I-130 Passport Stamps As Evidence

[omgslay 2]

Hi all,

 

Since I print boarding passes at the airport and discard them after travel (like a sane person 😁), the only travel evidence I have are booking confirmation emails and my US passport stamps.

 

I'm filling out the I-130 online and decided to use the combination of stamps and booking emails as evidence of travel. So, should I upload the stamped passport pages under "Proof of US Citizenship" only, with the booking itineraries under "Additional Proof of Marriage", and hope they cross-reference the two as evidence of travel?  Or upload the passport under both sections?

 

In either scenario, should I also upload a PDF document under "Additional Proof" telling them they can cross-reference my travel stamps with the email itineraries and hotel stays? Or is this implied?

 

Cheers!

[pushbrk 12,994]

2 hours ago, omgslay said:

Hi all,

 

Since I print boarding passes at the airport and discard them after travel (like a sane person 😁), the only travel evidence I have are booking confirmation emails and my US passport stamps.

 

I'm filling out the I-130 online and decided to use the combination of stamps and booking emails as evidence of travel. So, should I upload the stamped passport pages under "Proof of US Citizenship" only, with the booking itineraries under "Additional Proof of Marriage", and hope they cross-reference the two as evidence of travel?  Or upload the passport under both sections?

 

In either scenario, should I also upload a PDF document under "Additional Proof" telling them they can cross-reference my travel stamps with the email itineraries and hotel stays? Or is this implied?

 

Cheers!

No.  Passport stamps are primary evidence of time spent together in person.  Those are the strongest evidence of relationship.  Your marriage certificate is your "proof of marriage".  What is asked for in addition is evidence of a bona fide relationship.  That's the passport stamps.  Booking confirmations are not evidence of travel, but grouping them with passport stamps can  make it easier for the adjudicator to understand the passport stamps.  Proof of Citizenship is your passport, naturalization certificate or US Birth Certificate.

 

[omgslay 2]

12 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

No.  Passport stamps are primary evidence of time spent together in person.  Those are the strongest evidence of relationship.  Your marriage certificate is your "proof of marriage".  What is asked for in addition is evidence of a bona fide relationship.  That's the passport stamps.  Booking confirmations are not evidence of travel, but grouping them with passport stamps can  make it easier for the adjudicator to understand the passport stamps.  Proof of Citizenship is your passport, naturalization certificate or US Birth Certificate.

 

 

Thanks! If the goal is to show evidence of time spent together -- well, we have been living together for over a year already in the US. We have a joint lease agreement and driver licenses with the same address, as well as a joint bank account. With this in mind, would you still provide passport stamps / bookings that show travels before my wife came to the US?

 

If the answer is yes, should I upload the passport & stamps in just the Proof of Citizenship section? Or in both that section and the Evidence section? And are stamps sufficient on their own, or should I write up a PDF suggesting they cross-reference the stamps & booking emails?

[pushbrk 12,994]

11 hours ago, omgslay said:

 

Thanks! If the goal is to show evidence of time spent together -- well, we have been living together for over a year already in the US. We have a joint lease agreement and driver licenses with the same address, as well as a joint bank account. With this in mind, would you still provide passport stamps / bookings that show travels before my wife came to the US?

 

If the answer is yes, should I upload the passport & stamps in just the Proof of Citizenship section? Or in both that section and the Evidence section? And are stamps sufficient on their own, or should I write up a PDF suggesting they cross-reference the stamps & booking emails?

Are you seeking an immigrant visa for your wife or is your plan to adjust status from within the USA.  If she is here legally, I don't know why you would seek a visa.  If you are adjusting status, I would not file the I-130 online.  Instead, I would do a concurrent filing by mail, that would include the I-130 and it's supporting documents, plus the I-485, advance parole, and work authorization.  And, in that case, I would focus on the evidence you have been living together for a year, and some photos.

The reliability of answers you get here depends on the information you provide.  My answer was related to a in immigrant visa being sought for a spouse living abroad, BECAUSE you posted in a VISA FORUM.  There is a separate forum for adjusting status.

 

Please clarify.

[omgslay 2]

14 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Are you seeking an immigrant visa for your wife or is your plan to adjust status from within the USA.  If she is here legally, I don't know why you would seek a visa.  If you are adjusting status, I would not file the I-130 online.  Instead, I would do a concurrent filing by mail, that would include the I-130 and it's supporting documents, plus the I-485, advance parole, and work authorization.  And, in that case, I would focus on the evidence you have been living together for a year, and some photos.

The reliability of answers you get here depends on the information you provide.  My answer was related to a in immigrant visa being sought for a spouse living abroad, BECAUSE you posted in a VISA FORUM.  There is a separate forum for adjusting status.

 

Please clarify.

 

We're adjusting from the US. She was paroled via UHP and I see no forum relevant to parolees who can adjust, so I picked what I thought was the next best place to post the question. In hindsight it may not be, so if there's a better place, I'd kindly request the mods to move this post.

 

I have 95% of the online I-130 completed and don't wish to abort and convert to paper at this point, since I see no point. I'm a software engineer and prefer to avoid mailing dead trees around or do something the old way just because it was always done that way. Everything will be online eventually and we should be encouraging people to file online so USCIS continues the transition to digital. That said, I understand why you're suggesting it, but since I know for a fact that an attached NOA1 from the online submission would make the subsequent paper 485/131/765/864/693 filing concurrent, I'm willing to go the more novel route.

 

With that out of the way, I plan on a) uploading all pages of my passport to the "Proof of Citizenship" section, even though it's probably not necessary but I already have the full PDF and so I might as well overkill. And b) unless you believe it cannot possibly help, I will upload the same passport stamps, my wife's passport stamps, and our travel booking emails to the "Evidence of Bona Fide Marriage" section, along with a cover page telling them they can cross-reference our travels as proof of time together before she entered the US in 2022.

 

I know you're an advocate of precisely following instructions and I also value precision. We call this RTFM in my line of work. However, I find the instructions for "Additional Proof of Marriage" to be wanting, particularly on the last part:

 

We're already meeting their "one or more" requirements with a joint lease & joint bank statement. Since they don't clarify the last bullet point, it leaves people like me questioning what that means. In the interest of avoiding RFEs, I plan to attach photos, same-address IDs, and maybe the travel bookings.

 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

[pushbrk 12,994]

13 minutes ago, omgslay said:

 

We're adjusting from the US. She was paroled via UHP and I see no forum relevant to parolees who can adjust, so I picked what I thought was the next best place to post the question. In hindsight it may not be, so if there's a better place, I'd kindly request the mods to move this post.

 

I have 95% of the online I-130 completed and don't wish to abort and convert to paper at this point, since I see no point. I'm a software engineer and prefer to avoid mailing dead trees around or do something the old way just because it was always done that way. Everything will be online eventually and we should be encouraging people to file online so USCIS continues the transition to digital. That said, I understand why you're suggesting it, but since I know for a fact that an attached NOA1 from the online submission would make the subsequent paper 485/131/765/864/693 filing concurrent, I'm willing to go the more novel route.

 

With that out of the way, I plan on a) uploading all pages of my passport to the "Proof of Citizenship" section, even though it's probably not necessary but I already have the full PDF and so I might as well overkill. And b) unless you believe it cannot possibly help, I will upload the same passport stamps, my wife's passport stamps, and our travel booking emails to the "Evidence of Bona Fide Marriage" section, along with a cover page telling them they can cross-reference our travels as proof of time together before she entered the US in 2022.

 

I know you're an advocate of precisely following instructions and I also value precision. We call this RTFM in my line of work. However, I find the instructions for "Additional Proof of Marriage" to be wanting, particularly on the last part:

 

We're already meeting their "one or more" requirements with a joint lease & joint bank statement. Since they don't clarify the last bullet point, it leaves people like me questioning what that means. In the interest of avoiding RFEs, I plan to attach photos, same-address IDs, and maybe the travel bookings.

 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Before continuing, you're going to want to study the concurrent filing process.  Filing just the I-130 and I-130 A without the other 6 forms will cost you time.  The rest have to be filed on paper anyway.  Your preference is really irrelevant in this context.  It is what it is.

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

**Moved from Ir-1/CR-1 spousal visa to Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, anf Tourist Visas***

[omgslay 2]

18 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Before continuing, you're going to want to study the concurrent filing process.  Filing just the I-130 and I-130 A without the other 6 forms will cost you time.  The rest have to be filed on paper anyway.  Your preference is really irrelevant in this context.  It is what it is.

 

You wrote this in another thread:

 

"Considered?  Yes.  Actually concurrently filed?  No.  The difference is the timeline delay while you wait for the receipt and wait for them to join the files.  You'll be completing a total of 8 forms, only one of which can be filed online.  Is it worth it?  You decide."

 

Do you have any actual evidence or source that there will be a timeline delay or is this speculation? In the same thread, a user (Skyman) states that his paper 485 had the same PD as the online I-130, despite being filed months later.

 

 

[pushbrk 12,994]

1 hour ago, omgslay said:

 

You wrote this in another thread:

 

"Considered?  Yes.  Actually concurrently filed?  No.  The difference is the timeline delay while you wait for the receipt and wait for them to join the files.  You'll be completing a total of 8 forms, only one of which can be filed online.  Is it worth it?  You decide."

 

Do you have any actual evidence or source that there will be a timeline delay or is this speculation? In the same thread, a user (Skyman) states that his paper 485 had the same PD as the online I-130, despite being filed months later.

 

 

PD doesn't matter.  The I-130 just sits, and cannot be joined with the I-485 until it is filed.  Also, the AP and EAD cannot be separated and go on their faster timeline until they are filed.  Filing THOSE forms concurrently with the I-485 means no fee, but the sooner they are filed (concurrent with all) the sooner the beneficiary can work and travel internationally.

 

Yes, I have plenty of evidence.  Been here participating since 2005.  Maybe check the Google...advice in my signature, AND the anonymous quote.

[pushbrk 12,994]

2 hours ago, omgslay said:

 

I know you're an advocate of precisely following instructions and I also value precision. We call this RTFM in my line of work. However, I find the instructions for "Additional Proof of Marriage" to be wanting, particularly on the last part:

 

We're already meeting their "one or more" requirements with a joint lease & joint bank statement. Since they don't clarify the last bullet point, it leaves people like me questioning what that means. In the interest of avoiding RFEs, I plan to attach photos, same-address IDs, and maybe the travel bookings.

 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Key to the evidence is you already have the one or more covered.  In your situation, I would just leave it at that.  The "any other..." is what lots of people who have never lived together concentrate on, like photos together, evidence of time spent together, and examples of how and how frequently they communicate.  You don't need anything more than you've already mentioned.

 

[omgslay 2]

2 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Key to the evidence is you already have the one or more covered.  In your situation, I would just leave it at that.  The "any other..." is what lots of people who have never lived together concentrate on, like photos together, evidence of time spent together, and examples of how and how frequently they communicate.  You don't need anything more than you've already mentioned.

 

 

Do you mean to say I shouldn't even include photos, much less stamps or travel bookings?

[pushbrk 12,994]

3 minutes ago, omgslay said:

 

Do you mean to say I shouldn't even include photos, much less stamps or travel bookings?

Those are among what  you've already mentioned, but no need for the travel bookings.  You live together in the USA already.  I talked about those when I thought you were seeking a visa.

[omgslay 2]

21 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

PD doesn't matter.  The I-130 just sits, and cannot be joined with the I-485 until it is filed.  Also, the AP and EAD cannot be separated and go on their faster timeline until they are filed.  Filing THOSE forms concurrently with the I-485 means no fee, but the sooner they are filed (concurrent with all) the sooner the beneficiary can work and travel internationally.

 

Yes, I have plenty of evidence.  Been here participating since 2005.  Maybe check the Google...advice in my signature, AND the anonymous quote.

 

If I'm understanding you correctly, we're now discussing 2 possible options:

 

A) Prepare & file everything on paper, which we'll have ready by Monday.

B) File the I-130 online, take the NOA1 that is provided immediately after filing, and mail the rest on Monday.

 

Either way, the 485 package isn't going out any earlier than Monday. So what if the I-130 just sits? The 485 can't get there any sooner whether the I-130 is included on paper or not.

[pushbrk 12,994]

5 minutes ago, omgslay said:

 

If I'm understanding you correctly, we're now discussing 2 possible options:

 

A) Prepare & file everything on paper, which we'll have ready by Monday.

B) File the I-130 online, take the NOA1 that is provided immediately after filing, and mail the rest on Monday.

 

Either way, the 485 package isn't going out any earlier than Monday. So what if the I-130 just sits? The 485 can't get there any sooner whether the I-130 is included on paper or not.

You seem to be assuming they will immediately connect your two separate filings.  That's an unreasonable assumption, but it might work.  Do it the way you want.  You CAN be assured that everything will be connected from the beginning if you do a concurrent filing.

[omgslay 2]

2 hours ago, pushbrk said:

You seem to be assuming they will immediately connect your two separate filings.  That's an unreasonable assumption, but it might work.  Do it the way you want.  You CAN be assured that everything will be connected from the beginning if you do a concurrent filing.

 

An unreasonable assumption? Their own instructions tell you to provide a copy of the I-130 online receipt notice in the mailed 485 packet. What do you think they'll do with that notice, toss it out?