Is this normal?! Please tell me what can be GONE.

[Celie 793]

I'm sorry for freaking out about this some more; I just don't remember any of my previous cases having a file this big so to continue beating a dead horse...

 

Does this look "normal"?!

 

Here is what I included. If you find it in your dear heart to go through this, thank you kindly and please tell me what I can OMIT from the package to save space and our poor USCIS agent some time.

 

- cover letter

- G-1145 e-notification

- I-751 petition

- picture of his green card (front and back)

- picture of my driver license (w/our previous address) front and back

- my birth certificate (for identification? idk? maybe it can be taken out?)

- our marriage license

- my divorce decree (previous marriage)

- his selective service record (w/previous address)

- his biometrics notice from AOS
- AOS notice and approval

- EAD/AP notice and approval

- K1 notice and approval

- I94 entry sheet

- mortgage documents

   - final closing disclosures

   - itemization of fees

   - final master statement

   - final borrower/final seller's statement

   - purchase agreement & sales summary

   - Note

   - Deed of Trust

   - Tax information form

   - Evidence of property insurance

   - Statement of Appraised Value

- apartment lease contract (previous address #1)

- rental insurance in both our names (previous address #1)

- two bank letters (one for each) to previous address #2

- Bank statements for the last two years

   - monthly statements for Checking Acct #1

   - monthly statements for Savings Acct #1

   - monthly statements for Checking Acct #2

   - monthly statements for Checking Acct #3

- Credit Card statements for as long as we've had them (less than 2 years)

   - CC Acct #1 monthly statements

   - CC Acct #2 monthly statements

   - CC Acct #3 overview showing husband as Authorized User

- IRS Tax transcript for 2020

- Both our W2 for 2020

- IRS Tax transcript for 2019

- Both our W2 for 2019

- Overview of Garbage Pickup Acct in my name (for our current address)

- Last 2 bills Pest control in his name (for our current address)

- Electric bills (monthly) in my name (showing current and previous address)

- Water bills (monthly - only 4) since we have been in our current address in my name

- Internet bills (monthly) for service in current address and previous address in his name

- Wireless bills (monthly) for services (recently in his name; previous in my name)

- Medical/Vision/Dental/Life benefits since 2019 from both our jobs showing us as each other's dependents

- 18 pages of photos

 

 

Thank you for helping my troubled heart!

 

 

 

picture for reference!

[Prizm123 1,086]

Overview of Garbage Pickup Acct in my name (for our current address)

- Last 2 bills Pest control in his name (for our current address)

- Electric bills (monthly) in my name (showing current and previous address)

- Water bills (monthly - only 4) since we have been in our current address in my name

- Internet bills (monthly) for service in current address and previous address in his name

- Wireless bills (monthly) for services (recently in his name; previous in my name)

two bank letters (one for each) to previous address #2

my birth certificate (for identification? idk? maybe it can be taken out?)

- our marriage license

- my divorce decree (previous marriage)

- his selective service record (w/previous address)

- his biometrics notice from AOS

18 pages of photos

 

i am not planning to include most of these, most of it was already reviewed for the green card already, and although we have literally gigabytes of pictures, i think we are going to just send various snapshots at different points in time, like 1 for each event to keep it manageable

i am not sure the bank letters are really needed if you are sending that many bank statements

i was sort of able to get the internet heading in a way that shows both of our names, but the way that they did it was stupid because they are apparently incapable of understanding that sort of request. CPS was a nightmare to try and get it done even after we moved and opened a brand new account

maybe you dont need all of the mortgage docs? i am not sure if there was just a main set that you could send instead of all of them, that might cut tie package down too.

[Sukie 1,464]

There is no need to send W-2s if you are sending tax transcripts.  That will save you 4 pages!

 

Sukie in NY

[carmel34 3,650]

9 hours ago, celie&joseph said:

please tell me what I can OMIT from the package to save space and our poor USCIS agent some time

The I-751 instructions specifically say:  "Submit copies of documents indicating that the marriage upon which you were granted conditional status was entered in “good faith” and was not for the purpose of circumventing immigration laws. Submit copies of as many documents as you can to establish this fact, to demonstrate the circumstances of the relationship from the date of the marriage to the present date..."

 

Our package was 528 pages.  They asked for "as many documents as you can," from the date of marriage (3 years), so that's what we did.  You should have more peace of mind sending too much evidence vs. sending too little.  Good luck!

Edited August 16, 2021 by carmel34

[huy_le 32]

I would say rather more than less, so you could minimize the chances for RFE and longer wait.

 

However, I'd suggest three points:

- No need for W-2 when tax transcripts are enough

- Select representative pictures, for example, big and memorable occasions, and put a brief description for each picture in the cover letter

- Arrange evidence by groups, for example, bills, home, pictures, and clearly segment in the cover letter

 

The point is to minimize the effort for the officer as much as possible, so they don't push it aside for later due to it "being too complicated." This is absolutely the officer's discretion to do that, so the easier you make it for them, the lower chance your case gets pushed aside.

 

Hope this helps!

[Chocobo 196]

14 hours ago, celie&joseph said:

 

- mortgage documents

   - final closing disclosures

   - itemization of fees

   - final master statement

   - final borrower/final seller's statement

   - purchase agreement & sales summary

   - Note

   - Deed of Trust

   - Tax information form

   - Evidence of property insurance

   - Statement of Appraised Value

 

You can omit most of the what's in the quote above.  It appears that the property is held in trust rather than to you & your husband personally, so a copy of the recorded deed and a copy of the trust would suffice.  

[bing10 114]

15 hours ago, celie&joseph said:

I'm sorry for freaking out about this some more; I just don't remember any of my previous cases having a file this big so to continue beating a dead horse...

 

Does this look "normal"?!

 

Here is what I included. If you find it in your dear heart to go through this, thank you kindly and please tell me what I can OMIT from the package to save space and our poor USCIS agent some time.

 

- cover letter

- G-1145 e-notification

- I-751 petition

- picture of his green card (front and back)

- picture of my driver license (w/our previous address) front and back

- my birth certificate (for identification? idk? maybe it can be taken out?)

- our marriage license

- my divorce decree (previous marriage)

- his selective service record (w/previous address)

- his biometrics notice from AOS
- AOS notice and approval

- EAD/AP notice and approval

- K1 notice and approval

- I94 entry sheet

- mortgage documents

   - final closing disclosures

   - itemization of fees

   - final master statement

   - final borrower/final seller's statement

   - purchase agreement & sales summary

   - Note

   - Deed of Trust

   - Tax information form

   - Evidence of property insurance

   - Statement of Appraised Value

- apartment lease contract (previous address #1)

- rental insurance in both our names (previous address #1)

- two bank letters (one for each) to previous address #2

- Bank statements for the last two years

   - monthly statements for Checking Acct #1

   - monthly statements for Savings Acct #1

   - monthly statements for Checking Acct #2

   - monthly statements for Checking Acct #3

- Credit Card statements for as long as we've had them (less than 2 years)

   - CC Acct #1 monthly statements

   - CC Acct #2 monthly statements

   - CC Acct #3 overview showing husband as Authorized User

- IRS Tax transcript for 2020

- Both our W2 for 2020

- IRS Tax transcript for 2019

- Both our W2 for 2019

- Overview of Garbage Pickup Acct in my name (for our current address)

- Last 2 bills Pest control in his name (for our current address)

- Electric bills (monthly) in my name (showing current and previous address)

- Water bills (monthly - only 4) since we have been in our current address in my name

- Internet bills (monthly) for service in current address and previous address in his name

- Wireless bills (monthly) for services (recently in his name; previous in my name)

- Medical/Vision/Dental/Life benefits since 2019 from both our jobs showing us as each other's dependents

- 18 pages of photos

 

 

Thank you for helping my troubled heart!

 

 

 

picture for reference!

 

Just some feedback from my situation. In Feb 2020 I had an N-400 interview with an outstanding I-751. My I-751 file wasn't there, but the interviewer could see the details on her system, and made some comment like "wow, how many pages, jeez", and then at the end of the interview mentioned that it's going to take a long time to get to the I-751. My submission looked something like your picture above FYI. It then took a year and a half for my N-400 to be approved.

 

I don't know if the large size of the I-751 was the cause of the delay, but I've read subsequently that the N-400 interviewer may have to scan in documents, so perhaps my case delay was the interviewer balking at the job of scanning in all my pages and pages of evidence.

 

I'm just speculating that the mountains of evidence I provided was the cause of the delay, but just wanted to put another point of view about evidence out there. If I was to do it again, I'd likely provide 1 bank statement for every 6 months, and a curated selection of photos etc etc , rather than overwhelming them with massive amounts of evidence.

 

 

[Meli&Tommy 2]

6 hours ago, carmel34 said:

The I-751 instructions specifically say:  "Submit copies of documents indicating that the marriage upon which you were granted conditional status was entered in “good faith” and was not for the purpose of circumventing immigration laws. Submit copies of as many documents as you can to establish this fact, to demonstrate the circumstances of the relationship from the date of the marriage to the present date..."

 

Our package was 528 pages.  They asked for "as many documents as you can," from the date of marriage (3 years), so that's what we did.  You should have more peace of mind sending too much evidence vs. sending too little.  Good luck!

Jesus, I did NOT send that much stuff. 😅
 

I remember sending mortgage and car payments both in our names, joint taxes of a few years, bills in my name and his name with the same address from several years and the same year I was filing, birth certificates of our children together (along with recent pictures of all us together), joint bank account statements from several years and the same year I was applying (I just rummaged through old mail I accumulated through the years to be honest). Not much else... It wasn't a huge envelope. I got no RFE's. I am now applying for citizenship online. 
 

But I mean, if you already have all that might as well send a good portion of it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

[TurtleMoss 17]

I sent maybe a quarter portion of what you are sending, wow that is a lot to be honest. But it looks like you got everything covered. Good luck!

 

[SalishSea 18,077]

2 hours ago, Chocobo said:

You can omit most of the what's in the quote above.  It appears that the property is held in trust rather than to you & your husband personally, so a copy of the recorded deed and a copy of the trust would suffice.  

What do you mean?   All of that looks like documentation showing that they purchased a property together with a loan, which is normally how it’s done, and great evidence of financial commingling.

[Chocobo 196]

1 minute ago, Jorgedig said:

What do you mean?   All of that looks like documentation showing that they purchased a property together with a loan, which is normally how it’s done, and great evidence of financial commingling.

It is a lot of documentation, yes, but it is documentation up to the point of the deed and mortgage.  Kind of like there's no need to submit W-2's if you're submitting the tax transcripts.  They would have never gotten the loan and house if they didn't already submit all of that other stuff (appraisal, closing statement, bill of sale, etc.)  It's part of the entire mortgage closing process.  The final piece of it all - the deed and mortgage - will weigh as heavily as the rest...just less paperwork to send.

[Timona 4,208]

17 hours ago, celie&joseph said:

I'm sorry for freaking out about this some more; I just don't remember any of my previous cases having a file this big so to continue beating a dead horse...

 

Does this look "normal"?!

 

Here is what I included. If you find it in your dear heart to go through this, thank you kindly and please tell me what I can OMIT from the package to save space and our poor USCIS agent some time.

 

- cover letter

- G-1145 e-notification

- I-751 petition

- picture of his green card (front and back)

- picture of my driver license (w/our previous address) front and back - Add his

- my birth certificate (for identification? idk? maybe it can be taken out?)

- our marriage license

- my divorce decree (previous marriage)

- his selective service record (w/previous address)

- his biometrics notice from AOS
- AOS notice and approval

- EAD/AP notice and approval

- K1 notice and approval

- I94 entry sheet

- mortgage documents

   - final closing disclosures

   - itemization of fees

   - final master statement

   - final borrower/final seller's statement

   - purchase agreement & sales summary - Strip it down to the most important things that shows both your names. It is useless sending the whole contract 

   - Note

   - Deed of Trust

   - Tax information form

   - Evidence of property insurance

   - Statement of Appraised Value

- apartment lease contract (previous address #1) Strip it down to the most important things. No need of sending pages which talk about pest control, early termination fees etc

- rental insurance in both our names (previous address #1)

- two bank letters (one for each) to previous address #2

- Bank statements for the last two years -Do quarterly

   - monthly statements for Checking Acct #1

   - monthly statements for Savings Acct #1

   - monthly statements for Checking Acct #2

   - monthly statements for Checking Acct #3

- Credit Card statements for as long as we've had them (less than 2 years) - Do quarterly

   - CC Acct #1 monthly statements

   - CC Acct #2 monthly statements

   - CC Acct #3 overview showing husband as Authorized User

- IRS Tax transcript for 2020

- Both our W2 for 2020

- IRS Tax transcript for 2019

- Both our W2 for 2019

- Overview of Garbage Pickup Acct in my name (for our current address)

- Last 2 bills Pest control in his name (for our current address)

- Electric bills (monthly) in my name (showing current and previous address)

- Water bills (monthly - only 4) since we have been in our current address in my name

- Internet bills (monthly) for service in current address and previous address in his name

- Wireless bills (monthly) for services (recently in his name; previous in my name)

- Medical/Vision/Dental/Life benefits since 2019 from both our jobs showing us as each other's dependents

- 18 pages of photos Put 5 photos per page. 5 page total

 

 

Thank you for helping my troubled heart!

 

 

 

picture for reference!

 

I-751 is about him. Not you.

 

[Marieke H 2,523]

Please read the instructions for the I-751 and use that to compile your packet: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-751instr.pdf

 

For ROC, you are only required to submit a copy of the green card and relationship evidence, unless you apply under a divorce waiver or other waiver, or if there is a criminal history. It really is a simple application; you only need to show them that you are living together and comingling your finances.

 

So, looking at your list, I would do this (my comments are in bold):

17 hours ago, celie&joseph said:

- cover letter --> Helpful, especially if you list the evidence to make it like a table of content

- G-1145 e-notification ---> Yes, useful.

- I-751 petition --> YES!

- picture of his green card (front and back) --> Yes, required evidence

- picture of my driver license (w/our previous address) front and back --> I would only include pictures of driver's licenses if you can show both of your licenses with the same address (proof of living together)

- my birth certificate (for identification? idk? maybe it can be taken out?) --> No, not needed.

- our marriage license --> I don't think I included this; it is not list as required evidence in the instructions. They already know you are married; they have your entire AOS file.

- my divorce decree (previous marriage) --> Not needed

- his selective service record (w/previous address) --> Not sure why you want to include this.

- his biometrics notice from AOS --> Not needed
- AOS notice and approval --> Not needed

- EAD/AP notice and approval --> Not needed

- K1 notice and approval --> Not needed

- I94 entry sheet --> Not needed. You are way past that.

- mortgage documents --> Not sure if you need all of this, but owning a house together is good evidence of both living together and financial comingling.

   - final closing disclosures

   - itemization of fees

   - final master statement

   - final borrower/final seller's statement

   - purchase agreement & sales summary

   - Note

   - Deed of Trust

   - Tax information form

   - Evidence of property insurance

   - Statement of Appraised Value

- apartment lease contract (previous address #1) --> yes

- rental insurance in both our names (previous address #1) --> yes

- two bank letters (one for each) to previous address #2 --> Maybe, but I think bank statements are stronger evidence.

- Bank statements for the last two years --> Yes, but I am not sure if you need to send statements from all accounts. They want to see financial comingling, so if household expenses and income are mostly going through one of these accounts, there is no need to include the other accounts.

   - monthly statements for Checking Acct #1

   - monthly statements for Savings Acct #1

   - monthly statements for Checking Acct #2

   - monthly statements for Checking Acct #3

- Credit Card statements for as long as we've had them (less than 2 years) --> Maybe, if both your names are on these accounts, and if it shows a lot of joint expenses

   - CC Acct #1 monthly statements

   - CC Acct #2 monthly statements

   - CC Acct #3 overview showing husband as Authorized User

- IRS Tax transcript for 2020 --> Yes, assuming you filed as married.

- Both our W2 for 2020 --> Not needed if you provide the transcript.

- IRS Tax transcript for 2019 --> Yes

- Both our W2 for 2019 --> No

For the documents below, I don't believe they are very strong evidence if they only have one name on them, but together they do show both of you living at the same address. Do you have anything that lists both of you? If you do, I would prefer that over all of these with just one name:

- Overview of Garbage Pickup Acct in my name (for our current address)

- Last 2 bills Pest control in his name (for our current address)

- Electric bills (monthly) in my name (showing current and previous address)

- Water bills (monthly - only 4) since we have been in our current address in my name

- Internet bills (monthly) for service in current address and previous address in his name

- Wireless bills (monthly) for services (recently in his name; previous in my name)

 

- Medical/Vision/Dental/Life benefits since 2019 from both our jobs showing us as each other's dependents --> Yes, this is good evidence

- 18 pages of photos --> Maybe, if you want but not necessary. I was approved for ROC without any pictures. You are kind of past the stage of proving that you have been together; you now need to show that you are living a married live together and sharing your financial responsibilities.

Again, read the instructions and focus on the evidence that shows you live together and that you share financial responsibilities. You don't need to show every single account you own; focus on the things that show that you live a married live together.

 

What I included last year:

- Bank statements from our joint checking account, showing both of our incomes and all household expenses. This was the main piece of evidence and anyone looking at the statements would have no doubt that we were living together.

- Health insurance policy through my work, covering both of us.

- Lease with both of our names on it.

- A few other insurance policies in both of our names (renter's car, etc.)

- A few utility bills in both of our names

 

I believe that was all the evidence we sent. My ROC was approved in 7 months without an interview (but that was also because lots of interviews were waived because of COVID).

[huy_le 32]

1 hour ago, bing10 said:

 

Just some feedback from my situation. In Feb 2020 I had an N-400 interview with an outstanding I-751. My I-751 file wasn't there, but the interviewer could see the details on her system, and made some comment like "wow, how many pages, jeez", and then at the end of the interview mentioned that it's going to take a long time to get to the I-751. My submission looked something like your picture above FYI. It then took a year and a half for my N-400 to be approved.

 

I don't know if the large size of the I-751 was the cause of the delay, but I've read subsequently that the N-400 interviewer may have to scan in documents, so perhaps my case delay was the interviewer balking at the job of scanning in all my pages and pages of evidence.

 

I'm just speculating that the mountains of evidence I provided was the cause of the delay, but just wanted to put another point of view about evidence out there. If I was to do it again, I'd likely provide 1 bank statement for every 6 months, and a curated selection of photos etc etc , rather than overwhelming them with massive amounts of evidence.

 

 

I agree with your perspective, hence my point to organize the evidence as much as possible. The officer does and will push cases aside if he/she fails to comprehend or deems to be complicated.

 

Where I differ from you a bit is I think we should take advantage of the cover letter and list out clearly what evidence is in the package and organize the evidence in the exact order, so that the officer can take a glance and flip through to the exact evidence as needed.

[Carpe Vinum 2,330]

2 hours ago, huy_le said:

I agree with your perspective, hence my point to organize the evidence as much as possible. The officer does and will push cases aside if he/she fails to comprehend or deems to be complicated.

 

Where I differ from you a bit is I think we should take advantage of the cover letter and list out clearly what evidence is in the package and organize the evidence in the exact order, so that the officer can take a glance and flip through to the exact evidence as needed.

^^^ I work for a Federal Agency that has a workflow similar to USCIS. I guarantee this happens with regularity.