URGENT: proposing to girlfriend who is due to leave in a week

[confusedURGENT 1]

20 hours ago, ROK2USA said:

question: does your partner have their original birth certificate with them? Not a copy… I hope you’re aware this is needed for the application. 

Here it says that a copy of the birth certificate is needed, not original, am I missing something?

 

Also, does anyone know how to provide proof of bonafide marriage if we don't have a joint ownership of property/she's not on the lease (maybe I can change that? she wasn't in the country when I started my tenancy here)/no joint bank accounts/no children/ we CAN get affidavits of bonafide marriage by family/friends. We can provide evidence of a relationship but not this typical marriage stuff yet considering we are yet to marry.

[OldUser 6,478]

3 hours ago, confusedURGENT said:

Here it says that a copy of the birth certificate is needed, not original, am I missing something?

 

Copy when filing, original at the interview.

[OldUser 6,478]

3 hours ago, confusedURGENT said:

Also, does anyone know how to provide proof of bonafide marriage if we don't have a joint ownership of property/she's not on the lease (maybe I can change that? she wasn't in the country when I started my tenancy here)/no joint bank accounts/no children/ we CAN get affidavits of bonafide marriage by family/friends. We can provide evidence of a relationship but not this typical marriage stuff yet considering we are yet to marry.

- Affidavits

- Annotated photos (date, location, event, who is on photo) on paper, 2-3 per page

- Tickets showing you visiting her and vice versa 

- Tickets for events you attended

- Marriage certificate

- Docs showing any stuff related to wedding (venue, invitations)

- Emails or messages exchanged between you and her

- Your receipts for the ring you have for proposal or purchase of wedding bands

- Any receipts of gifts or flowers you sent her or her giving you gifts

 

As soon as you marry you must open joint bank accounts and start co-mingling finances. Even if she doesn't have job, still get the money put into the joint account. 

Call utility companies and add her on bills. Add her on your medical insurance.

Get her ID or DL from DMV and have that address match address on your ID, e.g. place where you live.

 

Adding her on the lease can be done today. Just speak to your landlord. That's one of the biggest evidences of you living together you may have.

 

Edited February 23, 2023 by OldUser

[confusedURGENT 1]

Hey so update, we got married, but now the confusion lies in she wants to change her name legally but we're unsure what the process for that is / how to do it, and whether or not we can file our documents before legally changing her name but with the name that she wants instead.

 

What's the best path to change her name legally (her passport will have the wrong name) and make sure if/when she gets her greencard the name on it is her new married name?

[powerpuff 6,604]

41 minutes ago, confusedURGENT said:

Hey so update, we got married, but now the confusion lies in she wants to change her name legally but we're unsure what the process for that is / how to do it, and whether or not we can file our documents before legally changing her name but with the name that she wants instead.

 

What's the best path to change her name legally (her passport will have the wrong name) and make sure if/when she gets her greencard the name on it is her new married name?

Fill out the AOS application and all other forms in her new married name. In the US, the marriage certificate IS the legal name change document. Passport has no bearing on the process, she can travel with passport in maiden name and GC or AP in married name and carry the marriage certificate (been there done that). If she wants to change her name in the passport she will have to contact her country’s consulate. 

[confusedURGENT 1]

1 hour ago, powerpuff said:

Fill out the AOS application and all other forms in her new married name. In the US, the marriage certificate IS the legal name change document. Passport has no bearing on the process, she can travel with passport in maiden name and GC or AP in married name and carry the marriage certificate (been there done that). If she wants to change her name in the passport she will have to contact her country’s consulate. 

Awesome thank you! When you say the marriage certificate is the legal name change document, does her name on the certificate have to be her new name? As it's not, it's her maiden name on there.

[powerpuff 6,604]

3 minutes ago, confusedURGENT said:

Awesome thank you! When you say the marriage certificate is the legal name change document, does her name on the certificate have to be her new name? As it's not, it's her maiden name on there.

Most marriage certificate certificates in the US don’t show married names. Only a handful of states do like New York. 

 

”For those predominate states, your marriage certificate is proof of a name change event, even if it doesn't show your new name.

The act of marriage itself is what allows your name change to take place when your marriage certificate will never show a new name field because of its inherent design.”

 

https://www.marriagenamechange.com/blog/marriage-certificate-missing-married-name/
 

 

[Lil bear 4,149]

4 minutes ago, confusedURGENT said:

Awesome thank you! When you say the marriage certificate is the legal name change document, does her name on the certificate have to be her new name? As it's not, it's her maiden name on there.

Many marriage certificates  list the woman's maiden name only .. the husbands name will be on the certificate also.. this is standard evidence of name change if the woman chooses to use her husbands last name on legal documents 

[Redro 4,611]

On 2/25/2023 at 10:06 PM, confusedURGENT said:

Awesome thank you! When you say the marriage certificate is the legal name change document, does her name on the certificate have to be her new name? As it's not, it's her maiden name on there.

Which state are you in? 
You need to check the rules of the state you live in to confirm what others are saying… 

 

[Sammy_2496 116]

Good luck with your AOS! And enjoy married life together 😃😃

[confusedURGENT 1]

On 2/27/2023 at 10:38 AM, ROK2USA said:

Which state are you in? 
You need to check the rules of the state you live in to confirm what others are saying… 

 

We are filing from Florida

[confusedURGENT 1]

Ok so we are somewhat ready to file, getting all the documents in order (printer issues slowed us down sadly, so will still need to print at a Walgreens or something😕).

 

Will we need to file anything in addition to the I-130(a), I-864, I-485, and I-765 considering we will be filing while she is now here illegally? Something to ask for the overstay forgiveness? Also, I am compiling the evidence, but to go so far back in our messages to get screenshots from there seems like it would take a while, will pictures of our travels together, flight tickets, pictures with family at events, wedding photos, gifts, screencaps from family's social media posts etc be enough without the need for lovey-dovey texts? A lot of (not all) our messaging was also on a platform that is username based so not tied to our names, which seems like it would be pointless evidence.

[confusedURGENT 1]

Also, when including the checks, should they be separated (535+1225) or joint (1760)? And what happens if the I-130 is rejected, will the check for I-485 still be cashed just to be told to re-do (aka, lose the 1225)? Or would they cash the checks consecutively, so only when I-130 is approved cash the I-485.

What typically will make an I-130 be rejected? Aside from triple-checking our information (including inputting my wife's name as her married name rather than her maiden), is there anything else we can do to avoid it being rejected?

 

Thanks a lot for any info!

[Lemonslice 4,797]

5 minutes ago, confusedURGENT said:

Also, when including the checks, should they be separated (535+1225) or joint (1760)? And what happens if the I-130 is rejected, will the check for I-485 still be cashed just to be told to re-do (aka, lose the 1225)? Or would they cash the checks consecutively, so only when I-130 is approved cash the I-485.

What typically will make an I-130 be rejected? Aside from triple-checking our information (including inputting my wife's name as her married name rather than her maiden), is there anything else we can do to avoid it being rejected?

 

Thanks a lot for any info!

Using her maiden name wouldn't cause a rejection.  Plenty of spouses keep their names.

[confusedURGENT 1]

3 minutes ago, Lemonslice said:

Using her maiden name wouldn't cause a rejection.  Plenty of spouses keep their names.

Sorry for the confusion, yes I'm aware, what I meant was I need to remember to put her married name in any fields instead of maiden name, as she wants her married name on any future documentation 😄, really just a rambling comment to myself there so as to not forget to do so

Edited March 4, 2023 by confusedURGENT