I-130 Supporting Documents - Additional proof of Marriage

[RaviC 2]

Additional Proof of Marriage . SInce she is in India , I cannot show any joint financial document.

 

1.  Can Personal affidavits from friends help ? Can this be attached to the form?

 

2. Can we attach Marriage Photos and documents of visits we made after Marriage?

 

 

[geowrian 22,337]

1) They can be attached.

The general opinion is that they are not worth the paper they are written on. Nobody ever provides a negative affidavit. The CO cannot verify the accuracy of their statements.

 

2) I'm assuming you mean wedding photos. That's fine if you want.

Evidence of time spent together - before or after marriage - is the best evidence available. Definitely include that.

[pushbrk 12,876]

20 minutes ago, RaviC said:

Additional Proof of Marriage . SInce she is in India , I cannot show any joint financial document.

 

1.  Can Personal affidavits from friends help ? Can this be attached to the form?

 

2. Can we attach Marriage Photos and documents of visits we made after Marriage?

 

 

Note that what is requested is "evidence" of a bona fide relationship.  Your marriage certificate "proves" you are "married".  Concentrate on evidence of time spent together in person, such as photos, passport stamps, boarding passes, etc.  Forget about affidavits from third parties.  They hurt more than help, by making you look desperate.

 

[Quarknase 1,072]

You can add your wife to life insurance, 401(k) and such as beneficiary. And add her as authorized user to your credit card account. She doesn't need to be in the US for any of those.

As others have said, facetime is the most important thing. Send copies of passport stamps, travel itineraries, photos with family and friends, anything to show bona fide marriage.

 

[Bill Hamze 89]

I asked an immigration lawyer about whether we should include affidavits from family and friends, and he told me you should "consider" doing so. 

 

So I take that to mean affidavits can only help, but will never hurt your case. If affidavits actually hurt your case by making you look desperate, then why does the USCIS itself suggest affidavits among pieces of bona fide evidence? (see item 5, page 7 of I-130 form instructions)

 

I would include them if you can (but it's not mandatory, per se). Your friends and family, if they are supportive, will likely jump at the chance to do so. 

 

If you choose to include affidavits, be sure to include the "perjury" statement that goes like this: "I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge." and have them sign it with ink. That one line is the thing that gives affidavits their weight.

 

Also, I disagree that affidavits cannot be verified for accuracy. If they came to your wedding and you show photos of them attending your wedding, they can be used to verify the affidavits.

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by Bill Hamze

[Beaniebob 8]

I provided affidavits from two people who attended our ceremony and pictures.

[arken 4,197]

I’d say include the affidavits. While they may carry little weight compared to other tangible evidences, they are among the list mentioned in the instructions. However, don’t just rely on that, try to focus more on other forms of evidences.

 

[emekus94 1,125]

21 hours ago, RaviC said:

Additional Proof of Marriage . SInce she is in India , I cannot show any joint financial document.

 

1.  Can Personal affidavits from friends help ? Can this be attached to the form?

 

2. Can we attach Marriage Photos and documents of visits we made after Marriage?

 

 

Immigration officers as  whole understand that unless one is from the country their spouse is in, joint financial documents will be non-existent.

Don't so much as focus on those. Worry about other things that you DO have -
 

If you are the U.S. Citizen, things such as proof of JOINT tax returns, and ITIN number for the foreign spouse goes a long way.
Also, photos with family members is helpful (shows approval of wedding by both families), etc.

[pushbrk 12,876]

7 hours ago, Beaniebob said:

I provided affidavits from two people who attended our ceremony and pictures.

If all people know about your relationship is what they saw at a ceremony or reception, they are providing NOTHING in the way of evidence of a bona fide relationship.  Additional evidence is about a relationship, NOT a ceremony.

[pushbrk 12,876]

19 hours ago, Bill Hamze said:

I asked an immigration lawyer about whether we should include affidavits from family and friends, and he told me you should "consider" doing so. 

 

So I take that to mean affidavits can only help, but will never hurt your case. If affidavits actually hurt your case by making you look desperate, then why does the USCIS itself suggest affidavits among pieces of bona fide evidence? (see item 5, page 7 of I-130 form instructions)

 

 

Opinions vary.  Most "immigration lawyers" no little or nothing about family based immigration.  Caveat Emptor

 

USCIS lists a number of possible options for additional evidence and encourages petitioners to include "one or more" types of evidence from the list.  Newlyweds who have not yet lived together will not have anything from most of the list.  It's best to concentrate on the "any other...." section by including evidence of time spent together in person and examples of how and how frequently they communicate.

 

If ALL the additional evidence a petitioner submits is affidavits from third parties, THAT is likely to hurt and only hurt.  With other evidence, it still "HURTS" but one hopes it won't hurt enough to nullify the OTHER additional evidence.

 

This has been discussed here for more than a decade since the I-130 instructions added the section being discussed.  I'm reflecting the conventional wisdom from all those years.  I was not of this opinion initially.  Where such affidavits CAN help is when the come from somebody who has personally witnessed the evolution of the relationship between the couple and documents that.  Affidavits from people who only attended a wedding or wedding and reception are USELESS, as they evidence NOTHING about the RELATIONSHIP.

[Bill Hamze 89]

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

Opinions vary.  Most "immigration lawyers" no little or nothing about family based immigration.  Caveat Emptor

 

USCIS lists a number of possible options for additional evidence and encourages petitioners to include "one or more" types of evidence from the list.  Newlyweds who have not yet lived together will not have anything from most of the list.  It's best to concentrate on the "any other...." section by including evidence of time spent together in person and examples of how and how frequently they communicate.

 

If ALL the additional evidence a petitioner submits is affidavits from third parties, THAT is likely to hurt and only hurt.  With other evidence, it still "HURTS" but one hopes it won't hurt enough to nullify the OTHER additional evidence.

 

This has been discussed here for more than a decade since the I-130 instructions added the section being discussed.  I'm reflecting the conventional wisdom from all those years.  I was not of this opinion initially.  Where such affidavits CAN help is when the come from somebody who has personally witnessed the evolution of the relationship between the couple and documents that.  Affidavits from people who only attended a wedding or wedding and reception are USELESS, as they evidence NOTHING about the RELATIONSHIP.

 

Well, this immigration lawyer is the uncle of my friend who just brought his foreign wife to the U.S. on a green card. My friend had some mistakes in his application and was missing 1-2 critical documents. His uncle caught all of that and steered him in the right direction. (He even admonished me to fill in every single blank with "N/A" or "None" on the I-130 forms).

 

Anyway, the way he said it was that affidavits are optional. He didn't say affidavits are required. Plus affidavits are certainly not the only evidence I'm sending. I'm certainly going to flood my petition with every shred of evidence I've have. The affidavits are from my mother and sister, who both attended the wedding and regularly chat with my wife on whatsapp and facebook. So I don't think they are going to look at the marriage certificate, my birth certificate, photos, travel bookings, all that stuff then look at the affidavits and say "oooh, look, there's an affidavit from his mother! that nullifies everything else, so let's reject this one!" Has that actually ever happened?

 

In reality, they might not even blink. 

 

Anyway, I'll make my own thread listing every piece of evidence before submitting my petition (waiting for 1 last thing in the mail then I'll pull the trigger).

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2020 by Bill Hamze

[pushbrk 12,876]

53 minutes ago, Bill Hamze said:

 

Well, this immigration lawyer is the uncle of my friend who just brought his foreign wife to the U.S. on a green card. My friend had some mistakes in his application and was missing 1-2 critical documents. His uncle caught all of that and steered him in the right direction. (He even admonished me to fill in every single blank with "N/A" or "None" on the I-130 forms).

 

Anyway, the way he said it was that affidavits are optional. He didn't say affidavits are required. Plus affidavits are certainly not the only evidence I'm sending. I'm certainly going to flood my petition with every shred of evidence I've have. The affidavits are from my mother and sister, who both attended the wedding and regularly chat with my wife on whatsapp and facebook. So I don't think they are going to look at the marriage certificate, my birth certificate, photos, travel bookings, all that stuff then look at the affidavits and say "oooh, look, there's an affidavit from his mother! that nullifies everything else, so let's reject this one!" Has that actually ever happened?

 

In reality, they might not even blink. 

 

Anyway, I'll make my own thread listing every piece of evidence before submitting my petition (waiting for 1 last thing in the mail then I'll pull the trigger).

 

 

 

There's also a danger in overdoing it.  If you give them TOO much, they may not look at much of it at all.  Best to keep it to what's most valuable, in order to ensure they see what they really need to see.  But, of course, do as you see fit.  This topic is about somebody else's case, not yours.

[geowrian 22,337]

Quality >> quantity.

The absolute strongest hand one has in any immigration case is - aside from any required documentation - the ability to present only the evidence they want an IO or CO to see.

[Beaniebob 8]

15 hours ago, pushbrk said:

If all people know about your relationship is what they saw at a ceremony or reception, they are providing NOTHING in the way of evidence of a bona fide relationship.  Additional evidence is about a relationship, NOT a ceremony.

I was just stating what I sent.

[pushbrk 12,876]

7 hours ago, Beaniebob said:

I was just stating what I sent.

And I'm commenting on what you sent and what, if anything, you post offers in the way of help to the OP.  That's the purpose of the "discussion".