CR1 Financial Commingling and Support Evidence When Living Apart

[Jason and May 79]

Hi all, 

 

My wife and I are starting to get close to our NOA 2 (hopefully), and we are beginning to prepare for the NVC phase and eventual interview, where possible. I've read several threads about evidence of financial commingling and evidence of support, but many of those threads seem to be for married couples who are already living together. My wife and I live apart, as she is still living in the Philippines, and I live in the United States. 

 

So, I've read a few threads where experienced commenters warned against submitting evidence of money transfers without a specific request, as it could potentially look like a "bought" or arranged marriage. I've read others who had an RFE at interview for evidence of financial support. 

 

My wife and I have a 16-year age gap, where I'm 48 and she's 32. So, that's on my mind a bit. We have strong evidence of bonafides, with a trail of how we met, ongoing communication, me visiting her 3 times this past year, pictures with her family, my communication with her family, 2022 tax returns MFJ. This June we will be married for a year, together for nearly 2 years (about 20 months). I don't feel terribly concerned about that. 

 

But I'm a little unsure about what to eventually submit for further evidence of commingling. I did add her to a credit card, which she now has and uses sometimes for food and other things she wants or needs. And, since our marriage, I do send her money regularly every two weeks via MoneyGram, direct to her bank account, for bills, gym membership, and pocket money. We do not have a joint bank account because she does not yet have an ITIN and is not here to sign documents, and I don't have an account in the Philippines. So, I could potentially submit the credit card statements and MoneyGram records (which will correspond to my bank account anyway with my account showing debits from MoneyGram every two weeks). But I also don't want to inadvertently give an appearance of a purchased marriage. 

 

Any thoughts or advice from experienced VJ folks? 

[top_secret 2,332]

Financial commingling is probably not particularly important for you at this point.  Your evidence of your visits, meeting family and communication is probably plenty in the Philippines.  There wouldn't be an expectation that there would be much financial commingling at this point of your marriage. It would be something to think about more seriously after you have been together in the US for a while if she later has to do removal of conditions or naturalizes at three years. 

[Jason and May 79]

5 minutes ago, top_secret said:

Financial commingling is probably not particularly important for you at this point.  Your evidence of your visits, meeting family and communication is probably plenty in the Philippines.  There wouldn't be an expectation that there would be much financial commingling at this point of your marriage. It would be something to think about more seriously after you have been together in the US for a while if she later has to do removal of conditions or naturalizes at three years. 

I appreciate your feedback! That gives me a little peace of mind, and a better idea of timeline for commingling. Thank you.

[top_secret 2,332]

4 minutes ago, Jason and May said:

I appreciate your feedback! That gives me a little peace of mind, and a better idea of timeline for commingling. Thank you.

 looking back at ours, I did include a few token items with our I-130 but literally nothing financial at NVC or the Embassy except our joint tax return with the i864.