Financial Evidence Questions for i751

[deltaforce628 6]

Hey all,

 

First time posting here, great to meet everyone. Been lurking for awhile and finally made the decision not to pay $4K for an immigration lawyer for the i-751. 

 

My wife and I have a fairly straightforward case, married in 2019. In terms of financial comingling evidence we have:

• Co-own properties with both our names on the deeds and share mortgages
• 1 Joint bank account dating back to when we married
• Shared insurances and utility bills in either's name (not both)
• IRS tax transcripts
• 401k with the either as beneficiary

 

A couple of questions for everyone here:

1. While our joint bank account go back to 2019, the majority of the transactions are paycheck deposits and then credit card payments for our personal credit cards, so a statement is like 10 lines at most, inclusive of mortgage payments. The way our finances work is we both have personal credit cards (we do not share credit cards) where most of the transactions occur. Then we payoff our credit cards with our joint bank account.
   • Do I need to attach our respective personal credit card statements (quarterly) and show more the day-to-day transactions? Or should we only attach our joint bank account with both our names? Our financial arrangement feels pretty normal - just concerned there's not enough transactions. 
   • We plan on attaching all monthly bank statements of our joint account - any concerns?
2. We were married in 2019 at a courthouse but didn't have our reception until this year due to covid-19. What's the best way to show our arduous journey? I was considering attaching all the contract revisions, emails etc particularly with our vendors (i.e. photography) but was curious to get everyone's thoughts. Don't want to unnecessarily waste paper.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

[Mike E 11,739]

You are paying $4000 for a lawyer   What does your lawyer. 
 

fwiw, our lawyer did not ask us for credit card statements.  
 

Inrhink sone photos from your reception are good to include and if any receipts show both names, and your address, include those too. 

[deltaforce628 6]

14 minutes ago, Mike E said:

You are paying $4000 for a lawyer   What does your lawyer. 
 

fwiw, our lawyer did not ask us for credit card statements.  
 

Inrhink sone photos from your reception are good to include and if any receipts show both names, and your address, include those too. 

I explicitly said I'm not paying a lawyer  Thanks for intel though

Edited November 20, 2022 by deltaforce628

[Rocio0010 5,579]

41 minutes ago, deltaforce628 said:

Do I need to attach our respective personal credit card statements (quarterly) and show more the day-to-day transactions?

I wouldn’t, since your credit cards are personal. What I would do is to submit bank statements and include a short note saying that you have only paychecks and credit card transactions coming from that account. Sign it (both of you) and that’s it. 

 

43 minutes ago, deltaforce628 said:

We plan on attaching all monthly bank statements of our joint account - any concerns?

No concerns. Just make sure you include all pages. 

 

44 minutes ago, deltaforce628 said:

1. We were married in 2019 at a courthouse but didn't have our reception until this year due to covid-19. What's the best way to show our arduous journey? I was considering attaching all the contract revisions, emails etc particularly with our vendors (i.e. photography) but was curious to get everyone's thoughts. Don't want to unnecessarily waste paper.

 

I would include pictures of the reception and contracts/ receipts through your vendors showing both your names. I think the emails are irrelevant. Together with that, I would add every day pics.

[deltaforce628 6]

15 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

I wouldn’t, since your credit cards are personal. What I would do is to submit bank statements and include a short note saying that you have only paychecks and credit card transactions coming from that account. Sign it (both of you) and that’s it. 

 

No concerns. Just make sure you include all pages. 

 

I would include pictures of the reception and contracts/ receipts through your vendors showing both your names. I think the emails are irrelevant. Together with that, I would add every day pics.

No staples on multiple bank statements pages right? Did you use paper clips? Or just loose leaf 

Edited November 20, 2022 by deltaforce628

[Rocio0010 5,579]

3 minutes ago, deltaforce628 said:

No staples on multiple bank statements pages right? Did you use paper clips? Or just loose leaf 

As per USCIS instructions, no staples at all in the package. Double punch hole at the top, then all held together with a 3 inch Acco binder clip. 

[deltaforce628 6]

Thanks @Rocio0010 

 

A separate question I had for you is,. while we were married in summer 2019, my wife wasn't on my property deed until early 2020. We didn't really share our utilities until then. Obviously over the last 2+ (almost 3) years we have been staying together. You think those initial few months are going to be an issue/do I need to write an explanation? 

 

I'm just doing all I can to be comprehensive

Edited November 20, 2022 by deltaforce628

[Rocio0010 5,579]

8 minutes ago, deltaforce628 said:

Thanks @Rocio0010 

 

A separate question I had for you is,. while we were married in summer 2019, my wife wasn't on my property deed until early 2020. We didn't really share our utilities until then. Obviously over the last 2+ (almost 3) years we have been staying together. You think those initial few months are going to be an issue/do I need to write an explanation? 

 

I'm just doing all I can to be comprehensive

I don’t think it’ll be an issue. I’d assume plenty of couples are in that situation where the USC bought the property before they were married. I wouldn’t lose sleep over this, but I would include a short explanation in the cover letter for the sake of clarity and peace of mind. Does that make sense?

[deltaforce628 6]

24 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

I don’t think it’ll be an issue. I’d assume plenty of couples are in that situation where the USC bought the property before they were married. I wouldn’t lose sleep over this, but I would include a short explanation in the cover letter for the sake of clarity and peace of mind. Does that make sense?

Yeah ...frankly I could even show my deed in 2018 (which only has my name on it) and then afterwards I added her name after marriage. Thoughts?

 

One more for you - was your financial evidence spanning the entirety of your marriage or just from date you received your conditional green card? It seems there are differing opinions on this. For me personally, I got married in 2019, got my conditional in 2021, which expires in 2023. It would certainly be less paper to do 2021 - 2023...but I'm not sure.

 

Thanks for all your advice.

Edited November 20, 2022 by deltaforce628

[Rocio0010 5,579]

2 minutes ago, deltaforce628 said:

Thoughts

I wouldn’t do this. Why would you show a deed just on your name from before the green card?

 

4 minutes ago, deltaforce628 said:

entirety of your marriage

Entirety of the marriage. We got married May 2019, applied Oct 2019 and got approved in April 2020. So for my initial green card I think I had 3 statements and one lease. I included those for the 751 and added all the way up to the present (leases, mortgage, bank statement, etc)

[OldUser 6,636]

32 minutes ago, deltaforce628 said:

One more for you - was your financial evidence spanning the entirety of your marriage or just from date you received your conditional green card? It seems there are differing opinions on this. For me personally, I got married in 2019, got my conditional in 2021, which expires in 2023. It would certainly be less paper to do 2021 - 2023...but I'm not sure.

RFE / denial / delays usually end up costing more than extra paper to be sent. I-751 instructions say:

 

"Submit copies of documents indicating that the marriage upon which you were granted 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"

 

I think it's pretty clear that USCIS want as much as possible from the start of marriage to present day. Yet every now and again people ask whether they can send samples of evidence / sending only new evidence / sending evidence only from the start of conditional residence.

 

Yes, it's possible to get approved with these scenarios. But it's also possible (subjectively, much more likely) to get RFE which would delay the case.

 

Good luck with your submission @deltaforce628

Edited November 20, 2022 by OldUser

[Bob in Boston 701]

1 hour ago, deltaforce628 said:

A separate question I had for you is,. while we were married in summer 2019, my wife wasn't on my property deed until early 2020. We didn't really share our utilities until then. Obviously over the last 2+ (almost 3) years we have been staying together. You think those initial few months are going to be an issue/do I need to write an explanation? 

No explenation needed.. I didnt do a new deed untill 6 months before ROC, same with the bills. Rome wasnt built in a day, they know that. You did it thats the important thing.

[deltaforce628 6]

Thank you both, super helpful!

[deltaforce628 6]

What's the best way in your guys' opinion to show beneficiary information? A print out of the beneficiary page of an investing account (i.e. 401k) and then a summary of the 401k? I don't need to print out every statement for that particular 401k right?

[Bob in Boston 701]

1 hour ago, deltaforce628 said:

What's the best way in your guys' opinion to show beneficiary information? A print out of the beneficiary page of an investing account (i.e. 401k) and then a summary of the 401k? I don't need to print out every statement for that particular 401k right?

Correct, one is enough