Received RFE for I-751, had a child since, is that convincing enough?

[mdimatul 0]

Hi, we filed an I-751 back in Feb 2018 and received an RFE recently. I'm petitioning my wife.

 

We've had a child since filing initially and wanted to submit the birth certificate as well as a photo of us with the baby as new evidence. Is having proof of bearing a child "good enough" for the USCIS? Some of our other evidence may have been insufficient for a variety of reasons:

 

- We don't have a joint bank account at the moment

- My wife isn't listed on our lease (there were income implications that would have complicated things)

- She has a government issued state ID but it has our old address

 

Among the things they claimed about the evidence:

- Credit card statement does not show who actually made the transactions. As I understand it, my bank, Citi, doesn't distinguish transactions from card holder and authorized users

- Employee benefits printout showing her as beneficiary is vague

- Partial 2016 joint tax return not showing that it was processed by the IRS

 

So what I want to submit in the next packet are:

- Child's birth certificate

- Picture of us and child

- Screenshot of summary of benefits from my company's intraweb showing her as a beneficiary on a number of benefits

- Photocopies of our state IDs with a notation that her's lists our old address (renewal is not contingent on address change in NY)

- Photocopies of explanation of benefit notices for her and myself from our primary health care provider showing her name and our current address

- IRS transcript of 2018 tax return processing

 

I'm hoping that the birth of our child is sufficient evidence on its own among some of these others proving our ongoing marriage. Is there anything else I should provide to strengthen our case?

[ch3john 308]

First of all, the immigrant is the petitioner and beneficiary for I-751

No, birth certificate is not sufficient evidence by itself. You need to show more commingling of finances. It's easy to add your spouse to your bank account. for the credit card, make copies of the card showing the account numbers are the same and your name on one card and the spouse on the other. Since you have child, you really need to get a will, at least. Medical Directives and Power of Attorney's are good evidence and also helpful in the unfortunate time you might need them. 

What about health, dental and auto insurance. Are you both listed on the policies? Any club memberships like AAA, Costco, gyms, etc?

[gregcrs2 1,778]

So what did USCIS specifically ask for on the RFE?  That is what you MUST answer!  

 

If I read your posting correctly, you did not have a joint checking account when you filed back in Feb. 2018 and you still don't have one.  Have you ever thought about the consequences to your spouse & child financially in the event that something happened to you?  

[mdimatul 0]

14 minutes ago, ch3john said:

First of all, the immigrant is the petitioner and beneficiary for I-751

No, birth certificate is not sufficient evidence by itself. You need to show more commingling of finances. It's easy to add your spouse to your bank account. for the credit card, make copies of the card showing the account numbers are the same and your name on one card and the spouse on the other. Since you have child, you really need to get a will, at least. Medical Directives and Power of Attorney's are good evidence and also helpful in the unfortunate time you might need them. 

What about health, dental and auto insurance. Are you both listed on the policies? Any club memberships like AAA, Costco, gyms, etc?

Ah, I didn't think to make photocopies of the credit cards. I'll look into creating a will. We just had our child a couple weeks ago so I haven't had a chance to think about much else

 

We both have photo IDs provided by our building which I was hesitant to use since it's not government issued but I'll add it anyway.

 

6 minutes ago, gregcrs2 said:

So what did USCIS specifically ask for on the RFE?  That is what you MUST answer!  

 

If I read your posting correctly, you did not have a joint checking account when you filed back in Feb. 2018 and you still don't have one.  Have you ever thought about the consequences to your spouse & child financially in the event that something happened to you?  

I'm actually going to add her now. I have Life AD&D insurance from my employer but I didn't think of any implications for my bank account.

[Crazy Cat 42,289]

34 minutes ago, mdimatul said:

I'm hoping that the birth of our child is sufficient evidence on its own

It isn't.

 Financial co-mingling is a big thing.  You and she should have a joint checking account, imo.  Wills, trusts, insurance documents (life, car, health) showing both or all on same policies, driver's licenses WITH SAME ADDRESS, anything showing you both at the same address, documents normally generated in a normal marriage should show a connection.

 

39 minutes ago, mdimatul said:

- My wife isn't listed on our lease (there were income implications that would have complicated things)

That doesn't make sense.......She should be on the lease if she is an occupant, imo.

[Crazy Cat 42,289]

One more thing......get tax transcripts.  They are official IRS documents that prove what was actually filed.

[mdimatul 0]

What I'm mostly unsure of is how "official" do these photocopies/screenshots/documents have to be? I'm going through our accounts and either their official documentation doesn't show both our names or the best I can get is a screenshot from their website simply stating our names. My Fidelity retirement account for example, I have her listed as a beneficiary but the only place that indicates that is simply a page labeled "beneficiaries" with the Fidelity logo down at the bottom. 

Edited April 14, 2019 by mdimatul

[Fr8dog 312]

There is no silver bullet. You need to present a case that makes the officer go "yep that's a couple". All the evidence listed on this forum is useless if it is the only thing you sent. Children are great evidence, but not if it is the only thing you have. apart from the tax transcripts and your photo id's none of the evidence you submit can be easily checked against a standard format. So if the screenshot is all you have than that is all you have. submit it and try to paint that picture for the officer. We do not have joint accounts ourselves. We are both firmly against it due to past experiences. And I'm also not on the house payments (it was her house before I moved in and we both want to keep it that way). But we have other stuff that we hope make the officer think "yep that's a couple" some of it is a screenshot, some of it are issued cards. It is what it is.