Is this sufficient evidence for I-130? Plus a question about proof of US citizenship

[ztiberiusd 38]

My fiancee and I are getting married in two weeks and as such, I am getting everything prepared to send off for the I-130 package. I am the USC petitioner but was born and lived my whole life in New Zealand. My wife-to-be is from New Zealand also. 

 

We have dated for 5 and a half years and so we have a lot of photos together. So far, I've assembled all of the evidence I can possibly find that our relationship is bona fide. As like everyone else, I want to expedite this visa process as much as possible and avoid any RFEs. On the other hand, as people have noted in these forums, there is a danger in overloading evidence to the point where the officer won't look at it all. It seems that Quality over Quantity is the best approach. 

 

I have assembled 18 photos of us together over the last 4 years (we don't have many photos together from the very beginning of the relationship), with a focus on photos of us during vacations to the United States and from small trips around New Zealand, with landmarks in the background where possible. I've put these into a Word document with a cover page that says: 

Quote

To whom it may concern,

The following is a timeline of the relationship of (my full name) (Petitioner) and (wife's full name) (Beneficiary).

We originally met in 2011 in middle school. We were friends throughout middle school and high school, and we began dating on April 4^th, 2015. We married on October 5^th, 2020. Below is a number of photos of us together to prove our marriage is bona fide.

Is this a suitable cover page? The photos begin with one from August 2016. For every photo, I've written a small caption with the date and location the photo was taken. If there are others in the photo (I have a few with some of my other family members), I have named them and included what relation they are to me. For some photos, I've put a little extra detail, such as "waiting for the fireworks to begin" on a photo of us taken on the 4th of July. Is this a good idea, or totally unnecessary? I suppose I'm just trying to humanize the application a bit. I'll also be sure to include some photos from the wedding. I'm planning on saving the file as a .pdf and including it as evidence. 

 

As for other evidence, I'm trying to decide which of the following would be best to include. Please advise!

• Flight itinerary from our two trips to the US with both names, seating assignments etc.
• Airbnb booking confirmations with both of our names
• Travel insurance documents with both of our names
• A notice to our old landlord that we were moving out. It's via email but has the date, my full name, and wife's first name, plus the address of the place we were renting.
• A tenancy application with both names
• A copy of our current tenancy agreement which has both of our names
• I'm linked to her Google account as the recovery email, so an email stating this.
• Screenshots of bank transfers between the two of us. I pay the rent out of my account, so most of the transfers are from her account to mine which I thought may raise suspicion (although there are a few from my account to hers too). I also took a screenshot of my continual weekly rent payments which I'd include if I used this as evidence. While we don't have a joint checking account, I thought this would be good evidence of inter-mingling finances but the last thing I want to do is raise suspicions. 
• Call logs between us from the last 6 months. Most of these are less than 5 minutes long as they tend to just be one telling the other we're on the way home or asking what we want for dinner. We don't have many that are very long since we live together.
• Message logs from Facebook, Instagram and text. Rather than include one long log, these are just screenshots of messages with the date on them. There's quite a range of messages, so what would be best to include? Some are talking about moving house, others are what we want for dinner, that I'm on the way to pick her up from work, there's a few about money and bank accounts which might be useful, a few lovey ones (they all have x's at the end) and a few that are discussing trip plans to the US together before we went on our vacations. 

 

 

One last thing, I'm planning on filing the I-130 online and when I went through the application form, there was a section that asked for a U.S. Birth Certificate, Naturalization Certificate or Certificate of Citizenship (from memory). I have a current U.S. Passport and a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, but not a U.S. Birth Certificate or any of those other citizenship documents that are suggested. Would the CRBA count as a Certificate of Citizenship? When I googled it, that looks like a totally different thing. Some clarification would be much appreciated. 

 

Apologies for the lengthy post! Thanks in advance to all of the helpful and intelligent people on this forum! You are appreciated. 

[HRQX 4,145]

1 hour ago, ztiberiusd said:

When I googled it, that looks like a totally different thing. Some clarification would be much appreciated.

It is a different thing, but you can upload CRBA and/or bio page of US passport there as proof of US citizenship.

[payxibka 10,045]

2 hours ago, ztiberiusd said:

My fiancee and I are getting married in two weeks and as such, I am getting everything prepared to send off for the I-130 package. I am the USC petitioner but was born and lived my whole life in New Zealand. My wife-to-be is from New Zealand also. 

 

We have dated for 5 and a half years and so we have a lot of photos together. So far, I've assembled all of the evidence I can possibly find that our relationship is bona fide. As like everyone else, I want to expedite this visa process as much as possible and avoid any RFEs. On the other hand, as people have noted in these forums, there is a danger in overloading evidence to the point where the officer won't look at it all. It seems that Quality over Quantity is the best approach. 

 

I have assembled 18 photos of us together over the last 4 years (we don't have many photos together from the very beginning of the relationship), with a focus on photos of us during vacations to the United States and from small trips around New Zealand, with landmarks in the background where possible. I've put these into a Word document with a cover page that says: 

Is this a suitable cover page? The photos begin with one from August 2016. For every photo, I've written a small caption with the date and location the photo was taken. If there are others in the photo (I have a few with some of my other family members), I have named them and included what relation they are to me. For some photos, I've put a little extra detail, such as "waiting for the fireworks to begin" on a photo of us taken on the 4th of July. Is this a good idea, or totally unnecessary? I suppose I'm just trying to humanize the application a bit. I'll also be sure to include some photos from the wedding. I'm planning on saving the file as a .pdf and including it as evidence. 

 

As for other evidence, I'm trying to decide which of the following would be best to include. Please advise!

• Flight itinerary from our two trips to the US with both names, seating assignments etc.
• Airbnb booking confirmations with both of our names
• Travel insurance documents with both of our names
• A notice to our old landlord that we were moving out. It's via email but has the date, my full name, and wife's first name, plus the address of the place we were renting.
• A tenancy application with both names
• A copy of our current tenancy agreement which has both of our names
• I'm linked to her Google account as the recovery email, so an email stating this.
• Screenshots of bank transfers between the two of us. I pay the rent out of my account, so most of the transfers are from her account to mine which I thought may raise suspicion (although there are a few from my account to hers too). I also took a screenshot of my continual weekly rent payments which I'd include if I used this as evidence. While we don't have a joint checking account, I thought this would be good evidence of inter-mingling finances but the last thing I want to do is raise suspicions. 
• Call logs between us from the last 6 months. Most of these are less than 5 minutes long as they tend to just be one telling the other we're on the way home or asking what we want for dinner. We don't have many that are very long since we live together.
• Message logs from Facebook, Instagram and text. Rather than include one long log, these are just screenshots of messages with the date on them. There's quite a range of messages, so what would be best to include? Some are talking about moving house, others are what we want for dinner, that I'm on the way to pick her up from work, there's a few about money and bank accounts which might be useful, a few lovey ones (they all have x's at the end) and a few that are discussing trip plans to the US together before we went on our vacations. 

 

 

One last thing, I'm planning on filing the I-130 online and when I went through the application form, there was a section that asked for a U.S. Birth Certificate, Naturalization Certificate or Certificate of Citizenship (from memory). I have a current U.S. Passport and a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, but not a U.S. Birth Certificate or any of those other citizenship documents that are suggested. Would the CRBA count as a Certificate of Citizenship? When I googled it, that looks like a totally different thing. Some clarification would be much appreciated. 

 

Apologies for the lengthy post! Thanks in advance to all of the helpful and intelligent people on this forum! You are appreciated. 

You only need to prove citizenship once.  Either your passport or CRBA does it, don't need both 

[Just Paul 4,595]

US Passport is the best proof of US CItizenship.

[Chancy 6,241]

 

You live together in a low visa fraud country.  I agree that there's no need to load your petition with too much information.  Focus on strong evidence of time spent together in person and financial commingling.

 

2 hours ago, ztiberiusd said:

Below is a number of photos of us together to prove our marriage is bona fide.

 

Although a cover letter is not required, how about making yours list all your evidence?  Something like, "Below is a list of evidence from our time spent together and financial commingling, to prove our marriage is bona fide."  Then your set of photos will be an item on the list.  A short caption with description for each photo is ok.

 

As for your non-photo evidence, I would not recommend including the recovery email, call logs, message logs.  Those don't show that you were together in person.  Not a fan of including bank transfers either.  Even unrelated people can transfer money to each other.

 

I suggest adding passport stamps from your trips together and your wife's I-94 travel history.  Also, did you go to the same schools at the same time?  If so, include school records showing that.

 

2 hours ago, ztiberiusd said:

I have a current U.S. Passport and a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, but not a U.S. Birth Certificate or any of those other citizenship documents that are suggested. Would the CRBA count as a Certificate of Citizenship?

 

Just one proof of citizenship is enough.  Yes, your CRBA counts.  It's in the I-130 list of acceptable proof.  Or just upload a scan of your US passport bio-page instead.

 

Congratulations on your wedding and good luck with your visa journey!

 

[ztiberiusd 38]

7 hours ago, HRQX said:

It is a different thing, but you can upload CRBA and/or bio page of US passport there as proof of US citizenship.

 

6 hours ago, payxibka said:

You only need to prove citizenship once.  Either your passport or CRBA does it, don't need both 

 

6 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

US Passport is the best proof of US CItizenship.

Thank you all. I have a US Passport, so that's what I'll use. 

[ztiberiusd 38]

5 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

You live together in a low visa fraud country.  I agree that there's no need to load your petition with too much information.  Focus on strong evidence of time spent together in person and financial commingling.

 

I could add more photos of us together, but is that necessary? If the focus is on spending time together in person, it seems photos are the best form of evidence. 

Quote

Although a cover letter is not required, how about making yours list all your evidence?  Something like, "Below is a list of evidence from our time spent together and financial commingling, to prove our marriage is bona fide."  Then your set of photos will be an item on the list.  A short caption with description for each photo is ok.

 

As for your non-photo evidence, I would not recommend including the recovery email, call logs, message logs.  Those don't show that you were together in person.  Not a fan of including bank transfers either.  Even unrelated people can transfer money to each other.

That sounds good. So put all the evidence into the one document and then attach it as a pdf when I'm done? I agree that the recovery email, call and message logs seem like weak evidence. I won't include these. I agree that the bank transfers also aren't the most solid evidence, but what else could we use to show financial commingling? We always use each other's debit cards to buy things, but there's no way of proving that we're buying things for the two of us from bank statements. Any other way we can show financial commingling? Does a rental contract with both of our names count?

 

Quote

I suggest adding passport stamps from your trips together and your wife's I-94 travel history.  Also, did you go to the same schools at the same time?  If so, include school records showing that.

I could add passport stamps from her passport, but it wouldn't necessarily prove we were together as I travel on my US Passport when visiting the US so no stamps. We did go to the same schools at the same time, and we're currently attending the same college, so I can easily use that as evidence!

 

 

 

[Chancy 6,241]

2 hours ago, ztiberiusd said:

I could add more photos of us together, but is that necessary? If the focus is on spending time together in person, it seems photos are the best form of evidence.

 

Official documents showing same location are the best evidence of time spent together.  Photos are secondary evidence because they can be staged.  No need to add more photos, in my opinion, but it won't hurt if you want to.  Just don't go overboard with 50 more or something.  Prioritize photos of you two with family and friends.

 

2 hours ago, ztiberiusd said:

So put all the evidence into the one document and then attach it as a pdf when I'm done?

 

One or multiple pdf files is fine, whichever way will let you keep each file under the upload size limit (5 MB per file, IIRC).

 

2 hours ago, ztiberiusd said:

Any other way we can show financial commingling? Does a rental contract with both of our names count?

 

Yes, your rental contract/tenancy agreement definitely counts.  Do you have life insurance?  If so, add each other as beneficiary.  How about joint bank accounts?

 

Also, do you have the same address on your phone/utility bills and bank statements?  If so, those would be good evidence of living together, in addition to your tenancy agreement.

 

[HRQX 4,145]

3 hours ago, ztiberiusd said:

as I travel on my US Passport when visiting the US so no stamps.

You can try inputting your US passport info in the Arrival/Departure portal: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/ Some US citizens report that the portal shows some of their entries with the US passport.

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.