Worried About Evidence

[boggsjd 27]

Hello! Thanks to everyone in advance. 

 

I'm preparing to file a CR-1 visa for my husband, but I'm concerned that I don't have enough evidence. For a bit of background, we applied and were successfully approved for a K1 visa in 2018. He lived with me (but I don't have documentation to prove that) for a month after coming to the US. We did get married during that time, but it was a simple courthouse thing, as we planned on having the ceremony later at an undetermined time. We actually misunderstood the K1 requirements regarding the amount of time we had to get married following his arrival to the US, so we kind of rushed it. 

 

A problem arose with his family, rather serious in nature, and he had to return to China--which of course prevented him from coming back. At the time, we weren't too concerned because we actually met when I was living and working in China, so we planned on me going back and living there for a while. We both agreed that while we'd ultimately like to be in the US together one day, being together was more important and this seemed the fastest way. 

 

While I was preparing for this in 2019, I got a job offer that I couldn't refuse here in the states, and we both agreed that it would be a bit silly to turn it down. Since then, I've been preparing for the visa, and I've gotten everything together, but I've been a bit hesitant to file because I'm worried it's not good enough. For starters, we don't have any bank account/property together, and we didn't actually have a wedding ceremony, so I'm wondering if that raises red flags. My family is aware and supportive of the marriage and will attest to such, and I do have chat logs with them discussing the marriage and even a selfie I sent from the courthouse, but that's not exactly a huge wedding. Of course, I have photos, chat logs, and everything from this time as well, wedding ring, and basically everything I used to file for the K1. I do have some photos of him with my family, though admittedly not many. We did live with my mom for a week after he arrived while I waited for my new rental house to be cleaned, so they are pretty close. 

 

I do plan to travel and visit him for his birthday in April, but that would be the first face-to-face contact we've had since he had to leave. I'd like to go more, but I've only now built up enough vacation time to make a trip worthwhile. 

 

Does this lack of information hurt approval chances? I'm really nervous that it might not look "official" enough to USCIS, but with us living separately many things like bank accounts/property have never really been an issue. 

[LilyJ 1,258]

Not having a large wedding, joint bank account, etc is fine. Many don’t have these things together and still successfully go through the visa process. What matters most is evidence of time spent together (pictures of you together, passport stamps from trips taken to/with each other, even any proof you may have of living together in China helps too)

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.

[boggsjd 27]

On 2/25/2020 at 3:30 PM, LilyJ said:

Not having a large wedding, joint bank account, etc is fine. Many don’t have these things together and still successfully go through the visa process. What matters most is evidence of time spent together (pictures of you together, passport stamps from trips taken to/with each other, even any proof you may have of living together in China helps too)

Thanks so much. 

 

I have messages I sent to my family/friends after the courthouse wedding. I don't know if they would hurt or help the case because they typically go like this: 

 

Me: Guess who's married

Mom: Congrats! I didn't know you were doing it today. 

Me: Yeah, let's have a ceremony later. 

Mom: Sure! 

 

I'm not sure if it shows they know about it or makes it look like it came as a surprise. Which the specific day was (because we didn't even know until we woke up that morning), but the fact that we were getting married wasn't. So I'm not sure. 

 

As far as the rest of the evidence, I've got all that! (Except my husband did lose his passport and has a replacement, so I won't have his. But I do have mine showing where I went to China before.)

[Bruce Herrington 8]

On 2/25/2020 at 10:44 AM, boggsjd said:

Does this lack of information hurt approval chances? I'm really nervous that it might not look "official" enough to USCIS, but with us living separately many things like bank accounts/property have never really been an issue. 

You need to add notorized Affidavits from family and friends stating they have knowlege of your on going relationship. I-130 instructions page 7 below: 

Edited March 2, 2020 by Bruce Herrington
typo

[boggsjd 27]

On 3/2/2020 at 8:32 AM, Bruce Herrington said:

You need to add notorized Affidavits from family and friends stating they have knowlege of your on going relationship. I-130 instructions page 7 below: 

Thank you. I'm fortunate enough to have some family/friends who are willing to provide sworn affidavits!

[Abcd1234 102]

You guys already have approved k1 once, that means embassy didn't doubt the relationship first time. I am very positive they wont this time either given that you r same couple. Just collect as much as you can and have as much facetime as you can , and i am very positive you don't need to worry much , just explain at interview what happened 

[arken 4,197]

On 2/25/2020 at 1:44 PM, boggsjd said:

I do plan to travel and visit him for his birthday in April

Not sure which part of China he lives in, but i suggest not to travel until this coronavirus settles down.

[Ryan H 3,812]

On ‎3‎/‎2‎/‎2020 at 5:32 AM, Bruce Herrington said:

You need to add notorized Affidavits from family and friends stating they have knowlege of your on going relationship. I-130 instructions page 7 below: 

 

On ‎3‎/‎3‎/‎2020 at 10:07 AM, boggsjd said:

Thank you. I'm fortunate enough to have some family/friends who are willing to provide sworn affidavits!

 

 

OP, that statement by that other poster is incorrect.  Such affidavits are not required and carry little to zero weight in the overall evaluation of a file.

 

To provide a proper reading of the instructions, it's important to note the starting verbiage, "in addition to the required documentation listed above";  Anything following those words means it's not required and not something you 'need' to add.  Also, if you were to include such affidavits, there's no requirement to have them notarized (if there were, such a requirement would be specifically stated).

 

On ‎3‎/‎3‎/‎2020 at 10:44 AM, Abcd1234 said:

Just collect as much as you can and have as much facetime as you can , and i am very positive you don't need to worry much , just explain at interview what happened 

 

The section of the above post that I put in bold and green is the best answer; it also pertains to #6 in that list from the instructions.

 

 

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by Ryan H

[Ryan H 3,812]

~~~Off topic post removed~~~