till NVC and for review at embassy.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2019 by Khallaf

[LilyJ 1,258]

6 minutes ago, Khallaf said:

I had my husband name added to all utilities, and the apartment lease, he signed the lease from his country, this can be used in evidence to show ongoing marriage, it doesn't make it smell fishy.

 

I was not talking about send in the tax information for the purpose of USCIS step but for NVC.

 

also filing joint married on taxes does hold weight and is considered evidence of marriage, granted isn't needed till NVC and for review at embassy.

 

 

I would not advise it still; a lease is supposed to show who lives there, not who you are married to, and USCIS does not care that you file your taxes joint or separate because you have to file as married anyways so it is not evidence. It isn't even evidence at the NVC phase because you are required to submit taxes anyways to show income.

Edited March 4, 2019 by LilyJohansen

[Khallaf 650]

Just now, LilyJohansen said:

I would not advise it still; a lease is supposed to show who lives there, not who you are married to, and USCIS does not care that you file your taxes joint or separate because you have to file as married anyways so it is not evidence.

a lease also shows who is financially responsible, and this shows a commingle of  bills. as far as taxes are concerned many file single even if they are married and can go back and amend them later, so once again it is pointing out the facts that filing married and either joint or married filing separate up front is good, once again both are proof of ongoing marital union. 

[LilyJ 1,258]

7 minutes ago, Khallaf said:

a lease also shows who is financially responsible, and this shows a commingle of  bills. as far as taxes are concerned many file single even if they are married and can go back and amend them later, so once again it is pointing out the facts that filing married and either joint or married filing separate up front is good, once again both are proof of ongoing marital union. 

I have been on my mother's lease despite not being financially responsible solely for the fact of telling the landlord who is living there, so it is not always a display of being financially responsible. It is also TAX FRAUD and a punishable crime which can lead to a $250,000 fine and 3 years in prison to file as single if you are legally married, even if your spouse is foreign, so no it is not proof of a relationship, it is proof that you aren't committing tax fraud.

[Desbaez 1]

11 minutes ago, Khallaf said:

a lease also shows who is financially responsible, and this shows a commingle of  bills. as far as taxes are concerned many file single even if they are married and can go back and amend them later, so once again it is pointing out the facts that filing married and either joint or married filing separate up front is good, once again both are proof of ongoing marital union. 

 

2 minutes ago, LilyJohansen said:

I have been on my mother's lease despite not being financially responsible solely for the fact of telling the landlord who is living there, so it is not always a display of being financially responsible. It is also TAX FRAUD and a punishable crime which can lead to a $250,000 fine and 3 years in prison to file as single if you are legally married, even if your spouse is foreign, so no it is not proof of a relationship, it is proof that you aren't committing tax fraud.

Right now I am living with my mother because I moved back from another state about 3 months ago so I don’t have any or that yet. I hope that doesn’t affect anything though. 

[LilyJ 1,258]

4 minutes ago, Desbaez said:

 

Right now I am living with my mother because I moved back from another state about 3 months ago so I don’t have any or that yet. I hope that doesn’t affect anything though. 

No, it will not affect anything. Many people when filing do not have much more than pictures, plane tickets, wedding receipts, or the like since of course most have never lived together. If you have insurance you can add him as a beneficiary on go ahead and do that, but if you don’t jusy submit a good amount of what you do have and you should be fine. Include a written timeline of your relationship and how you met when you visited each other for the first time when and where you got married etc if you feel like that will help but you don’t need to. You should be fine with what you have

[Desbaez 1]

15 minutes ago, LilyJohansen said:

No, it will not affect anything. Many people when filing do not have much more than pictures, plane tickets, wedding receipts, or the like since of course most have never lived together. If you have insurance you can add him as a beneficiary on go ahead and do that, but if you don’t jusy submit a good amount of what you do have and you should be fine. Include a written timeline of your relationship and how you met when you visited each other for the first time when and where you got married etc if you feel like that will help but you don’t need to. You should be fine with what you have

Perfect because I was becoming a little nervous but yes I will add him on my insurance right away. Thank you! 

[Khallaf 650]

24 minutes ago, LilyJohansen said:

I have been on my mother's lease despite not being financially responsible solely for the fact of telling the landlord who is living there, so it is not always a display of being financially responsible. It is also TAX FRAUD and a punishable crime which can lead to a $250,000 fine and 3 years in prison to file as single if you are legally married, even if your spouse is foreign, so no it is not proof of a relationship, it is proof that you aren't committing tax fraud.

if you didn't sign the lease then no you are not financially responsible, if you have signed the lease you are that is FACT!

fact #2 many have filed single when in fact married they have 3 years in which to amend that return, this is not going to come at them for tax fraud, filing single puts you in a higher tax bracket anyway, so calm down the TAX FRAUD allegation.

 

having a spouse sign for a lease at which they are not living does make them liable for anything that happens to the apartment while on lease and for rent if one moves out before the lease is up, once again show shared financial responsibility.

 

My husband wasn't here for the filing of the 2017 taxes but I had him sign a w7 and I submitted his passport and he got an ITIN number, and from there I was able to add him to my bank account as well, everything done for that was all done through docusign.

 

I know that clearly you are new to the immigration process, and what you call forcing evidence, however these are all things that would be required for ROC anyway.

 

 

[Khallaf 650]

2 minutes ago, Desbaez said:

Perfect because I was becoming a little nervous but yes I will add him on my insurance right away. Thank you! 

I would also get him updated on your work profile as emergency contact, updated your life insurance beneficiary if you have one from your job.

 

I would also recommend having a living will drawn up, the more evidence you provide either at USCIS, or the NVC stage is good.

 

99.9% of all cases are decided before the interview, and they will review all evidence submitted. 

[LilyJ 1,258]

46 minutes ago, Khallaf said:

fact #2 many have filed single when in fact married they have 3 years in which to amend that return, this is not going to come at them for tax fraud, filing single puts you in a higher tax bracket anyway, so calm down the TAX FRAUD allegation.

If you research it, you will find it IS tax fraud and you CAN be fined for it and if you looked you would find many lawyers say this exact thing. You CANNOT legally file taxes as single if you are married by December 31 of the previous year, it is tax fraud. 

 

Anyways, OP will be fine with what they have and can add the spouse on to insurance if they like. None of this is relevant. 

[Khallaf 650]

2 minutes ago, LilyJohansen said:

If you research it, you will find it IS tax fraud and you CAN be fined for it and if you looked you would find many lawyers say this exact thing. You CANNOT legally file taxes as single if you are married by December 31 of the previous year, it is tax fraud. 

 

Anyways, OP will be fine with what they have and can add the spouse on to insurance if they like. None of this is relevant. 

 

aware it is not legal, also be aware that sometimes people have no idea on what to do, so they do have up to 3 years to amend, again with that being said should someone file single but really married they are only hurting themselves not the government. The chance someone is going to have what you call Tax Fraud brought against them are slim to none, unless the it is a benefit up in the thousands of dollar range.

 

with that being said it is important to check on the country in which a person is filing with, is it a high fraud country? if not simple and easy things are okay, however if it is a high fraud country the more of evidence you have the better.

 

This is not called forcing evidence but providing as much as possible  

 

when giving out advise as to what a person has being valuable or enough, one must look into the country the visa will be issued.

 

I wish you tremendous luck in your journey.