Married 15 years filing I-130 for Canadian spouse

[kitkat85 1]

Hi all. I'm the US citizen and am filing for my Canadian husband. I have two kids ages 10 and 8 that I will be filing CBRAs for in Toronto consulate for, so I assume I am only filing one I-130 for the husband. 
I'm including photo collages of us and the kids for the past 15 years, our recent CC statements, recent health/car insurance papers, sale of our joint property, and some pdf airline receipts for trips we took in 2015 and 2018 (we travel a lot but its mostly car trips and cheap vacations like camping or visiting friends). Obviously also included birth certificates for our children.

 

- I don't want to send too little but also don't want to send too much. Does what I have sound sufficient? 

- Should I send evidence for co-mingling for finances/leases for the past 15 years or is recent ok?

- CBRAs after so many years - will this be an issue?

- We sold our house of 10 years a few months ago while waiting for our new house to be finished in spring 2022 - currently living with his parents so no official lease but should I include this information under "extra evidence" via a letter? We didn't think we'd want to immigrate to the US so soon when we decided to build this place but life circumstances changed. 

 

Thank you so much in advance. I really appreciate it!

[Idlewild 26]

While not quite the same situation, I've been married 10+ years to a Canadian spouse.  I haven't received my I-130 approval yet, but:

1. I made a PDF of about 10 pictures stretching back from the time we met up through present day (at least at the time of submission almost 1 year ago! 😬)
2. Included joint bills a few years old and present.
3. Property tax bills a few years old and present.
4. Mortgage payments a few years old and present.

I'm not an attorney or immigration consultant, but I don't think you need to add a book's worth of details.  The agents don't want to deal with that, but they need to have enough of a feel to prove the relationship is real.  You're thinking practically, and all the evidence you've mentioned I would argue is enough.  Provide enough details that you could prove to the average person that the relationship is legit, but not so much it's a pain to sift through.

 

Good luck.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Idlewild

[pushbrk 12,893]

2 hours ago, kitkat85 said:

Hi all. I'm the US citizen and am filing for my Canadian husband. I have two kids ages 10 and 8 that I will be filing CBRAs for in Toronto consulate for, so I assume I am only filing one I-130 for the husband. 
I'm including photo collages of us and the kids for the past 15 years, our recent CC statements, recent health/car insurance papers, sale of our joint property, and some pdf airline receipts for trips we took in 2015 and 2018 (we travel a lot but its mostly car trips and cheap vacations like camping or visiting friends). Obviously also included birth certificates for our children.

 

- I don't want to send too little but also don't want to send too much. Does what I have sound sufficient? 

- Should I send evidence for co-mingling for finances/leases for the past 15 years or is recent ok?

- CBRAs after so many years - will this be an issue?

- We sold our house of 10 years a few months ago while waiting for our new house to be finished in spring 2022 - currently living with his parents so no official lease but should I include this information under "extra evidence" via a letter? We didn't think we'd want to immigrate to the US so soon when we decided to build this place but life circumstances changed. 

 

Thank you so much in advance. I really appreciate it!

You've got far more than you need.  You've lived together 15 years and have birth certificates for two children.

 

Those two birth certificates and your address history living together is really sufficient with nothing more.  I....WOULD.....include the house sale papers but not so much as evidence of bona fide marriage, as to show real intent to re-establish US Domicile.  Domicile is a bigger issue than relationship evidence coming from Canada, particularly since you've been together so long and have two children.

[kitkat85 1]

3 hours ago, pushbrk said:

You've got far more than you need.  You've lived together 15 years and have birth certificates for two children.

 

Those two birth certificates and your address history living together is really sufficient with nothing more.  I....WOULD.....include the house sale papers but not so much as evidence of bona fide marriage, as to show real intent to re-establish US Domicile.  Domicile is a bigger issue than relationship evidence coming from Canada, particularly since you've been together so long and have two children.

 

@pushbrk Thank you for bringing up domicile, I know that's in the second phase but good to think about now. We'll be staying with my parents (my dad will also be my co-sponsor) after coming to the US together so we can check out schools and houses more easily. 

Should we include that we are currently living with my in-laws in Canada (no lease) as extra information in a letter or is just putting the address where we are at sufficient right now? 

[pushbrk 12,893]

45 minutes ago, kitkat85 said:

 

@pushbrk Thank you for bringing up domicile, I know that's in the second phase but good to think about now. We'll be staying with my parents (my dad will also be my co-sponsor) after coming to the US together so we can check out schools and houses more easily. 

Should we include that we are currently living with my in-laws in Canada (no lease) as extra information in a letter or is just putting the address where we are at sufficient right now? 

No need to mention living with inlaws at this stage.  You can always go ahead of the interview and check out schools and houses.  Evidence of doing so is helpful for the domicile question.