I-751 RFE and non-cooperative spouse

[PATEL6685 0]

Hello All,

I filed I751 in April 2108 and received NOA in May 2018. I received notice for biometrics appointment on May 22, 2019 and few days later I received RFE showing insufficient evidence for good faith marriage. they need:

- documents of children as a result of marriage ---- We don't have any kids.

- evidence that you and your spouse have resided together and shared responsibility of common household ---- We live in house owned by my in-laws and my husband and it was bought 9 years before my marriage. So the house is in my husband's and in-laws name and utilities are in my father-in-law's name. I have credit statement that i get all groceries and all household essentials to run the house.

- evidence of joint ownership of assets ---- me and my husband share a joint bank account with very few transactions but it is active. My husband made sure to not have anything joint with me. So we have separate credit cards and I have one student loan in my name. I had insurance through my husband's employer until January 2019 and then he switched job and now is not telling me whether he has enrolled me in insurance at his new job. I have 2019 insurance cards through the old employer.

He didn't give me any documents from his side like his 401K or Life insurance having my name as beneficiary. He was completely non-cooperative. Plus he had managed to not have my name anywhere. I had even asked him to put my name in his car title, but he didn't do that either. 

I am stressed about how to respond the RFE. Either my husband does not want me to have greencard or he does not want me. Any case he is difficult person that I can ask and he would say.

We are not divorced nor separated but just too much irrational behavior from his end may jeopardize my immigration status.

Please can anyone help me with their experience like this, or any suggestion on how to respond to the RFE.

Mine is California Service Center.

[Ash.1101 1,756]

You can only respond with what you have. For anything you can't provide, provide a statement as to why you can't, or if anything feels lacking you can write a statement as to why it's not as much as expected.

While this is an immigration problem in a way, this is more of a you and your husband problem. This may sound awful but you may have an easier time with a divorce waiver than to try to adjust with a spouse who won't help.

When did he start behaving like this. Has he always only wanted everything in his name? Is this a new occurrence? 

People have been approved without having joint accounts, but most people will agree that it's better (for immigration purposes) to have a joint account to satisfy USCIS.

If your response to the RFE isn't satisfactory then you'll most likely have an interview. Your husband will have to attend. Do you think he'll come to the interview?

[PATEL6685 0]

Ever since the beginning of marriage he has this thing of having things in his own name only. He has been like this always, just that while we were newly married he helped with getting the conditional green card by providing life insurance, medical and other documents.

I have this thought of explaining everything to immigration for what I don't have. But  if things go in wrong direction, my husband may not even come for an interview. If he would have realized how important this is, he would have helped right from the I751 filing.

[Ash.1101 1,756]

41 minutes ago, PATEL6685 said:

Ever since the beginning of marriage he has this thing of having things in his own name only. He has been like this always, just that while we were newly married he helped with getting the conditional green card by providing life insurance, medical and other documents.

I have this thought of explaining everything to immigration for what I don't have. But  if things go in wrong direction, my husband may not even come for an interview. If he would have realized how important this is, he would have helped right from the I751 filing.

Your petition is a joint petition based on marriage, he has to come to the interview or it is denied.

If your husband feels more comfortable he can write a statement saying that he prefers everything in his name and that is what ya'll agree'd upon as part of your relationship.

There are people who have separate accounts that have been approved for ROC, but they usually will send a joint statement signed by both of them stating that they keep their finances separate for personal reasons but that it has no bearing on their relationship.  They usually will have other proofs though.

What did you send as proof in your initial application?

 

[PATEL6685 0]

I sent:

- both our drivers license with same address

- our medical insurance cards through his employer

- our joint bank account statement 

- document showing both of our names in mobile family plan

- our call records for few months

- dependent verification document through his employer

- my 401k showing him as beneficiary

- pictures 

- affidavits from a friend and my brother-in-law

- my student form 1098T

- few household repair jobs documents with my name on invoice

- marriage certificate

- my conditional greencard

- my husband's US passport 

[Ash.1101 1,756]

1 hour ago, PATEL6685 said:

I sent:

- both our drivers license with same address

- our medical insurance cards through his employer

- our joint bank account statement 

- document showing both of our names in mobile family plan

- our call records for few months

- dependent verification document through his employer

- my 401k showing him as beneficiary

- pictures 

- affidavits from a friend and my brother-in-law

- my student form 1098T

- few household repair jobs documents with my name on invoice

- marriage certificate

- my conditional greencard

- my husband's US passport 

Oh yeah that's not much for strong evidence.

The passport, marriage certificate and green card aren't really evidence so you can minus that.

Name on invoice is showing that you are repairing the place that you live at, but without them knowing that your husband owns the house it just looks like a regular repair bill with no context other than that you live there so it's alright proof but not great.

Affidavits, pictures, and call records are on the lower end of proof.

401k is good, great evidence if you have proof that you are your spouses beneficiary on his 401k.

You want to send not just one bank statement, you want to send proof from the inception of your marriage. So you want to send at least a full bank statement for each quarter of marriage. Ideally at least 8 full bank statements.

Medical insurance cards are good and drivers license just show the same address so it's okay.

I can def see why you were RFE'd though. I hope you can convince your husband to help you write a statement. It would mean a lot more if he explained why he keeps his finances separate from you.

 

You have to respond no matter what though, if he doesn't write a statement, write what you can and find any new proof you can and send it off. If you get an interview, make sure your husband knows how important it is for him to be there.

[milimelo 4,554]

I don’t see any info on sent tax transcripts - you need to send those as well since you got your green card. Easy to obtain on irs.gov

[SalishSea 18,127]

Not knowing if you even have health coverage is pretty scary.  I would try to discuss this with him.  What if something happens, and you have to go to the ER and pay out of pocket?   Could rack up ~$10k in bills easily without even an overnight stay.

 

The 2019 insurance card is no longer valid if he has left that job, in the absence of COBRA.

[Ash.1101 1,756]

6 hours ago, milimelo said:

I don’t see any info on sent tax transcripts - you need to send those as well since you got your green card. Easy to obtain on irs.gov

Agreed! You should send all of your taxes filed jointly.

 

Op: do you know if he filed married joint or married separate? 

[Junior-sfo 9]

are you guys not planning to live together? why isn't he cooperating?

[PATEL6685 0]

Update:  I was able to find out that I have medical and dental coverage through his new employer. Apparently two out of three companies he worked for uses the same insurance company. So when I logged in it asked me for which company do I want to see the coverage. So I have medical and dental coverage.

 

I was also able to find out that there is my name under the car insurance. The car i drive is owned by my father in-law. But the insurance has my name, my husbands name and my father in-law's name.

 

I have no clue as to why he is not helping. He hasn't said anything directly to me about separation.

 

I also have few mails from friends addressed to us both , that I can send.

 

I also have his name under my employee stock purchase plan.

 

All this is new after filing I-751 last year April 2018.

 

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

25 minutes ago, PATEL6685 said:

Update:  I was able to find out that I have medical and dental coverage through his new employer. Apparently two out of three companies he worked for uses the same insurance company. So when I logged in it asked me for which company do I want to see the coverage. So I have medical and dental coverage.

 

I was also able to find out that there is my name under the car insurance. The car i drive is owned by my father in-law. But the insurance has my name, my husbands name and my father in-law's name.

 

I have no clue as to why he is not helping. He hasn't said anything directly to me about separation.

 

I also have few mails from friends addressed to us both , that I can send.

 

I also have his name under my employee stock purchase plan.

 

All this is new after filing I-751 last year April 2018.

 

Rather than wondering why he’s acting this, why not ask him? 

 

You’ve said he hasn’t said anything directly about wanting a separation...but why wait for him to say something? If he is in any way acting like there may be issues in your relationship, I really would suggest that you talk to him - not because you’re worried about how it may affect your green card application - because you presumably care about your marriage, your relationship...it’s a life-time commitment.

[Just Observing 34]

Was this an arranged marriage? Very strange behavior by your husband, and you sound like you’re somewhat checked out of this marriage 

[Springleaf 37]

OP , I am sorry you are having such a tough time. I am not sure why your husband is being non-cooperative. I have couple of suggestions

 

1. If your marriage is arranged marriage, you can involve your in-laws or some reasonable relative on his side. A person who can impress upon him how important is this process for you.

 

2. You can tell your husband, that if you don't get all the information, you will be hiring an immigration lawyer to help you. May be a chance of spending a lot of money might compel him to be more cooperative.

 

3. Please heed the advise of person recommending you to get your tax transcripts. You can do this by yourself by using irs website. You can give your personal info to get tax records for yourself and submit them.

 

Good luck!!