What went wrong? Not enough info. sent I-751

[S&A 0]

Hi everyone,

Quick story. My wife is Japanese. We met, lived together for a year in Japan, got married, did a DCF at the consulate and came to the US.

I was meticulous with the first application, but I guess I slipped up with preparing her I-751.

We submitted in March with a brief cover letter:

joint lease

pictures from our wedding, our honeymoon, a trip to Japan

joint bank account statement

joint tax returns for 2004 and 2005.

It's not much, but I really thought it would be enough, that it covered enough of the bases.

Just a few days ago we received a request for evidence.

I didn't really feel like asking anyone for affidavits, but now I'll send them in. Because of our rather hermetic nature though, we don't exactly have tons of people to ask.

One of them has a green card herself.

I'm struggling as to what else to send though.

Thinking about the last two or so years here, there are so many complicating details.

For example, we stayed at a friend's place for a while when we came back from Japan--no lease.

The second place, my wife was temping and I had bad credit, so I only put my name on the lease. We barely got the apartment as it was.

And all the utilities were in my name.

Our third place (I now have great credit and my wife has a full-time job) is joint.

No children. No mortgage. Our health insurance is a bit complicated and I won't bore anyone with the story. Suffice to say we have separate insurance.

I feel like consulting tea leaves or the like. My plan so far is to send what I can, primarily affidavits, a longer more explanatory cover letter, our renewed lease, some more pictures and itinerary of a recent trip with my wife and father-in-law, and...I don't know what else at this point. Every time I see a good thing to submit on these boards or the Web, I realize we don't have it or there's a problem with it.

I'm hoping that either the above will do the trick or we'll get called in for an interview and it will be obvious that we're not in this for the green card.

Any ideas? Thanks for listening.

Head-scratchingly yours,

Anthony

[Marilyn. 340]

did it say in the RFE what kind of evidence they were looking for??

I would send in some utilities or bills even if they are just in your name and I would send in some bills or something that are just in your wifes name.... it would prove that you are living at the same address...

[Cassie 8]

did it say in the RFE what kind of evidence they were looking for??

I would send in some utilities or bills even if they are just in your name and I would send in some bills or something that are just in your wifes name.... it would prove that you are living at the same address...

that's my question as well. Usually they give an indication of what they are looking for.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

-what about joint driver's licences showing the same address - or a State issued ID card if one of you or both of you don't drive?

-mail addressed to the both of you at the same addresses?

-either of you listing the other as beneficiary for retirement or pension benefits through employment?

-vehicle or renter's insurance listing the both of you?

-cell phones on a family plan with both of you listed?

-your wills listing each other as your heirs?

- veterinary bills listing both of you as owner for a pet?

-his and hers Costco cards showing the same number?

good luck.

[S&A 0]

Thanks for the responses. To answer some questions, the blue Notice of Action didn't have much to say.

It's like we didn't send anything in at all. The first page says the documentation submitted is insufficient. Respond with the evidence requested on the attached page.

Page 2 reads like the original instructions for the I-751.

--additonal documents to demonstrate the circumstances of the relationship from the date of the marriage to the present date.

--birth certificate of children

--lease or mortgate

--financial records

--the famous "other documents"line

--Affidavits

And then it says not to send copies of documents previously submitted.

So I'm guess they just want more of everything. Our landlord has agreed to write an affidavit, so that should help. I have a good friend of my wife and one of my friends to write one too.

As for other documents, I'm planning to send in the IRS tax transcripts for the last three years.

Going through our stuff with both our names on it, we found our guarantee/certificate from the jewelry shop where we bought our wedding rings, complete with commemorative photos of them sitting in the case (places in Japan do this). Should I send that in? It's in Japanese and would have to be translated, but that's not a problem. Talk about random evidence though.

I just wish I know what aspect they wanted to know more about, our finances, our "good faith" togetherness, or evidence to the fact we were always living at the same address. Most likely it's all of the above I guess.

To 'Kathryn41'

-what about joint driver's licences showing the same address - or a State issued ID card if one of you or both of you don't drive?

sadly we never got around to getting my wife her state ID, and mine has an old address.

-mail addressed to the both of you at the same addresses?

This one I'll have to push.

-either of you listing the other as beneficiary for retirement or pension benefits through employment?

She has 401-K with me as her beneficiary, so that should be a nice addition.

-vehicle or renter's insurance listing the both of you?

No car or renter's insurance (another "should have done that")

-cell phones on a family plan with both of you listed?

Family plan, but only under my name

-your wills listing each other as your heirs?

No wills. Wouldn't be rather odd to make one out now. Still, that's an idea.

- veterinary bills listing both of you as owner for a pet?

No pets.

-his and hers Costco cards showing the same number?

No, but I'll have to hunt for something like that.

Thanks for the ideas.

Anthony

[Cassie 8]

Thanks for the responses. To answer some questions, the blue Notice of Action didn't have much to say.

It's like we didn't send anything in at all. The first page says the documentation submitted is insufficient. Respond with the evidence requested on the attached page.

Page 2 reads like the original instructions for the I-751.

--additonal documents to demonstrate the circumstances of the relationship from the date of the marriage to the present date.

--birth certificate of children

--lease or mortgate

--financial records

--the famous "other documents"line

--Affidavits

And then it says not to send copies of documents previously submitted.

So I'm guess they just want more of everything. Our landlord has agreed to write an affidavit, so that should help. I have a good friend of my wife and one of my friends to write one too.

As for other documents, I'm planning to send in the IRS tax transcripts for the last three years.

Going through our stuff with both our names on it, we found our guarantee/certificate from the jewelry shop where we bought our wedding rings, complete with commemorative photos of them sitting in the case (places in Japan do this). Should I send that in? It's in Japanese and would have to be translated, but that's not a problem. Talk about random evidence though.

I just wish I know what aspect they wanted to know more about, our finances, our "good faith" togetherness, or evidence to the fact we were always living at the same address. Most likely it's all of the above I guess.

To 'Kathryn41'

-what about joint driver's licences showing the same address - or a State issued ID card if one of you or both of you don't drive?

sadly we never got around to getting my wife her state ID, and mine has an old address.

-mail addressed to the both of you at the same addresses?

This one I'll have to push.

-either of you listing the other as beneficiary for retirement or pension benefits through employment?

She has 401-K with me as her beneficiary, so that should be a nice addition.

-vehicle or renter's insurance listing the both of you?

No car or renter's insurance (another "should have done that")

-cell phones on a family plan with both of you listed?

Family plan, but only under my name

-your wills listing each other as your heirs?

No wills. Wouldn't be rather odd to make one out now. Still, that's an idea.

- veterinary bills listing both of you as owner for a pet?

No pets.

-his and hers Costco cards showing the same number?

No, but I'll have to hunt for something like that.

Thanks for the ideas.

Anthony

sounds like it to me, and Kathryn has given you some great ideas. I would also look at the pinned topics in this forum, as well as other "evidence thrads for some ideas that might be "out of the box" and help you .

Just FYI, we finally got up off our rears and finished our wills so we could include hem in our packet

I'd also consider submitting some photos of the two of you together, and some affadavit letters from people who know the both of you

Edited July 25, 2007 by Cassie

[Moe_lisa 0]

How about birthday cards, wedding invitations, party inventations, christmas cards, thank you notes, letters from family? Utility bills in your name and if she has some bills in her name only. Shows that both reside at that address. library cards? pictures? home insurance? car insurance? bank statements /savings account if you have an account and she is listed, get a copy of signature card if you have it along with statements. pay stubs from both places where you and if she works, shows same residence address. trying to think of different things for you! hope it helps!

[rwj 0]

Because of our rather hermetic nature though, we don't exactly have tons of people to ask.

For example, we stayed at a friend's place for a while when we came back from Japan--no lease.

Hi Anthony,

You say you stayed with a friend for a while? That's who you should ask to write an affadavit for you. That friend can testify that you lived together in their house as a married couple. What about your parents or other relatives? We used Mike's parents - they wrote us a great letter, even though we've only visited twice since we got married.

Have either of you ever regularly picked the other one up after work or met for lunch from work? Have your boss or co-workers write a letter saying this. Do you grocery shop together? Eat regularly at a certain restaurant together? There are so many people who you might see everyday who could attest to your relationship, that you spend time together and "look like a happy couple" (which seems to be what USCIS is looking for!!)

Personally, I thought your evidence list covered all the bases, but I can only guess they're looking for more than one piece of evidence in each category? I'm guessing they're also looking for a body of evidence that wouldn't be easily faked. You say you included wedding photos, what about photos covering the time period since you were married, especially ones in distinct, far-apart geographical locations (we had one by a tower in Massachusetts, one on the golden gate bridge, and one hiking in the grand canyon) Also those with family and friends.

Theyr'e probably also looking at dates. Did you open your joint bank account right after you were married? Ask the bank for a letter saying when it was opened, and back this up with evidence of checks made out to both of you individually, and in both your names, that were deposited into the same account over the 2 year period.

Hope some of my suggestions help.

All the best,

Rose

[Kajikit 65]

It seems to me that they probably want more recent evidence... your latest tax return instead of 2005 etc. Could you get a letter (affidavit) from people who know you as a couple to say that they've known you for X amount of time and you're happily married? Some recent junk mail addressed to both of you? Do you have matching library cards etc?

You say your wife doesn't have a state ID and yours is out of date - that should be quick and painless to update and it's one more piece of evidence to show that you have the same name and address...