I-751 Evidence Shortage

[Eu_Sou_Douglas 75]

I'm looking for other examples of filers who perhaps didn't have a lot of copies of insurance or utility bill statements over the course of the 2 years from the time of marriage through filing the I-751.  I don't have a good excuse, I guess naiveness and arrogance caused me to not focus on adding my wife to anything other than our bank account because I handle all of the bills and there is really no need to.  I'm now looking through the required evidences to send with our I-751 filing and am in full panic mode.  We won't have copies of utility bills and other statements other than our bank account and tax returns for each quarter for the last 2 years.  She had an issue with a insurance bill not getting paid (she forgot to tell me) which killed her credit and I had to leave her off my mortgage when I refinanced as it would have cost us 1/4 point on the rate.  This is insane, we are married.  We have tons of pictures, could have 20 family members write affidavits attesting to our marriage.  I'm concerned my procrastination has cost us the ability to live in the states and that I will have to uproot myself, my wife and daughter because of my mistake.  Does anyone have any suggestions for me here to try and fill this gap?  Obviously she is my beneficiary on everything.  Has anyone else gotten by without such evidences - is there any hope here for me/us?

[Dashinka 24,718]

There is always hope, and you can only send in what you have.  Back when we did ours, we did not have joint utility bills except for one, my wife was not on the home title, we did have joint ownership of each other's  bank accounts, joint car, life, home and health insurance, and we did wills and living wills.

 

Good Luck!

[Crazy Cat 42,040]

I recommend people start preparing for ROC immediately after issue of the conditional Green card.  But you can only submit what you have.  Concentrate on that instead of what you don't have.  This is what we sent.  It might give you some ideas:

 

Apartment lease with both our names & signatures
Periodic Joint bank checking acct statements since wife's arrival in June 2017.
Deed for new home with both our names
Mortgage Lender Letter with both our names.
Credit Cards showing both on joint account with same card number.
Amazon delivery label showing both names and our current address.
Wife's Military Dependent ID card showing me as the sponsor.
Tricare Eligibility Letter showing both of us together.
Military pay statement showing wife as my benefic.
Texas Health Care Directives appointing each other as sole health care proxy(Advanced Directives)
Our Texas driver's licenses with same address for both of us
2018 Joint Tax ReturnTax Returns 
Pictures of us on special occasions here in the US.
Car Insurance Cards showing both of us as insured drivers for our car
Boarding Passes for Las Vegas Valentine Day Trip 2019
Utility application showing both our names for our current address    

 

Keep in mind that very, very few I-751s are actually denied....less than 5% by my calculations......good luck.

Edited November 20, 2020 by Lucky Cat

[Eu_Sou_Douglas 75]

I appreciate the advice and information.  I feel rather stupid being in this situation, as ignorance won't count as justification for lack of evidence, I guess I was so happy to be past the K1 process that I thought the Spanish Inquisition was over!  Pardon my stressful tone - and again thank you for sharing your experiences and advice!  I already feel better.

 

PS - Would it be in poor taste or against the rules if we brought my daughter to the interview?  Her and my wife have grown very close, only a blind sociopath wouldn't see it.

Edited November 20, 2020 by Eu_Sou_Douglas

[CMJuilland 485]

Do you have her on your health insurance plan?  And/Or do you have life insurance where you have her listed as the beneficiary?  Is there a car that's in both of your names or where she is at least listed as a secondary driver?  Any of these things can work as "proof".  I can only speak for myself, but health and life insurance wouldn't have been the first things springing to my mind when I prepared ours.  

 

Good luck in any case; as somebody else has said already, there are not many ROC cases that are actually flat out denied. 

 

 

[portorusa 431]

I doubt they will allow your daughter to be present at the interview. Do you have photos of you all three? Or them two together (daughter and wife)? Is your wife listed on the emergency contacts for daughter’s school? Correspondence from daughter’s school addressed to both of names (your wife and you)?

[Eu_Sou_Douglas 75]

2 minutes ago, CMJuilland said:

Do you have her on your health insurance plan?  And/Or do you have life insurance where you have her listed as the beneficiary?  Is there a car that's in both of your names or where she is at least listed as a secondary driver?  Any of these things can work as "proof".  I can only speak for myself, but health and life insurance wouldn't have been the first things springing to my mind when I prepared ours.  

 

Good luck in any case; as somebody else has said already, there are not many ROC cases that are actually flat out denied. 

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, portorusa said:

I doubt they will allow your daughter to be present at the interview. Do you have photos of you all three? Or them two together (daughter and wife)? Is your wife listed on the emergency contacts for daughter’s school? Correspondence from daughter’s school addressed to both of names (your wife and you)?

I assumed that would not be allowed, but felt it was worth it to ask.  So yes to all of the above - I have health insurance coverage for her and she is listed as an Emergency Contact in PowerSchool (system for my daughter's school).  I had planned on providing those things just was worried about the utilities and house deed.  She is on the utilities now, but I can't provide more than just 1 month of evidence.  Perhaps with a good volume of other evidences we will be fine, this is great info so thank you all!

[Thegirl 225]

It really depends on the case. I've just been approved with minimal evidence compared to most here. Photo is the thickness of my ROC.

We sent 2 affidavits from friends one of his and one of mineT, ax transcripts, Joint account statements- I only sent a few though I'd suggest sending one per quarter from each year. Evidence of me being a beneficiary on his health insurance at work and him being on mine and me being on his car insurance. Photos -about 20 -a few sheets with multiple photos on.

 

I was never on our lease bc he got the apt before I came and the landlady couldn't be bothered with updating it. We don't have wills or children or power of attorney. I was not on any bills bc he took them out before I got here. 

 

Send what you have. Disclaimer-my case has been super easy from day 1 as I got my i-130 approved with two affidavits only and additionally a few photos as nvc. So this is why I say it depends. When I went for interview today I took evidence we bought a house together that's the only extra evidence which is substantial but it was clear my case was already approved before I even walked in. I spent 15 minutes with officer for a combo interview. 

 

This is meant to give you some peace. Don't stress. Do what you can. 

Good luck! 

 

 

[Sukie 1,464]

Please remember that the REQUIREMENTS for the I-751 are actually quite slim.  It's up to the couple to build a "case" that shows your togetherness and EVERY couple is different.    Show that you live together (and no, both people don't have to be on the mortgage - it's quite common that one person is on the deed or mortgage), show that you care about each other (insurance, wills), show that you are a family (pictures of the three of you), and explain why you don't have a lot of financial mingling.  Poor credit is a common reason for not co-mingling finances.

 

Build a strong case with what you have.  Don't fret about what you don't.  At the worst case, you'll both be interviewed.

 

And I would try to take the child with you - ask in advance, but I think it shows a good family strength!

 

Best of luck!

 

Sukie in NY

[Sarah&Facundo 599]

I'm in a similar situation because my husband's 90 day window is about to open. We don't have a lot of "proof" since we live with my mom as we save to buy a house. Since the prices in my area have sky-rocketed in my area due to a max exodus of people in the city, we are waiting until the prices come down at some point. My mom's house was paid a long time ago and her name is on the deed of the house and all utilities are in her name. We don't have kids, wills, or life insurance. We have joint health insurance, car insurance, IDs (my drivers license and his state ID because he doesn't drive), bank accounts, and credit cards, and proof of traveling between here and his home country several times for family visits. To anyone above who mentioned not having a lot but building a case for the USCIS to get an overall picture, did anyone attach a separate letter explaining their situation? Or how else do you recommend building a case?

[LirikVJUser 28]

11 hours ago, Eu_Sou_Douglas said:

I'm looking for other examples of filers who perhaps didn't have a lot of copies of insurance or utility bill statements over the course of the 2 years from the time of marriage through filing the I-751.  I don't have a good excuse, I guess naiveness and arrogance caused me to not focus on adding my wife to anything other than our bank account because I handle all of the bills and there is really no need to.  I'm now looking through the required evidences to send with our I-751 filing and am in full panic mode.  We won't have copies of utility bills and other statements other than our bank account and tax returns for each quarter for the last 2 years.  She had an issue with a insurance bill not getting paid (she forgot to tell me) which killed her credit and I had to leave her off my mortgage when I refinanced as it would have cost us 1/4 point on the rate.  This is insane, we are married.  We have tons of pictures, could have 20 family members write affidavits attesting to our marriage.  I'm concerned my procrastination has cost us the ability to live in the states and that I will have to uproot myself, my wife and daughter because of my mistake.  Does anyone have any suggestions for me here to try and fill this gap?  Obviously she is my beneficiary on everything.  Has anyone else gotten by without such evidences - is there any hope here for me/us?

No worries

Utility bills are just one piece of proof, it's quality not quantity

 

The most important things to have:

1) Joint tax returns(make sure to provide federal/state 1040 forms, W2 forms and tax transcripts from IRS website)

2) Joint checking/saving accounts showing both your names(make sure to provide bank statements since the marriage, usually you can get those online from your bank)

3) Joint health insurance(if you don't have one take a look at short term medical insurances)

4) Credit card statements with your spouse added as an authorized user

5) Driver Licenses/State IDs with the same address

6) Photos from Wedding to the day + flight tickets/board passes

 

A lot of utility companies don't allow a second person to be added to the statements, in this case include 2 years of any of your utility statements with just your name and address and switch something like wireless phone bills to her name(you can sign up for post paid even with a relatively bad credit providing you pay a deposit, take a look at Google Fi, I heard they're easier to deal with than At&t or Verizon)

 

I've done my research and many people have been approved with less prove

 

Keep calm!

[Sukie 1,464]

11 hours ago, Sarah&Facundo said:

I'm in a similar situation because my husband's 90 day window is about to open. We don't have a lot of "proof" since we live with my mom as we save to buy a house. Since the prices in my area have sky-rocketed in my area due to a max exodus of people in the city, we are waiting until the prices come down at some point. My mom's house was paid a long time ago and her name is on the deed of the house and all utilities are in her name. We don't have kids, wills, or life insurance. We have joint health insurance, car insurance, IDs (my drivers license and his state ID because he doesn't drive), bank accounts, and credit cards, and proof of traveling between here and his home country several times for family visits. To anyone above who mentioned not having a lot but building a case for the USCIS to get an overall picture, did anyone attach a separate letter explaining their situation? Or how else do you recommend building a case?

Definitely add a paragraph to explain your living situation.  It's not unusual for couples to live with relatives when the real estate market is hard.  Get your Mom to write an affidavit explaining that you are living with her, as she is helping you get your feet on the ground for a place of your own.  If you are paying her anything to help with expenses (food, utilities), get her to state that.  Also add the date you started living with her, and how long you plan to do so (and if forever, that's cool!).  You can get wills made easily.  Don't worry about not having life insurance yet.

 

LOTS of couples live with parents - especially at first.  Don't fret this.  Just explain it.  And that affidavit from your Mom will be golden.

 

Sukie in NY

[raymondccc 12]

Just submit whatever you have as much as possible. Do you have kid? A birth certificate is convincing than 20 affidavits 

[angelbrown 195]

I agree with everyone else. I also submitted a letter explaining why I didn’t submit evidence of him on the mortgage or utilities as I had those before he came. So that way they already had the answer if that was in question. Your tax transcripts, bank statements and license will also show you live together. I, too, submitted bank statements for only every 3 months.

Edited November 21, 2020 by angelbrown

[carmel34 3,650]

We're gathering evidence for ROC, due next May, so this question has been on our minds, what evidence will be sufficient. The utility companies here do not allow two names, so we're focusing on other things we can do.  I added him to the deed on the house, but the mortgage is in my name only.  We did a will, living will, and power of attorney after he moved to the US, have a joint bank account for household expenses, life, health, dental, and car insurance together, a joint credit account which we both use, tax transcripts filing married jointly, driver's licenses showing same home address, beneficiary on retirement accounts, a Costco membership together, county property tax bill addressed to both of us, pay stubs from our jobs showing the same home address, a few photos, boarding passes from trips taken together, mail received addressed to both of us, photos of a big family dinner to celebrate his arrival in the US, and we're hoping that all of this is enough.  The good news is that most ROC applications are approved eventually, either on the first round or after an RFE.  So try not to stress, and gather everything that you can, submit it and hope for the best.  Good luck!