I-130: Worried about evidence of a bona fide marriage

[ThePatfan 1]

Hi everyone, new user here 👋

As a note I am a UK citizen, my husband and I initially started dating long distance over a year ago and we've been married for around four months.

We decided a family visa was our best option and had a private courthouse ceremony about which we've told only a few family members and friends. While we intend to have a more traditional and visible marriage once we get our visa approved, the decision to pursue an IR1 certainly accelerated our interest in getting married. Because we're both in our early 20s and have decided to keep the existence of our marriage fairly private, we don't have very solid evidence of a bona fide marriage. We've never been able to live together for more than a few months on tourism visas, we don't have any joint property, leases, or tenancy. What we can provide are joint bank statements, our marriage certificate, airplane tickets, travel histories, bookings for trips we went on together, pictures from our informal courthouse wedding, and lots of pictures of us visiting each other, attending family gatherings, etc. We both think that if one were to look at the broader picture it would be very clear we're in a serious and committed relationship, but if you're a more skeptical immigration official we're concerned our application could be rejected due to a lack of traditionally strong evidence. Any thoughts on what we have and what we could do to improve our application would be greatly appreciated!

[Boiler 45,797]

It would be very unusual for London to go into much detail, there is no requirement to have a big wedding, and not even sure how many people you have told would come up.

 

A lot of the other things you mentioned would be unusual as you are living on different Continents.

[Ryan H 3,818]

***Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.***

 

**Moderator hat off**

 

Couples living apart in separate countries are not required and would not be expected to have joint property or tenancy.  Evidence of time spent together in person (which you appear to have plenty of) is your strongest evidence.

[pushbrk 13,011]

4 hours ago, Ryan H said:

***Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.***

 

**Moderator hat off**

 

Couples living apart in separate countries are not required and would not be expected to have joint property or tenancy.  Evidence of time spent together in person (which you appear to have plenty of) is your strongest evidence.

Passport stamps, and/or boarding passes, are the primary evidence of time together in person. Add some photos from each visit and relax.