I-751 February 2021 Filers

[Madeline & Matt 252]

2 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

Whats that notification of name change?

i got a notification that they updated his name on the petition. It’s pretty unusual to get that one.

 

My husband has a hyphenated surname that DHS/USCIS and Social Security Administration have been fighting over since he moved here. SSA hates the hyphen and refuses to use it in documents, even though it’s part of his legal name, and USCIS/DHS use the hyphen. I’m assuming that they’ve either removed or added the hyphen again. Either that or they’ve screwed something up, which also wouldn’t shock me.

[Madeline & Matt 252]

Well, even though I sent approximately 60 pages of documents, tax documents, photos, Affidavits from people we know, affidavits from the family members we live with (since we don’t have a lease), proof of joint bank accounts, our IDs, they didn’t look at half of that stuff, and they want it all again. They literally only list our photos and tax documents.
 

We’re broke. We don’t have kids. We drive around a car I had before I got married. We don’t have a I picked basically everything I could from the evidence list to send the first time around. I don’t know what else to do. They say don’t send the same evidence again, but I guess I’m gonna do it anyway. 

Did half our case get lost? Did this guy just not look at it? I’ve known people who sent way less and had no issues. Ugh.

[Mr Genuis 91]

4 minutes ago, Madeline & Matt said:

Well, even though I sent approximately 60 pages of documents, tax documents, photos, Affidavits from people we know, affidavits from the family members we live with (since we don’t have a lease), proof of joint bank accounts, our IDs, they didn’t look at half of that stuff, and they want it all again. They literally only list our photos and tax documents.
 

We’re broke. We don’t have kids. We drive around a car I had before I got married. We don’t have a I picked basically everything I could from the evidence list to send the first time around. I don’t know what else to do. They say don’t send the same evidence again, but I guess I’m gonna do it anyway. 

Did half our case get lost? Did this guy just not look at it? I’ve known people who sent way less and had no issues. Ugh.

Sound like a plan to stress you out.i am surprise they are doing that to you as well. I thought they don't like Just MSC like us. However, anything additional you have got since you filed you initial case send. Even if it's just a few of then. Anything addition, trips you traveled together after you submitted you application, hotels you stay in. Neethings you bought with shared names. Believe me, the must be something additional with you two names., for us we have a car we cosigned after our initial application, we changed apartment, we have itenray together for a trip,  we have mail that she order things from Amazon and was deliver to the same house we l8ve in, we she just recently changed her address on dl that match what I have,. I mean I can go on and on. It's not a complicated document they asking. Anything additional, joint account can work if at all you didn't submit it, joint bank , joint credit card,

[beloved_dingo 1,975]

49 minutes ago, Madeline & Matt said:

Well, even though I sent approximately 60 pages of documents, tax documents, photos, Affidavits from people we know, affidavits from the family members we live with (since we don’t have a lease), proof of joint bank accounts, our IDs, they didn’t look at half of that stuff, and they want it all again. They literally only list our photos and tax documents.
 

We’re broke. We don’t have kids. We drive around a car I had before I got married. We don’t have a I picked basically everything I could from the evidence list to send the first time around. I don’t know what else to do. They say don’t send the same evidence again, but I guess I’m gonna do it anyway. 

Did half our case get lost? Did this guy just not look at it? I’ve known people who sent way less and had no issues. Ugh.

What did you send for proof of joint accounts? For instance, did you send all bank statements, just a few bank statements, letter from bank, etc? 

 

If you filed in Feb. 2021, there has to be new evidence that has accumulated since then. Letters you've received addressed to you both, new photos of you together, etc. Plus you should have a new joint tax return from this year.

 

Additional things you can add, if you have it:

• Beneficiary designation on any life insurance, savings accounts, retirement accounts
• Both names on car insurance
• Both names on health insurance
• Emergency contact showing spouse from work/school/doctor
• Cell phone bills showing both names/numbers
• If either of you have renewed your license since 2/2021, resend new copies of your IDs showing same address
• Power of Attorney (you can find templates online)
• Documentation of any trips together since 2/2021

Unfortunately affidavits are usually considered weak evidence, but a new affidavit from the family member you live with wouldn't hurt. I would resend any strong evidence you sent before (minus the old photos and tax documents, since it appears they have those) plus any new evidence you have now. 

[Rocio0010 5,579]

1 hour ago, Madeline & Matt said:

Well, even though I sent approximately 60 pages of documents, tax documents, photos, Affidavits from people we know, affidavits from the family members we live with (since we don’t have a lease), proof of joint bank accounts, our IDs, they didn’t look at half of that stuff, and they want it all again. They literally only list our photos and tax documents.
 

We’re broke. We don’t have kids. We drive around a car I had before I got married. We don’t have a I picked basically everything I could from the evidence list to send the first time around. I don’t know what else to do. They say don’t send the same evidence again, but I guess I’m gonna do it anyway. 

Did half our case get lost? Did this guy just not look at it? I’ve known people who sent way less and had no issues. Ugh.

So sorry. It seems they just ignored whatever you submitted! 
As others have told you, I would dig in evidence from February 21 til now. One thing that comes to mind is your 2021 joint tax return. You could also add:

Joint State taxes.

Joint utility bills.

Joint insurance.

Joint retirement.

ALL joint bank statements since account inception. 
Copy of your DL (to show cohabitation)

These are just a few.

[Madeline & Matt 252]

2 hours ago, beloved_dingo said:

What did you send for proof of joint accounts? For instance, did you send all bank statements, just a few bank statements, letter from bank, etc? 

 

If you filed in Feb. 2021, there has to be new evidence that has accumulated since then. Letters you've received addressed to you both, new photos of you together, etc. Plus you should have a new joint tax return from this year.

 

Additional things you can add, if you have it:

• Beneficiary designation on any life insurance, savings accounts, retirement accounts
• Both names on car insurance
• Both names on health insurance
• Emergency contact showing spouse from work/school/doctor
• Cell phone bills showing both names/numbers
• If either of you have renewed your license since 2/2021, resend new copies of your IDs showing same address
• Power of Attorney (you can find templates online)
• Documentation of any trips together since 2/2021

Unfortunately affidavits are usually considered weak evidence, but a new affidavit from the family member you live with wouldn't hurt. I would resend any strong evidence you sent before (minus the old photos and tax documents, since it appears they have those) plus any new evidence you have now. 

We sent every other month of bank statements. We don’t have joint utilities or anything because they’re in my family member’s name. We use prepaid phone plans, spouse doesn’t drive because we can’t afford it, etc. 

 

We do have trips and taxes and joint bank accounts. We can definitely do other legal documents like PoA. We built the best case we could considering our circumstances with money. We can at least send updated financials and a new affidavit from our family we live with. 
 

We have a legitimate life, we’re just broke. 😅

 

1 hour ago, Rocio0010 said:

So sorry. It seems they just ignored whatever you submitted! 
As others have told you, I would dig in evidence from February 21 til now. One thing that comes to mind is your 2021 joint tax return. You could also add:

Joint State taxes.

Joint utility bills.

Joint insurance.

Joint retirement.

ALL joint bank statements since account inception. 
Copy of your DL (to show cohabitation)

These are just a few.

We can easily do updated financial documents and IDs. It’s just the other, more concrete stuff like housing and household bills. 
 

 

To anyone, would copies of other bills that come to the house we share be worth sending?

[lusiaan 82]

I just checked my USCIS account and I learned that my N400 interview was scheduled on Friday. Application submitted on 2/16/22, local center Detroit. I guess that it’s going to be a combo interview, I have to read more about it. Waiting on the notice to come in the mail now to learn the date! What is weird, I logged into my account only because I have received an ‘congratulations, you were approved’ I-751 estimation email from VisaJourney. So I am slightly confused on how

would VisaJourney know, especially that my I-751 is not updated at all. 
I am guessing it’s just a coincidence or there is something I am not aware of.

[Mr Genuis 91]

3 minutes ago, lusiaan said:

I just checked my USCIS account and I learned that my N400 interview was scheduled on Friday. Application submitted on 2/16/22, local center Detroit. I guess that it’s going to be a combo interview, I have to read more about it. Waiting on the notice to come in the mail now to learn the date! What is weird, I logged into my account only because I have received an ‘congratulations, you were approved’ I-751 estimation email from VisaJourney. So I am slightly confused on how

would VisaJourney know, especially that my I-751 is not updated at all. 
I am guessing it’s just a coincidence or there is something I am not aware of.

Yeah I will like to know more about this. Because always thought  visa journey estimated ti.e is not accurate.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

On 7/15/2022 at 2:39 PM, Madeline & Matt said:

We sent every other month of bank statements. We don’t have joint utilities or anything because they’re in my family member’s name. We use prepaid phone plans, spouse doesn’t drive because we can’t afford it, etc. 

 

We do have trips and taxes and joint bank accounts. We can definitely do other legal documents like PoA. We built the best case we could considering our circumstances with money. We can at least send updated financials and a new affidavit from our family we live with. 
 

We have a legitimate life, we’re just broke. 😅

 

We can easily do updated financial documents and IDs. It’s just the other, more concrete stuff like housing and household bills. 
 

 

To anyone, would copies of other bills that come to the house we share be worth sending?

If those bills have both your names and show the same address, then yes. For example, if your name is on the water bill but your spouse’s on the electricity bill, they still show cohabitation

[Madeline & Matt 252]

3 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

If those bills have both your names and show the same address, then yes. For example, if your name is on the water bill but your spouse’s on the electricity bill, they still show cohabitation

I think I can make that work, then. If we set up Power of Attorney forms now, after receiving the RFE, would that look better or worse? I don’t want to make a decision that harms his case.  I don’t know whether it’s better to set up more, stronger legal connections now, or whether it would be a red flag. 

[Rocio0010 5,579]

2 minutes ago, Madeline & Matt said:

I think I can make that work, then. If we set up Power of Attorney forms now, after receiving the RFE, would that look better or worse? I don’t want to make a decision that harms his case.  I don’t know whether it’s better to set up more, stronger legal connections now, or whether it would be a red flag. 

I wouldn’t make a PoA now, because it might be a red flag. You said you submitted every other month worth of bank statements. Then now I would send every single one of them, from the inception of the account until the moment you respond to the RFE. You said spouse doesn’t drive, but what you could do is to get a State ID that shows cohabitation. New photos (make sure you caption them with names of people, short description of event, date: for example, on one of the pics I sent I wrote “with friends Chris and Ally on our housewarming dinner, Oct 2021”), insurance plans, etc. 

[Madeline & Matt 252]

13 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

I wouldn’t make a PoA now, because it might be a red flag. You said you submitted every other month worth of bank statements. Then now I would send every single one of them, from the inception of the account until the moment you respond to the RFE. You said spouse doesn’t drive, but what you could do is to get a State ID that shows cohabitation. New photos (make sure you caption them with names of people, short description of event, date: for example, on one of the pics I sent I wrote “with friends Chris and Ally on our housewarming dinner, Oct 2021”), insurance plans, etc. 

 

That’s kind of what I thought. Thankfully, he already has a state ID, we have mail and updated taxes. I can send in the bank statements for the missing months and time between now and last February. We have photos from our vacation last year, along with our train booking documents. We have mail from his family back in England addressed to both of us. I think the updated tax forms will help as well. I hadn’t been able to file last year before we mailed his packet.

 

This is probably a stupid question, but I can use a larger envelope than the return envelope they sent us, correct? I definitely won’t fit everything in a standard, letter-sized envelope. 

[Rocio0010 5,579]

12 minutes ago, Madeline & Matt said:

 

That’s kind of what I thought. Thankfully, he already has a state ID, we have mail and updated taxes. I can send in the bank statements for the missing months and time between now and last February. We have photos from our vacation last year, along with our train booking documents. We have mail from his family back in England addressed to both of us. I think the updated tax forms will help as well. I hadn’t been able to file last year before we mailed his packet.

 

This is probably a stupid question, but I can use a larger envelope than the return envelope they sent us, correct? I definitely won’t fit everything in a standard, letter-sized envelope. 

Sounds like good evidence to me. Yes, you can use a different envelope.

[Madeline & Matt 252]

2 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

Sounds like good evidence to me. Yes, you can use a different envelope.

Thanks for the help! This is the first time we’ve had any RFEs or hiccups in any petitions (long processing times and Social Security office issues aside). I’ve always put together really strong cases, so this is definitely throwing me off a bit.

[17Miller 30]

WAC

Case Was Received

Last Status Change: 525 days ago.

 

7/15/22 NOA -- Biometrics App 8/2/22 (NOA arrived on 26/7/22)

 

ffs it's been 525 days since "Case Was Received", now FINALLY moving forward for fingerprints. Guess they don't like those prints they had from my AOS app lol. 

 

Fingers Crossed!