Feedback on our upcoming I-130 submission?

[Rana&Eli 0]

Hello all,

 

My wife (Lebanon resident) and I (US citizen) are preparing to submit our I-130 packet online for the CR-1 visa in the coming days. We were hoping to get some feedback on how our submission looks and we are seeking any tips about if any additional pieces of evidence we might want to add.

 

US Citizenship Establishment:

-Scanned copy of my Louisiana birth certificate (front and back)

-Scan of each page of my passport

 

Bona fide marriage evidence:

-Marriage certificate (original in Arabic, and English translation signed by sworn translator)

-Copy of rental agreement signed by us and our landlord showing that we live together in Beirut (English and Arabic)

-1.5 page document telling our story of how we met, how our relationship developed, our marriage, etc.

-Flight itinerary from my mother's trip to Lebanon, showing that she has met my wife [unfortunately my mother does not have her passport at the moment so we could not provide a Lebanese passport stamp as evidence]

-Flight itinerary from my father's trip to Lebanon (which was unfortunately canceled due to the pandemic)

-Flight itinerary showing our upcoming honeymoon trip to Turkey

-Screenshot of e-mail from my mother to my wife welcoming her to the family

-Scan of Western Union money transfer I sent to my wife for "Family Support"

-Screenshot of Western Union money transfer my mother sent to my wife

-Screenshot of our WhatsApp message inviting friends to our wedding dinner

-Screenshot of my wife's e-mail correspondence with her US employer requesting they transfer her paycheck to my US bank account rather than try and send it to Lebanon

-Screenshots of our university transcripts showing that we attended university together in Beirut

-Screenshot of Facebook post announcing our marriage to friends

-Around 40 photos of us over the span of our relationship (2 years). Many include us with her parents, sisters, nieces and nephews, and formal occasions such as our wedding dinner, getting our paperwork signed at the courthouse, etc.

-Around 50 screenshots of our WhatsApp text logs over the span of our relationship (roughly 2 per month) + screenshot of our WhatsApp statistics showing that we have sent over 30,000 texts to each other in the past 2 years

-Screenshot of Zoom call where my wife met my father

-Screenshots of all of my flight itineraries over the past 2 years to show that although I do not have Lebanese residency and I always enter the country on a tourist visa, I have indeed been living in Lebanon for the past 2 years

 

Like many newlyweds living outside the US, we are not yet able to have much in the way of joined bank accounts and these type of things that are considered strong bona fide evidence. Should I add a Last Will & Testament (not sure how valid I can make this while living in Lebanon)? Should we add sworn affidavits from friends, or are these a waste of time? Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Eli and Rana

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

This is going to sound brutal, but I am just trying to be honest.  Flight itineraries are useless imo. As noted in your post, itineraries can easily be changed.  They don't prove anything.  I would not add anything, but I would remove a lot of what you listed. Concentrate on quality evidence.  The best evidence you can provide is your marriage certificate and proof of having spent time together.  A few pictures is fine, along with leases, and legal documents generated as part of a marriage.  Over 100 photos and screen shots is excessive, imo. Concentrate on quality, not quantity.  Personal affidavits are worthless as they can easily be faked.  Just my two cents.  I wish you the best of luck in your journey.

[pushbrk 12,882]

6 hours ago, Lucky Cat said:

This is going to sound brutal, but I am just trying to be honest.  Flight itineraries are useless imo. As noted in your post, itineraries can easily be changed.  They don't prove anything.  I would not add anything, but I would remove a lot of what you listed. Concentrate on quality evidence.  The best evidence you can provide is your marriage certificate and proof of having spent time together.  A few pictures is fine, along with leases, and legal documents generated as part of a marriage.  Over 100 photos and screen shots is excessive, imo. Concentrate on quality, not quantity.  Personal affidavits are worthless as they can easily be faked.  Just my two cents.  I wish you the best of luck in your journey.

Agreed.  It seems the couple has ignored the meaning of the word "or" or interpreted it to mean "and".

 

Instead of flight itineraries which are evidence of NOTHING, include copies of passport pages with entry and exit stamps, or copies of actual boarding passes, which ARE evidence of travel.  Note my use of "or".

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

Agreed.  It seems the couple has ignored the meaning of the word "or" or interpreted it to mean "and".

 

Instead of flight itineraries which are evidence of NOTHING, include copies of passport pages with entry and exit stamps, or copies of actual boarding passes, which ARE evidence of travel.  Note my use of "or".

Yep.  Substance wins over fluff every time.

[Babu Frik 1,162]

You still have a lot of good evidence.

Boarding passes not itineraries.

add notes to photos with date and descriptions

zoom call screenshot sounds weird.

I sent 0 communication logs

[Rana&Eli 0]

Thanks for the feedback so far, we will probably remove the flight itineraries that are not backed up by passport stamps.

 

I have to ask though, what is the harm in submitting too much evidence? Obviously we want to avoid the RFE, and we're a bit nervous (as most newlyweds are) that since we haven't been married long (2 months) we haven't had the chance to have much financial co-mingling, etc. Plus, since my wife's father is from Palestine, she does not have Lebanese citizenship nor a Lebanese passport (she is classified as a Palestine refugee born in Libya, with an Egyptian Travel Document)--and from what we've read, the USCIS is especially cautious with cases from the MENA region. Why not just submit as much evidence as possible? (Yes I get that the flight itineraries prove nothing). Better to err on the side of too much evidence rather than too little, no?

[Babu Frik 1,162]

7 hours ago, Rana&Eli said:

Thanks for the feedback so far, we will probably remove the flight itineraries that are not backed up by passport stamps.

 

I have to ask though, what is the harm in submitting too much evidence? Obviously we want to avoid the RFE, and we're a bit nervous (as most newlyweds are) that since we haven't been married long (2 months) we haven't had the chance to have much financial co-mingling, etc. Plus, since my wife's father is from Palestine, she does not have Lebanese citizenship nor a Lebanese passport (she is classified as a Palestine refugee born in Libya, with an Egyptian Travel Document)--and from what we've read, the USCIS is especially cautious with cases from the MENA region. Why not just submit as much evidence as possible? (Yes I get that the flight itineraries prove nothing). Better to err on the side of too much evidence rather than too little, no?

you are right that it doesn't hurt, as long as you have actual quality evidence that goes along with it.

The only downside to extra "evidence" that's not helpful is the time spent organizing it and the time USCIS will spend going through it.