Some questions about the ROC PACKAGE (merged)

[OldUser 6,613]

4 hours ago, new68 said:

The complete bank statements for around 24 months might make it very bulky, is that what everyone is doing?

You have to submit full to avoid RFE

[OldUser 6,613]

4 hours ago, new68 said:

The complete bank statements for around 24 months might make it very bulky, is that what everyone is doing?

You have to submit full to avoid RFE.

Some like me submitted full monthly statements from the date of marriage, as asked in instructions for I-751:

 

"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;"

Edited June 20, 2023 by OldUser

[SalishSea 17,807]

5 hours ago, new68 said:

The complete bank statements for around 24 months might make it very bulky, is that what everyone is doing?

No.  Quarterly statements, like Mike said.  This is what we sent.

[SalishSea 17,807]

5 hours ago, new68 said:

So one full statement for every 4 months? So six full statements in total for 2ish years?

A quarter is 3 months.  The evidence should span the entire marriage to date.

[new68 10]

20 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

A quarter is 3 months.  The evidence should span the entire marriage to date.

 

20 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

A quarter is 3 months.  The evidence should span the entire marriage to date.

Some people are suggesting to send all statements from 2021 to 2023. Will quarterly statements be enough? Seems to be some difference of opinion about the appropriate amount. People who got approved for ROC how many did u all send? Thanks everyone for thr responses.

[OldUser 6,613]

22 minutes ago, new68 said:

 

Some people are suggesting to send all statements from 2021 to 2023. Will quarterly statements be enough? Seems to be some difference of opinion about the appropriate amount. People who got approved for ROC how many did u all send? Thanks everyone for thr responses.

People got approved sending quarterly, and got approved sending monthly. People got approved sending statements from start of marriage, and got approved sending from start of conditional GC.

People got RFEs for missing statement pages though. So it's a matter of your choice, just be consistent.

[SalishSea 17,807]

9 hours ago, new68 said:

 

Some people are suggesting to send all statements from 2021 to 2023. Will quarterly statements be enough? Seems to be some difference of opinion about the appropriate amount. People who got approved for ROC how many did u all send? Thanks everyone for thr responses.

We went with minimalism:  quarterly joint bank statements, quarterly joint household bills (all since the beginning of our marriage), joint health and auto insurance, two jointly owned vehicles, designated beneficiaries for retirement and other accounts, and that's about it!  I owned the house prior, so it's only in my name.  We sent no photos.  YMMV.

[beloved_dingo 1,976]

We sent all statements, but quarterly seems to be fine, especially if combined with other strong evidence. The big thing, as others have pointed out, is that you do need to send ALL pages of any statements you send. 

[Mike E 11,739]

12 hours ago, new68 said:

 

Some people are suggesting to send all statements from 2021 to 2023. Will quarterly statements be enough? Seems to be some difference of opinion about the appropriate amount. People who got approved for ROC how many did u all send? Thanks everyone for thr responses.

Each case is different and for some cases:

* monthly statements will not suffice

* zero statements will suffice

 

Most cases are between the two extremes.

 

 Our lawyer recommended quarterly statements for I-485, I-751, and N-400. Each time:

 

* cases had no RFE

* cases were approved faster than the national and local averages

 

And our I-751 interview was waived. 
 

Our I-751 was under 80 pages. Most I-751s are death marches and will take 3-4 years. I suspect in our case, the ISO was having a slow day, and decided to try to approve one I-751 case that day. We had a thin case but not too thin. And the cover letter said we had:

 

• Driver's licenses for Petitioner and her spouse.
• USPS Informed Delivery records showing shared mailing address. (1-2 examples per quarter).
Evidence of relationship - joint insurance, taxes, financial accounts, joint ownership

• life insurance policy listing spouse and Petitioner.
• health plan cards listing spouse and Petitioner.
• automobile insurance listing spouse and Petitioner.
• Federal taxes (2019, 2020) - Jointly filed.
• broker joint account statements
• bank joint account statements
• gas/electric joint billing statements
• auto club joint membership cards 
Joint car title  

• Joint car registration 
•  joint auto insurance card 
Costco joint membership 

Flight itineraries for 8 trips 

2 Resort and cruise itineraries

Photos from the course of marriage, with captions

Statements in support of relationship from 2 friends who were U.S. citizens

 

We ticked all the boxes except for joint house lease/deed. Easy case to approve.

 

Sending a 1000 page application will be bad for you, IMHO.

[Sarge2155 4,587]

15 hours ago, OldUser said:

You have to submit full to avoid RFE.

Some like me submitted full monthly statements from the date of marriage, as asked in instructions for I-751:

 

"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;"

Again here like what @OldUser has pointed out and quoted from USCIS instructions they ask for documents from the date of marriage to the date of submission which will make your packet huge. We sent full statements for the full time requested by USCIS. Most folks now make it a personal choice whether they send full (24 months or more bank statements) and they get approved just fine, on the other hand; sending quarterly statements or less has also gotten approved  just fine. It's whatever you feel comfortable in sending also whatever gives you peace of mind!

Edited June 20, 2023 by Sarge2155

[Ellie_7 103]

When we researched I-751 prep we found this very helpful: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/794232-sending-in-i-751-organization-tips/?do=findComment&comment=10781810

 

Wuozopo noted that their package was 75 pages (similar to Mike E's), and approved without RFE and without interview. 

[.yana 597]

15 hours ago, OldUser said:

You have to submit full to avoid RFE

BS.

 

I submitted one page statements for 3 random months out of 2 years and no RFEs (and approved w/o interview).

But then again, I do care about our planet so... 

[OldUser 6,613]

34 minutes ago, .yana said:

BS.

 

I submitted one page statements for 3 random months out of 2 years and no RFEs (and approved w/o interview).

But then again, I do care about our planet so... 

Good for you.

 

It's not impossible to get approved with missing pages for statements. It's also not impossible to get on a flight with expired GC and no extension letter for example. I would never encourage anybody to proactively increase their chances of getting RFE.

 

I care about the planet too and strongly believe RFE would cause more harm than submitting thick packet for following reasons:

1) You'd still need to print more to satisfy USCIS when responding to RFE

2) You'd be shipping evidence again, meaning more fuel wasted

3) More time spent on the case with back end forth. That includes cost in terms of electricity / shipping docs and more importantly human hours of USCIS officer.

 

I guess the OP can decide what they want to do.

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by OldUser

[OldUser 6,613]

1 hour ago, Mike E said:

Sending a 1000 page application will be bad for you, IMHO.

I'm curious to understand why you think that?

If evidence is relevant (e.g. not printouts of bus timetables), and it goes at the back of packet I wouldn't think IO would spend any more time looking through it?

 

At my AOS interview, I brought a thick stack of evidence. IO randomly picked a few pieces from it and that was satisfied. I think something similar would happen to I-751 packet. IO may open evidence in the middle, see the bank statement, utility bill etc and approve.

Edited June 20, 2023 by OldUser

[Mike E 11,739]

22 minutes ago, OldUser said:

I'm curious to understand why you think that?

Because if I send 1000 pages I expect the ISO to read all 1000 pages.

 

22 minutes ago, OldUser said:

 

If evidence is relevant (e.g. not printouts of bus timetables), and it goes at the back of packet I wouldn't think IO would spend any more time looking through it?

1. Then why send it?

22 minutes ago, OldUser said:

 

At my AOS interview, I brought a thick stack of evidence. IO randomly picked a few pieces from it and that was satisfied. I think something similar would happen to I-751 packet. IO may open evidence in the middle, see the bank statement, utility bill etc and approve.

From that one example, you are to extrapolating that all ISOs for all cases will sample evidence from 1000 page applications.

 

2. Are we seeing a trend here: most those with 500+ page filings are still not approved less than 2 years later?