Table of Contents For I-130, About to Send It In!

[thinpea 32]

My husband is getting ready to send in our I-130 package and before he does I wanted to post on here with a little table of contents to see if there’s anything we are missing/should omit?

 

 

• I-130 Application Payment via Check (1 page)
• Form G-1145: e-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance (1 page)
• Cover Letter (1 page)
• Form I-130: Petition for Alien Relative (12 pages)
• Form I-130A: Supplemental Information about Beneficiary (6 pages)
• Petitioner Proof of US Citizenship (10 pages)
  • Copy of All Pages of US Passport
  • Copy of US Birth Certificate
• Copy of Original Marriage Certificate (1 page)
• Two Passport Style Photos of Petitioner
• Proof of Bonafide Marriage
  • Photographs Throughout the Years 2014-2022 (34 pages)
  • Love Letters/Letters From Family (11 pages)
  • Flights (Boarding Passes, Passport Stamps, Receipts, Email Confirmations) (26 pages)
    • In here we also included a letter explaining why my husband fly’s into Detroit instead of Canada (I live near the border of Detroit so it is easier and cheaper for us to fly to/from Detroit and cross the land border into Canada). The letter also explains the lack of our passport stamps since the land border patrol officers rarely stamped our passports at the land border.
  • Hotel Booking Confirmations,  Airbnb Receipts, and Rental Car Reservations (11 pages)
  • Gift Order Confirmations and Receipts (11 pages)
  • Documents Regarding Our Attendance at University Together (12 pages)
    • In this section is just documents showing my husbands approval for his Canadian student visa and other documents showing we attended university together in Canada for 2 years
  • Statements Showing Money Transfers Between Each Other Through E-Transfer and PayPal (2 pages)
  • Documentation of Joint Finances (3 pages)
    • So this section is tricky because we have just recently added each other to our bank accounts so in this section we included proof that we are on each others bank accounts and a letter about the lack of financial statements due to the fact that we just recently added eachother (not sure if I should just omit this part of the application because we don’t have statements to submit)
    • Also shows proof of me on his family's phone plan 
    • We do not have much “financial commingling” so I am worried about this part of the application
  • Letter Regarding our Elopement and Supporting Documents (6 pages)
    • This section includes a letter on why we chose to elope with only witnesses present 
• Thank You Letter (1 page)

 

Should we be including text logs/FaceTime logs/affidavits of support or anything else? Is there anything we should do about the joint finances part of the application? 

 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Edited March 22, 2022 by thinpea

[Rocio0010 5,579]

1 hour ago, thinpea said:

My husband is getting ready to send in our I-130 package and before he does I wanted to post on here with a little table of contents to see if there’s anything we are missing/should omit?

 

 

• I-130 Application Payment via Check (1 page)
• Form G-1145: e-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance (1 page)
• Cover Letter (1 page)
• Form I-130: Petition for Alien Relative (12 pages)
• Form I-130A: Supplemental Information about Beneficiary (6 pages)
• Petitioner Proof of US Citizenship (10 pages)
  • Copy of All Pages of US Passport
  • Copy of US Birth Certificate either or. I mean, you can send both, but the bc by itself is proof.
• Copy of Original Marriage Certificate (1 page)
• Two Passport Style Photos of Petitioner
• Proof of Bonafide Marriage
  • Photographs Throughout the Years 2014-2022 (34 pages) way to many pages! One or two per year is fine 
  • Love Letters/Letters From Family (11 pages)unnecessary 
  • Flights (Boarding Passes, Passport Stamps, Receipts, Email Confirmations) (26 pages)
    • In here we also included a letter explaining why my husband fly’s into Detroit instead of Canada (I live near the border of Detroit so it is easier and cheaper for us to fly to/from Detroit and cross the land border into Canada). The letter also explains the lack of our passport stamps since the land border patrol officers rarely stamped our passports at the land border.
  • Hotel Booking Confirmations,  Airbnb Receipts, and Rental Car Reservations (11 pages) way too many, I world cut down on car reservations 
  • Gift Order Confirmations and Receipts (11 pages) unnecessary 
  • Documents Regarding Our Attendance at University Together (12 pages)
    • In this section is just documents showing my husbands approval for his Canadian student visa and other documents showing we attended university together in Canada for 2 years
  • Statements Showing Money Transfers Between Each Other Through E-Transfer and PayPal (2 pages)
  • Documentation of Joint Finances (3 pages)
    • So this section is tricky because we have just recently added each other to our bank accounts so in this section we included proof that we are on each others bank accounts and a letter about the lack of financial statements due to the fact that we just recently added eachother (not sure if I should just omit this part of the application because we don’t have statements to submit)
    • Also shows proof of me on his family's phone plan 
    • We do not have much “financial commingling” so I am worried about this part of the application financial commingling  Is not required for a CR1
  • Letter Regarding our Elopement and Supporting Documents (6 pages)
    • This section includes a letter on why we chose to elope with only witnesses present 
• Thank You Letter (1 page) not necessary 

 

Should we be including text logs/FaceTime logs/affidavits of support or anything else? You can, but don’t include 50 pages. Just 5/6 per year. Ideally with a time stamp. Is there anything we should do about the joint finances part of the application?  Financial comingling is not a requirement for a CR1

 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[Family 3,988]

Your relationship is super documented , no worries there. Since you went to the trouble of adding each other the bank accounts, you can add whatever the bank gave you or a screenshot of online account ownership…but not required  . Most consular spouse case ARE not able to join accounts so do not worry.
A lengthy explanation of why you eloped is not required , you have the right to marry how you chose, so your choice. 
 

I DID NOT see a copy of the Beneficiaries Birth Certificate, and that is required. Include you passport copy

You are good to go!  

[iwannaplay54 985]

1 hour ago, thinpea said:

My husband is getting ready to send in our I-130 package and before he does I wanted to post on here with a little table of contents to see if there’s anything we are missing/should omit?

 

 

• I-130 Application Payment via Check (1 page)  Good
• Form G-1145: e-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance (1 page) Good
• Cover Letter (1 page) Good
• Form I-130: Petition for Alien Relative (12 pages) Good
• Form I-130A: Supplemental Information about Beneficiary (6 pages) Good
• Petitioner Proof of US Citizenship (10 pages)
  • Copy of All Pages of US Passport - 9 more than needed.  Just the ID page
  • Copy of US Birth Certificate - OK but not needed
• Copy of Original Marriage Certificate (1 page) Good
• Two Passport Style Photos of Petitioner Good
• Proof of Bonafide Marriage
  • Photographs Throughout the Years 2014-2022 (34 pages) Not needed
  • Love Letters/Letters From Family (11 pages) Not needed
  • Flights (Boarding Passes, Passport Stamps, Receipts, Email Confirmations) (26 pages)
    • In here we also included a letter explaining why my husband fly’s into Detroit instead of Canada (I live near the border of Detroit so it is easier and cheaper for us to fly to/from Detroit and cross the land border into Canada). The letter also explains the lack of our passport stamps since the land border patrol officers rarely stamped our passports at the land border.  Good
  • Hotel Booking Confirmations,  Airbnb Receipts, and Rental Car Reservations (11 pages) Good
  • Gift Order Confirmations and Receipts (11 pages) Not needed
  • Documents Regarding Our Attendance at University Together (12 pages)
    • In this section is just documents showing my husbands approval for his Canadian student visa and other documents showing we attended university together in Canada for 2 years Good
  • Statements Showing Money Transfers Between Each Other Through E-Transfer and PayPal (2 pages) Not needed
  • Documentation of Joint Finances (3 pages)
    • So this section is tricky because we have just recently added each other to our bank accounts so in this section we included proof that we are on each others bank accounts and a letter about the lack of financial statements due to the fact that we just recently added eachother (not sure if I should just omit this part of the application because we don’t have statements to submit) Not needed
    • Also shows proof of me on his family's phone plan Not needed
    • We do not have much “financial commingling” so I am worried about this part of the application Not needed
  • Letter Regarding our Elopement and Supporting Documents (6 pages)
    • This section includes a letter on why we chose to elope with only witnesses present Not needed
• Thank You Letter (1 page) Nice but you paid them Not Needed

 

Should we be including text logs/FaceTime logs/affidavits of support or anything else? Is there anything we should do about the joint finances part of the application?  Not needed

 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

My feedback

[iwannaplay54 985]

We saved you like fifty bucks shipping this huge package.  I drink Corona Lite

[Redro 4,611]

3 hours ago, thinpea said:

My husband is getting ready to send in our I-130 package and before he does I wanted to post on here with a little table of contents to see if there’s anything we are missing/should omit?

 

 

• I-130 Application Payment via Check (1 page) -good
• Form G-1145: e-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance (1 page) -good
• Cover Letter (1 page) -good
• Form I-130: Petition for Alien Relative (12 pages) -good
• Form I-130A: Supplemental Information about Beneficiary (6 pages)-good
• Petitioner Proof of US Citizenship (10 pages) -Only need bio page of passport OR US BC not both. 
  • Copy of All Pages of US Passport
  • Copy of US Birth Certificate
• Copy of Original Marriage Certificate (1 page) -good
• Two Passport Style Photos of Petitioner -good
• Proof of Bonafide Marriage
  • Photographs Throughout the Years 2014-2022 (34 pages)- I would cut this down to 1-2 photos per year. Eliminate selfies. Prioritize photos with family and/or friends. One or two wedding photos. Photos that show you close to or near landmarks/tourist attractions. 
  • Love Letters/Letters From Family (11 pages) -not necessary
  • -Flights (Boarding Passes, Passport Stamps, Receipts, Email Confirmations) (26 pages)
    • In here we also included a letter explaining why my husband fly’s into Detroit instead of Canada (I live near the border of Detroit so it is easier and cheaper for us to fly to/from Detroit and cross the land border into Canada). The letter also explains the lack of our passport stamps since the land border patrol officers rarely stamped our passports at the land border.
  • Hotel Booking Confirmations,  Airbnb Receipts, and Rental Car Reservations (11 pages) - -Try to cut down the 37 pages showing travel down to 10 or so. See if you're able to put the information of one trip onto 1 or 2 pages. I would only include boarding passes and passport stamps for flights and omit receipts and email confirmations. Then include AirBnB bookings and omit Car reservations. You can look up your visiting history to the US here (https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home) and there should be a similar website for Canada so your husband can see if his visits were recorded. 
  •  
  • Gift Order Confirmations and Receipts (11 pages) - not necessary 
  • Documents Regarding Our Attendance at University Together (12 pages)
    • In this section is just documents showing my husbands approval for his Canadian student visa and other documents showing we attended university together in Canada for 2 years -I would try to cut this down to 3-5 pages. Proof of student visa. Proof you were registered at the same time. 
  • Statements Showing Money Transfers Between Each Other Through E-Transfer and PayPal (2 pages)- not necessary
  • Documentation of Joint Finances (3 pages)
    • So this section is tricky because we have just recently added each other to our bank accounts so in this section we included proof that we are on each others bank accounts and a letter about the lack of financial statements due to the fact that we just recently added eachother (not sure if I should just omit this part of the application because we don’t have statements to submit)
    • Also shows proof of me on his family's phone plan 
    • We do not have much “financial commingling” so I am worried about this part of the application -not necessary as you do not live together (we were just approved and did not include any evidence of financial commingling). 
  • Letter Regarding our Elopement and Supporting Documents (6 pages)
    • This section includes a letter on why we chose to elope with only witnesses present -not necessary. We were approved without explaining our very small wedding. 
• Thank You Letter (1 page) -not necessary

 

Should we be including text logs/FaceTime logs/affidavits of support or anything else?

Is there anything we should do about the joint finances part of the application?  -Canada is not a high fraud country. Evidence of studying together, frequent visits should suffice as additional bonafide evidence. 

 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

It makes sense that you have a lot of evidence because you've been together for so long. But, it is not necessary to include so many documents. 

 

1 hour ago, Family said:

Your relationship is super documented , no worries there. Since you went to the trouble of adding each other the bank accounts, you can add whatever the bank gave you or a screenshot of online account ownership…but not required  . Most consular spouse case ARE not able to join accounts so do not worry.
A lengthy explanation of why you eloped is not required , you have the right to marry how you chose, so your choice. 
 

I DID NOT see a copy of the Beneficiaries Birth Certificate, and that is required. Include you passport copy

You are good to go!  

Not required when submitting I-130 and I-130A. That is only needed after petition is approved at NVC stage. 

[thinpea 32]

13 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

 

Thank you so much for responding and giving your advice! I know my post was long so I appreciate you taking your time to help me out, will definitely take into consideration everything you said!! 

[thinpea 32]

13 hours ago, Family said:

Your relationship is super documented , no worries there. Since you went to the trouble of adding each other the bank accounts, you can add whatever the bank gave you or a screenshot of online account ownership…but not required  . Most consular spouse case ARE not able to join accounts so do not worry.
A lengthy explanation of why you eloped is not required , you have the right to marry how you chose, so your choice. 
 

I DID NOT see a copy of the Beneficiaries Birth Certificate, and that is required. Include you passport copy

You are good to go!  

Thank you for your response!! The actual explanation about the elopement was one page explaining why family wasn't there and why we chose to do it that way. The other pages included emails between us and the marriage officiant and the email of us sending in the application for the marriage license. I wanted to include these just to show how everything happened in a matter of two days and my family wouldn't  have made it in time. I guess I don't really need to send these things in I was just worried they would be suspicious because we eloped without family lol. Also, I couldn't find anywhere that stated I needed to include my birth certificate?? Thank you again!!

[thinpea 32]

13 hours ago, iwannaplay54 said:

We saved you like fifty bucks shipping this huge package.  I drink Corona Lite

Hahaha! Thank you for your help, I honestly appreciate it so much. For some reason I am just so reluctant to remove anything that included because I am so nervous about the USCIS officers requesting more evidence and delaying the process. I know we should cut down the amount of evidence provided but it is so hard!! Especially considering the evidence spans 8 years

[thinpea 32]

12 hours ago, Kor2USA said:

It makes sense that you have a lot of evidence because you've been together for so long. But, it is not necessary to include so many documents. 

 

Not required when submitting I-130 and I-130A. That is only needed after petition is approved at NVC stage. 

Okay so we actually considered including my I-94 entry and exit data into the US. However a lot of the entries show me entering into Detroit (explained in my post) and not New York (where my husband lives) but the flights always show me flying from Detroit into New York and that was why I didn't include it. Do you think I should cut down on the flight stuff and include the I-94? Also, do you know how we can obtain my husbands entry and exit info into Canada? We looked but weren't completely sure we were applying to access the correct information?? 

 

Also, thank you so much for you advice! Going to try to cut everything down, it's just so hard because of how long we've been together! 

[Redro 4,611]

1 minute ago, thinpea said:

Okay so we actually considered including my I-94 entry and exit data into the US. However a lot of the entries show me entering into Detroit (explained in my post) and not New York (where my husband lives) but the flights always show me flying from Detroit into New York and that was why I didn't include it. Do you think I should cut down on the flight stuff and include the I-94? Also, do you know how we can obtain my husbands entry and exit info into Canada? We looked but weren't completely sure we were applying to access the correct information?? 

 

Also, thank you so much for you advice! Going to try to cut everything down, it's just so hard because of how long we've been together! 

I'm sending you a PM. 

[Rocio0010 5,579]

13 hours ago, iwannaplay54 said:

We saved you like fifty bucks shipping this huge package.  I drink Corona Lite

Well, I like regular Corona with limes. Ship them to Columbus 

[mytruelove18 608]

On 3/22/2022 at 4:38 PM, thinpea said:

My husband is getting ready to send in our I-130 package and before he does I wanted to post on here with a little table of contents to see if there’s anything we are missing/should omit?

 

 

• I-130 Application Payment via Check (1 page)
• Form G-1145: e-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance (1 page)
• Cover Letter (1 page)
• Form I-130: Petition for Alien Relative (12 pages)
• Form I-130A: Supplemental Information about Beneficiary (6 pages)
• Petitioner Proof of US Citizenship (10 pages)
  • Copy of All Pages of US Passport
  • Copy of US Birth Certificate
• Copy of Original Marriage Certificate (1 page)
• Two Passport Style Photos of Petitioner
• Proof of Bonafide Marriage
  • Photographs Throughout the Years 2014-2022 (34 pages)
  • Love Letters/Letters From Family (11 pages)
  • Flights (Boarding Passes, Passport Stamps, Receipts, Email Confirmations) (26 pages)
    • In here we also included a letter explaining why my husband fly’s into Detroit instead of Canada (I live near the border of Detroit so it is easier and cheaper for us to fly to/from Detroit and cross the land border into Canada). The letter also explains the lack of our passport stamps since the land border patrol officers rarely stamped our passports at the land border.
  • Hotel Booking Confirmations,  Airbnb Receipts, and Rental Car Reservations (11 pages)
  • Gift Order Confirmations and Receipts (11 pages)
  • Documents Regarding Our Attendance at University Together (12 pages)
    • In this section is just documents showing my husbands approval for his Canadian student visa and other documents showing we attended university together in Canada for 2 years
  • Statements Showing Money Transfers Between Each Other Through E-Transfer and PayPal (2 pages)
  • Documentation of Joint Finances (3 pages)
    • So this section is tricky because we have just recently added each other to our bank accounts so in this section we included proof that we are on each others bank accounts and a letter about the lack of financial statements due to the fact that we just recently added eachother (not sure if I should just omit this part of the application because we don’t have statements to submit)
    • Also shows proof of me on his family's phone plan 
    • We do not have much “financial commingling” so I am worried about this part of the application
  • Letter Regarding our Elopement and Supporting Documents (6 pages)
    • This section includes a letter on why we chose to elope with only witnesses present 
• Thank You Letter (1 page)

 

Should we be including text logs/FaceTime logs/affidavits of support or anything else? Is there anything we should do about the joint finances part of the application? 

 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Why no file online?
you get receipt same day and it is easy fill out online 

[powerpuff 6,700]

~ Topic moved from IR1/CR1 Progress Reports to Process & Procedures ~

[Chancy 6,241]

*** Removed unanswered related thread. Please post your related questions in this thread to keep the discussion in one place. ***

 

On 3/11/2022 at 3:16 PM, thinpea said:

Hello!

 

My husband is filing the I-130 and we have been working on the contents together for awhile now. I have a few questions in regards to how much information is required and what information is required 

 

1. When it comes to text messages/facetime logs, we have been together since 2014 so I don't want to include too much. What would be a reasonable amount for these things? Also, I'm not sure I can access my texts messages/facetime logs from that long ago so will it be an issue if it's only from the past 4 years (that's the oldest screenshot I could find) 

 

2. Since as of now we do not have a joint bank account, should I include paypal transfers between the two of us? 

 

3. We have been flying back and forth to see eachother for 7 years now. I do not have all my emails from the beginning so I am unable to find a lot of the flights from the earlier visits. Is there anyway to access these old flights? Will it be okay if the flights provided are more recent (past 4 years)? 

 

4. Unrelated question: should the beneficiary's passport be included? I changed my last name to my married name but have yet to change it on my passport so I'm worried if I file the I-130 in my married name but include copies of my passport in my maiden name it will cause an issue. (If its needed and it will cause an issue I am able to change my name on my passport it will just delay the submission of the I-130)