Enough Proof For Bonafide Marriage?

[tatsutachi 0]

Hello! This is my first (of probably many) post. I will be moving back to the US in June, then apply for my (future) husband's green card later in the year. Husband and I are currently together in Tokyo. He is Japanese.

We met in the US in Nov 2017. We officially became a couple in Feb 2019, after I moved to Japan to study.

These are the papers I will gather to prove bonafide marriage. Would all of this be enough proof?

 

- Translated Marriage Certificate (Will get married in April).

- Extensive text message logs since we met in 2017.

- Photos of us in 2017 and 2019-2021.

- Apartment lease with both our names (lived together from May 2020-May 2021).

- Can provide at least 3 affidavit of relationships (2 from friends, 1 from my mom).

- Can provide itinerary from when we went to meet his family in Fukuoka, Japan in 2019.

 

Thanks so much

[HRQX 4,145]

13 minutes ago, tatsutachi said:

Would all of this be enough proof?

Yes. USCIS and DOS understand that newlyweds might not have a lot of documents so that is why Removal of Conditions exists: https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-we-grant-your-green-card/conditional-permanent-residence/removing-conditions-on-permanent-residence-based-on-marriage

15 minutes ago, tatsutachi said:

then apply for my (future) husband's green card later in the year.

You can submit the I-130 before returning to the US if you want. There also is an Online filing option: https://www.uscis.gov/i-130

[JFH 12,190]

The joint lease is worth its weight in gold for this process. Many of us are not able to live together beforehand so have to pin our hopes on flight tickets for a few visits being sufficient evidence. But living together is very, very strong evidence. I’d skip the affidavits, if I were you. Not needed in your case. They are very weak evidence and only really of use for couples who are very light on other forms of evidence. 

[tatsutachi 0]

12 minutes ago, HRQX said:

You can submit the I-130 before returning to the US if you want. There also is an Online filing option: https://www.uscis.gov/i-130

I have considered submitting before returning, but since I am a new college grad, not sure if I can provide enough evidence for AOS. Do you have any suggestions? Again thank you so much. 

[tatsutachi 0]

9 minutes ago, JFH said:

The joint lease is worth its weight in gold for this process.

That's such a relief to hear. Not sure if it would be good enough or not since it is before we got married. Thank you so so much!

[HRQX 4,145]

1 minute ago, tatsutachi said:

not sure if I can provide enough evidence for AOS.

Affidavit of Support (I-864) is submitted months later. I.e. it's not submitted at I-130 filing.

[tatsutachi 0]

2 minutes ago, HRQX said:

it's not submitted at I-130 filing.

Got it. Thank you!

[Boiler 45,553]

It will be a long time before you need to worry about the I 864.

[Babu Frik 1,162]

"Can provide at least 3 affidavit of relationships (2 from friends, 1 from my mom)."

 

While this won't hurt anything, it carries little weight, I wouldn't bother if you haven't already done it.

 

You have other good evidence.

 

For the photo, quality matters, if you have photos with friends and family, and locations in the background you can explain.

Put them in order and caption them.

Also boarding passes is a lot stronger than itinerary.

Itinerary doesn't prove you took the trip.

[neca 166]

I would echo what everyone else in this thread has said. I want to add a little nudge, too: with how long everything is taking these days, I would file your I-130 ASAP, so work on gathering your evidence now for that, so you can be ready to file as soon as you get married.

 

Also, kind of goes without being said, but any photos you take of your wedding day or marriage ceremony, even if it's just a civil one, will also be worth including I think.

 

Good luck!