Proof of bonafide marriage

[Budzmaroo 26]

Hi everyone. Me and my husband will be applying for a spousal sponsorship hopefully soon and currently gathering all the requirements. I am a Canadian citizen but was born in the Philippines and my husband is a USC. So here is our background.. my husband and I are in a relationship for 13 years, almost  2 years happily married. We got married here in Canada on May 2019. We last saw each other in nov of 2019 and luckily got pregnant. I gave birth on July 2020. Due to travel restrictions in us Canada border, we weren’t able to spend time together since the pandemic. He works as a medical doctor in the US and that makes us harder for him to come over. He can’t even have a leave for 15 days which is Canada’s requirement for admissability due to important family matter. He wasn’t able to see our daughter born. With all the requirements, these are all we have.. plane tickets (we don’t have the original boarding passes since 2008), passport stamps, insurance beneficiary, photos since 2008, wedding pictures, hotel receipts and our daughter’s birth certificate. We don’t have any other proof of co mingling because we never lived together. Is there a slim chance that the petition could be granted? We have never been married before. It is both our first relationship ever. 

[Adventine 3,215]

Nobody on this site can give you a 100% guarantee, but it seems that what you have is fine.

[Budzmaroo 26]

On 1/22/2021 at 11:48 PM, Adventine said:

Nobody on this site can give you a 100% guarantee, but it seems that what you have is fine.

Thank you for your response. Also, do I need to submit our messages and call history? Since we’ve been together for so long, we have already lost those copies. We only have the recent ones from 2020. 

[Chancy 6,243]

27 minutes ago, Budzmaroo said:

do I need to submit our messages and call history?

 

For a low-fraud country like Canada, no need for weak evidence like chat messages and call history.  Prioritize evidence of time spent together in person and financial commingling.

 

[Adventine 3,215]

3 hours ago, Budzmaroo said:

Thank you for your response. Also, do I need to submit our messages and call history? Since we’ve been together for so long, we have already lost those copies. We only have the recent ones from 2020. 

No, as @Chancy said, focus on evidence of time spent together and financial comingling.

 

Btw it should be very easy for you and your husband to build more evidence of financial comingling. If he has credit cards, he can add you as an authorized user online, without an SSN (I just did the same with my USC fiancé). Another idea is, perhaps there is a way to set up a joint account denominated in both USD and CAD. 

[Budzmaroo 26]

On 1/24/2021 at 2:06 PM, Chancy said:

 

For a low-fraud country like Canada, no need for weak evidence like chat messages and call history.  Prioritize evidence of time spent together in person and financial commingling.

 

Thank you! We have been trying to locate our pictures since 2008. We don’t have so much as we weren’t into pictures back then. 

[Budzmaroo 26]

22 hours ago, Adventine said:

No, as @Chancy said, focus on evidence of time spent together and financial comingling.

 

Btw it should be very easy for you and your husband to build more evidence of financial comingling. If he has credit cards, he can add you as an authorized user online, without an SSN (I just did the same with my USC fiancé). Another idea is, perhaps there is a way to set up a joint account denominated in both USD and CAD. 

Thank you for your reply! Unfortunately, we can’t add each other’s names in our bank accounts because he’s not a Canadian and vice versa. The bank won’t allow us unless I’m staying in the US and have bills under my name. So I guess we will just have to focus on evidences that we spent time together.

[Adventine 3,215]

17 minutes ago, Budzmaroo said:

Thank you for your reply! Unfortunately, we can’t add each other’s names in our bank accounts because he’s not a Canadian and vice versa. The bank won’t allow us unless I’m staying in the US and have bills under my name. So I guess we will just have to focus on evidences that we spent time together.

The bank account may be difficult but I can confirm from experience that it's possible to be added to one of his credit cards as an authorized user. I'm a Filipino living in Manila and I don't have an SSN. Citibank allowed my USC fiancé to add me as an authorized user with a few clicks on their website. 

[Budzmaroo 26]

15 hours ago, Adventine said:

The bank account may be difficult but I can confirm from experience that it's possible to be added to one of his credit cards as an authorized user. I'm a Filipino living in Manila and I don't have an SSN. Citibank allowed my USC fiancé to add me as an authorized user with a few clicks on their website. 

Oh I see. Once we added our names in as credit card authorized users, how can we use that as a proof? Is there any certification from the bank that we can ask for or just the statement of the account? Sorry, I really have no idea on this and thank you for your patience in answering my questions.

[Adventine 3,215]

12 minutes ago, Budzmaroo said:

Oh I see. Once we added our names in as credit card authorized users, how can we use that as a proof? Is there any certification from the bank that we can ask for or just the statement of the account? Sorry, I really have no idea on this and thank you for your patience in answering my questions.

No worries, I'm happy to help. Citi mailed the credit cards to my USC fiancé's US address. The envelope contained a piece of paper with both our names printed on it + his US address + the physical credit cards taped side by side on the paper. Both cards had the same account number.

 

Your husband will also likely be able to get screenshots from the Citi website showing you are an authorized user on his account.

[seekingthetruth 1,249]

9 minutes ago, Adventine said:

No worries, I'm happy to help. Citi mailed the credit cards to my USC fiancé's US address. The envelope contained a piece of paper with both our names printed on it + his US address + the physical credit cards taped side by side on the paper. Both cards had the same account number.

 

Your husband will also likely be able to get screenshots from the Citi website showing you are an authorized user on his account.

Do the statements show your name on them?  Curious.

[Adventine 3,215]

Just now, seekingthetruth said:

Do the statements show your name on them?  Curious.

I don't know yet, as I've only been an authorized user for about 3 weeks! I'll find out once an e-statement is generated. 

[Budzmaroo 26]

On 1/26/2021 at 8:14 AM, Adventine said:

I found the thread where @0NI posted about successfully opening a joint account while on a visit. Hope this helps.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you! Since it is impossible for us to obtain a joint account as I can’t cross the border right now due to the restrictions here in Canada, I just thought of changing all my financial resources being him as the beneficiary and vice versa. Also, I have some confusions in filling out the I-130A. In the address history, it is asking for the physical address for the last 5 years and on part 8, it says to list your last address in the unites states of more than 1year. I stayed in the Philippines before and worked there as a nurse. Then I moved back to Canada in 2015. Do I need to type in my address back in the Philippines and my work history there? I worked in the hospital for 5 years back home. 

[Ryan H 3,834]

~~~Hijack post and replies to said post removed.~~~

[Adventine 3,215]

11 hours ago, Budzmaroo said:

Thank you! Since it is impossible for us to obtain a joint account as I can’t cross the border right now due to the restrictions here in Canada, I just thought of changing all my financial resources being him as the beneficiary and vice versa. Also, I have some confusions in filling out the I-130A. In the address history, it is asking for the physical address for the last 5 years and on part 8, it says to list your last address in the unites states of more than 1year. I stayed in the Philippines before and worked there as a nurse. Then I moved back to Canada in 2015. Do I need to type in my address back in the Philippines and my work history there? I worked in the hospital for 5 years back home. 

 

That could work too. Others mentioned being able to designate their foreign spouses as beneficiaries of their US bank accounts, with the option "ITF (In Trust For)". 

 

About your questions on the I-130A, sorry, I don't have experience with that, but others who have filed for spousal visas may chime in.