Did you ignore sending bonafide marriage evidence?

[pushbrk 12,877]

The current I-130 instructions encourage petitioners to include documentation not previously requested on the old form. See below.

NOTE: In addition to the required documentation listed in1) through 4) above, you should submit one or more of thefollowing types of documentation that may evidence thatbona fides of your marriage:

1) Documentation showing joint ownership or property; or

2) A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence; or

3) Documentation showing co-mingling of financial resources; or

4) Birth certificate(s) of child(ren) born to you, the petitioner, and your spouse together; or

5) Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital relationship (Each affidavit must contain the full name and address, date and place of birth of the person making the affidavit, his or her relationship to the petitioner of beneficiary, if any, and complete information and details explaining how the person acquired his or her knowledge of your marriage); or

6) Any other relevant documentation to establish that there is an ongoing marital union.

We've heard a lot about how people who have never lived together dealt with the above request but I'm curious to hear from people who filed in 2007 using the new form but either didn't see or ignored this request.

Has your I-130 been approved anyway? If not yet and no RFE, no need to answer. If you got an RFE, please let us know.

I'm posting this in the K3 forum as well, for obvious reasons.

[bevray 0]

We had sent in extra proof of our relationship with our I-130 and when my wife entered at the POE in Chicago the very rude immigration officer went thru all of her packet, reading our e-mails and proclaimed the only reason for her file to be so big is that there was a problem or we sent in way too much information that was not needed. Go figure?! Bevray

[lincoln81 0]

I am about to send my I-130 package and starts this process, but this bonafide evidence of marriage thing is really confusing me. My fiance and I are getting married next week. Should we rush and get joint bank accounts? That seems a little unecessary to me. If I just send pictures and maybe receipts of my visits do you think that would qualify?

[pushbrk 12,877]

I am about to send my I-130 package and starts this process, but this bonafide evidence of marriage thing is really confusing me. My fiance and I are getting married next week. Should we rush and get joint bank accounts? That seems a little unecessary to me. If I just send pictures and maybe receipts of my visits do you think that would qualify?

My point in starting this thread was to more reliably answer that question. Let's see what we find out.

[wintime 0]

I read that instruction, and I was going to put the following evidence

- Phone call bills

- Wedding party pictures

But, I asked one of my friends here who have the same case and he applied for his wife in Sept. 2005 and his waif got here by Feb. 2006, and she even had her Green Card by Oct. or Nov. 2006, so in attempt to follow his foot steps, I asked him about the bonafide evidence required by the USCIS for I-130, he told me that he only sent the mirage certificate, and that they are going to ask my wife in the interview for some bonafide, and that his wife just showed them the wedding pictures.

But for what ever reason I feel that I should have sent the evidence, I haven't received any RFE though.

Lets see what others got to say about this

[Urge To Race 2]

Just dusting off this old thread. I saw it when pushbrk initially put it out there, but I did not post to it since my I130 was still pending. My answer would have had little value then, as I could still have been RFE'd, etc.

But now that I am approved here goes, I skipped the evidence requirement altogether and was approved. It was "required" on the version that I submitted per the updated instructions, but I did not have the hard evidence (joint lease, joint property ownership, shared child, utility bills, joint bank account etc). I did not use the affidavits because all our families and friends could attest to was attending a wedding ceremony really. We had not lived together or visited long enough for others to attest to our relationship, so I didn't think they would be of value. I submitted without it and hoped that USCIS would understand newly weds usually won't have such hard evidence yet and that I would not be RFE'd.

Since then, we have opened a joint bank account.

[gwenneh 7]

Many people who filed the I-130 directly in London with the new form received RFE's for the evidence. London specifically tells the petitioner to NOT include anything extra that is not on their checklist and this evidence is not on the checklist - we therefore didn't send it. For some reason, we did not receive an RFE for not including it.

That's probably fairly confusing, but that's the way it went.

[Urge To Race 2]

Of course, the evidence requirement would make sense in cases of DCF, which usually means that the USC is living with his/her spouse aboard.

Many people who filed the I-130 directly in London with the new form received RFE's for the evidence. London specifically tells the petitioner to NOT include anything extra that is not on their checklist and this evidence is not on the checklist - we therefore didn't send it. For some reason, we did not receive an RFE for not including it.

That's probably fairly confusing, but that's the way it went.

[pushbrk 12,877]

Of course, the evidence requirement would make sense in cases of DCF, which usually means that the USC is living with his/her spouse aboard.

Many people who filed the I-130 directly in London with the new form received RFE's for the evidence. London specifically tells the petitioner to NOT include anything extra that is not on their checklist and this evidence is not on the checklist - we therefore didn't send it. For some reason, we did not receive an RFE for not including it.

That's probably fairly confusing, but that's the way it went.

Remember the I-130 is also used by those marrying in the US and simply filing for AOS. No visa.

So far we've only seen RFE's for this evidence for DCF cases and only in London.

[John and Nora 0]

Please consider reading the FAQ's and Guides before posting.

[N360 0]

The current I-130 instructions encourage petitioners to include documentation not previously requested on the old form. See below.

NOTE: In addition to the required documentation listed in1) through 4) above, you should submit one or more of thefollowing types of documentation that may evidence thatbona fides of your marriage:

1) Documentation showing joint ownership or property; or

2) A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence; or

3) Documentation showing co-mingling of financial resources; or

4) Birth certificate(s) of child(ren) born to you, the petitioner, and your spouse together; or

5) Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital relationship (Each affidavit must contain the full name and address, date and place of birth of the person making the affidavit, his or her relationship to the petitioner of beneficiary, if any, and complete information and details explaining how the person acquired his or her knowledge of your marriage); or

6) Any other relevant documentation to establish that there is an ongoing marital union.

We've heard a lot about how people who have never lived together dealt with the above request but I'm curious to hear from people who filed in 2007 using the new form but either didn't see or ignored this request.

Has your I-130 been approved anyway? If not yet and no RFE, no need to answer. If you got an RFE, please let us know.

I'm posting this in the K3 forum as well, for obvious reasons.

I had sent a bank letter certifying our joint account. I also included notarized affidavits from US citizens that attended my wedding in the Philippines.

I have not been approved yet.

[ninjarocket 1]

Since there in no way that any of us can no what USCIS might consider as acceptable evidence for a bonafide marriage, I sent as much as possible: photographs (including wedding), bank statements over last 6 months showing regular wire transfers, phone bills, copies of email in and out boxes, copies of my air ticket stubbs and itineries going back and forth between the US and the Philippines multiple times. I even signed a joint tenancy agreement with my wife in the Philippines, which then serves as the address for all her USCIS correspondence. I was worried because we had no snail mail correspondence which would provide hard evidence of dated postage. I was further worried because all of our initial emails were via some internet dating website which I was horrified to find had been deleted without my consent. The initial contact might be considered as crucial evidence.

[Urge To Race 2]

Huh?

Please consider reading the FAQ's and Guides before posting.

[gwenneh 7]

Please consider reading the FAQ's and Guides before posting.

Please consider reading the thread before posting.

[C and J 1]

Our petition was submitted with only a marriage certificate as proof of our marriage/relationship. We were advised on what to include by a local diocese and it may be that they were not aware that we should include more. We were approved on the 25th October with no RFE.

Maybe they will become more strict on this point when they are less backlogged.