Additional evidence for bona fide marriage- need help

[baggins12 1]

Hi everyone! I’ve been a silent reader on here and have found all of your posts to be really helpful and insightful, but I could really use some additional advice for my particular situation.

 

Background- I’m a USC who filed a petition for my husband living in Algeria. We got married last summer August 2023, PD 11/2023, and case actively reviewing since 12/2023. At the time of filing, I really struggled to put together solid evidence of our bona fide marriage. We’ve been together doing long distance for 10 years- I was young and still in school when we first met, so we would wait for summers I was able to visit with family in order to spend time together. I come from a pretty conservative family, and as you can imagine with our religious background, we never got the chance to really do things alone (like traveling)- but we spent a lot of time surrounded by each other’s families. During those 10 years, I never knew what the immigration process would be like in the far future once we got married, so I never in my life thought to take photos of us together.

 

The only type of evidence I put together were our marriage contract, passport stamps and some flight tickets from all the times I visited (4 times), 3 affidavits from family and friends who know about our relationship, personal narrative, and tons of photos of call logs and chat messages over the last 10 years (confiding in my sister when I first met him and liked him, us sharing things we like, sharing photos with each other, taking photos wearing gifts we got each other, all the times we supported one another during happy/difficult times, convos regarding our future/goals/marriage expectations, our love for one another). Literally anyone who reads those can tell we love each other, but I know that means nothing in the eyes of a consular officer. 

We also only had a civil ceremony with our dads and other witnesses present, but not an actual wedding celebration because I wanted my whole family to be there. We planned to have it next summer so he could take wedding photos with him to the interview (if he hopefully gets one). 

 

It has already been 10 months and I am terrified that at the time I’m expecting a decision from USCIS, I’ll end up getting an RFE which will delay the process even more. Trust me, I really understand that my case isn’t strong, and I’ll do anything right now to increase our chances. 

 

So a couple of questions for you guys: 

1. Will submitting unsolicited evidence right now actually be helpful? Or does it push back your case to the end of a pile? 
2. Do you have any suggestions for what I could gather and submit to help support our case? I’ve been seeing people online say that adding a spouse as a beneficiary to your bank account can be helpful. We have also sent each other surprise birthday gifts this past year that I could include receipts/evidence of. I know a lot of you say that USCIS understands that long distance couples will rarely have anything joint, but I fear I need more substantial evidence. 

 

If anyone has any genuine advice, I would greatly appreciate it. I really don’t want to be discouraged this far into the process. Thank you!

[pushbrk 12,813]

Your evidence of visiting multiple times over several years "with family" should carry the day.  Evidence of time spent together in person is the strongest evidence you can have.  Note that "actively reviewed" actually means "in the queue to be reviewed".  An actual human will spend less than 30 minutes "reviewing" your case.

[baggins12 1]

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

Your evidence of visiting multiple times over several years "with family" should carry the day.  Evidence of time spent together in person is the strongest evidence you can have.  Note that "actively reviewed" actually means "in the queue to be reviewed".  An actual human will spend less than 30 minutes "reviewing" your case.

Thank you for the response! So you don't think it's necessary at this time to try to post additional unsolicited evidence even without having personal photos of us together? I suppose I could wait to see what decision USCIS makes, but I worry it'll delay the process. 

[pushbrk 12,813]

56 minutes ago, baggins12 said:

Thank you for the response! So you don't think it's necessary at this time to try to post additional unsolicited evidence even without having personal photos of us together? I suppose I could wait to see what decision USCIS makes, but I worry it'll delay the process. 

Photos are secondary evidence.  Things like passport stamps and boarding passes are primary evidence.   If you have photos together, have them available at the interview.

[KMG 108]

15 hours ago, baggins12 said:

Hi everyone! I’ve been a silent reader on here and have found all of your posts to be really helpful and insightful, but I could really use some additional advice for my particular situation.

 

Background- I’m a USC who filed a petition for my husband living in Algeria. We got married last summer August 2023, PD 11/2023, and case actively reviewing since 12/2023. At the time of filing, I really struggled to put together solid evidence of our bona fide marriage. We’ve been together doing long distance for 10 years- I was young and still in school when we first met, so we would wait for summers I was able to visit with family in order to spend time together. I come from a pretty conservative family, and as you can imagine with our religious background, we never got the chance to really do things alone (like traveling)- but we spent a lot of time surrounded by each other’s families. During those 10 years, I never knew what the immigration process would be like in the far future once we got married, so I never in my life thought to take photos of us together.

 

The only type of evidence I put together were our marriage contract, passport stamps and some flight tickets from all the times I visited (4 times), 3 affidavits from family and friends who know about our relationship, personal narrative, and tons of photos of call logs and chat messages over the last 10 years (confiding in my sister when I first met him and liked him, us sharing things we like, sharing photos with each other, taking photos wearing gifts we got each other, all the times we supported one another during happy/difficult times, convos regarding our future/goals/marriage expectations, our love for one another). Literally anyone who reads those can tell we love each other, but I know that means nothing in the eyes of a consular officer. 

We also only had a civil ceremony with our dads and other witnesses present, but not an actual wedding celebration because I wanted my whole family to be there. We planned to have it next summer so he could take wedding photos with him to the interview (if he hopefully gets one). 

 

It has already been 10 months and I am terrified that at the time I’m expecting a decision from USCIS, I’ll end up getting an RFE which will delay the process even more. Trust me, I really understand that my case isn’t strong, and I’ll do anything right now to increase our chances. 

 

So a couple of questions for you guys: 

1. Will submitting unsolicited evidence right now actually be helpful? Or does it push back your case to the end of a pile? 
2. Do you have any suggestions for what I could gather and submit to help support our case? I’ve been seeing people online say that adding a spouse as a beneficiary to your bank account can be helpful. We have also sent each other surprise birthday gifts this past year that I could include receipts/evidence of. I know a lot of you say that USCIS understands that long distance couples will rarely have anything joint, but I fear I need more substantial evidence. 

 

If anyone has any genuine advice, I would greatly appreciate it. I really don’t want to be discouraged this far into the process. Thank you!

Unsolicited evidence does not push your case further into the pile.  I am a December 2023 filer and have been loading more evidence all along.  Your PD is what is important. Active review just means your case was opened and put in line.  When you get a 2nd active review, about 2 or 3 days later you get a decision.

[ilikepotatoes 46]

18 hours ago, baggins12 said:

Hi everyone! I’ve been a silent reader on here and have found all of your posts to be really helpful and insightful, but I could really use some additional advice for my particular situation.

 

Background- I’m a USC who filed a petition for my husband living in Algeria. We got married last summer August 2023, PD 11/2023, and case actively reviewing since 12/2023. At the time of filing, I really struggled to put together solid evidence of our bona fide marriage. We’ve been together doing long distance for 10 years- I was young and still in school when we first met, so we would wait for summers I was able to visit with family in order to spend time together. I come from a pretty conservative family, and as you can imagine with our religious background, we never got the chance to really do things alone (like traveling)- but we spent a lot of time surrounded by each other’s families. During those 10 years, I never knew what the immigration process would be like in the far future once we got married, so I never in my life thought to take photos of us together.

 

The only type of evidence I put together were our marriage contract, passport stamps and some flight tickets from all the times I visited (4 times), 3 affidavits from family and friends who know about our relationship, personal narrative, and tons of photos of call logs and chat messages over the last 10 years (confiding in my sister when I first met him and liked him, us sharing things we like, sharing photos with each other, taking photos wearing gifts we got each other, all the times we supported one another during happy/difficult times, convos regarding our future/goals/marriage expectations, our love for one another). Literally anyone who reads those can tell we love each other, but I know that means nothing in the eyes of a consular officer. 

We also only had a civil ceremony with our dads and other witnesses present, but not an actual wedding celebration because I wanted my whole family to be there. We planned to have it next summer so he could take wedding photos with him to the interview (if he hopefully gets one). 

 

It has already been 10 months and I am terrified that at the time I’m expecting a decision from USCIS, I’ll end up getting an RFE which will delay the process even more. Trust me, I really understand that my case isn’t strong, and I’ll do anything right now to increase our chances. 

 

So a couple of questions for you guys: 

1. Will submitting unsolicited evidence right now actually be helpful? Or does it push back your case to the end of a pile? 
2. Do you have any suggestions for what I could gather and submit to help support our case? I’ve been seeing people online say that adding a spouse as a beneficiary to your bank account can be helpful. We have also sent each other surprise birthday gifts this past year that I could include receipts/evidence of. I know a lot of you say that USCIS understands that long distance couples will rarely have anything joint, but I fear I need more substantial evidence. 

 

If anyone has any genuine advice, I would greatly appreciate it. I really don’t want to be discouraged this far into the process. Thank you!

Evidence of time spent together is the best evidence you can provide, and it sounds like you have submitted a lot of that which is very much in your favor! Boarding passes, passport stamps, tickets, etc all carry more weight than pictures. 

[baggins12 1]

9 hours ago, KMG said:

Unsolicited evidence does not push your case further into the pile.  I am a December 2023 filer and have been loading more evidence all along.  Your PD is what is important. Active review just means your case was opened and put in line.  When you get a 2nd active review, about 2 or 3 days later you get a decision.

Thank you for explaining! I was wondering why it would take several months for them to look at a case 😂

[baggins12 1]

6 hours ago, ilikepotatoes said:

Evidence of time spent together is the best evidence you can provide, and it sounds like you have submitted a lot of that which is very much in your favor! Boarding passes, passport stamps, tickets, etc all carry more weight than pictures. 

Thank you! I will definitely hope for the best then. I could always add more evidence during the NVC stage just to confirm continued relations with my partner

[KMG 108]

2 hours ago, baggins12 said:

Thank you for explaining! I was wondering why it would take several months for them to look at a case 😂

I think it was here or somewhere else where I read, a case waits in line for months, when it gets to an officer they have an allotted 30 minutes to review the case, and it takes only 15 to 20 minutes for a decision to be made....😆 All this waiting for a 20 minute review...😆

[pushbrk 12,813]

2 hours ago, baggins12 said:

Thank you for explaining! I was wondering why it would take several months for them to look at a case 😂

It's a long queue.

[pushbrk 12,813]

25 minutes ago, KMG said:

I think it was here or somewhere else where I read, a case waits in line for months, when it gets to an officer they have an allotted 30 minutes to review the case, and it takes only 15 to 20 minutes for a decision to be made....😆 All this waiting for a 20 minute review...😆

Allotted?  No such thing.  If more time is needed, it is taken, but yes, it usually takes less than 30 minutes.

[baggins12 1]

2 hours ago, KMG said:

I think it was here or somewhere else where I read, a case waits in line for months, when it gets to an officer they have an allotted 30 minutes to review the case, and it takes only 15 to 20 minutes for a decision to be made....😆 All this waiting for a 20 minute review...😆

That sounds scary 😂😫

[OldUser 6,474]

7 minutes ago, baggins12 said:

That sounds scary 😂😫

It would be even scarier if USCIS spent all the time pending (months, years) actively working on cases. It would be meaning backlogs of hundreds of millions...

[baggins12 1]

8 minutes ago, OldUser said:

It would be even scarier if USCIS spent all the time pending (months, years) actively working on cases. It would be meaning backlogs of hundreds of millions...

Oh of course, nothing would ever move forward and things would never get approved. Idk why I haven’t thought of the logistics of it until now 

[hmwtx 9]

We had our interview August 8.  Prior to that, the only stuff we had submitted were copies of birth certificates, my tax records from the IRS (I'm the USC, husband is the green card hopeful), scan of the marriage license signed by the judge, and copy of his passport.  Well, and the passport photos and such, but no other evidence.  Once we were married, he began updating his accounts to show our shared address, but since he still owns the property where he used to live (in another town, in another county about 200 miles from my place in Houston) he did not update his driver's license or his county tax records.

At interview, we took a bunch of more recent stuff with us - as my spouse, he is now the beneficiary of my 401K, I am on his pension and his life insurance through his employer, I am on his health insurance (because, frankly, the plan he gets through being a government employee is much better and much cheaper than the one my company offers), I am on one of his credit card accounts, he is on one of my checking accounts - and I printed off about 40 photos of us, from the wedding at the courthouse (my family attended that) to just random shots of us around our house.  The interviewer flipped through them, and kept them, but we did not submit them online.  She was much more interested in why he hadn't updated the address on his driver's license, and in the validity of his prior divorce from 12 years ago.  

Side note - we've only been together since January, and got married in March.  He was already here (we're working on adjustment of status, not a visa) but is now overstaying since his entry visa expired at the end of April. I know this is a little different than your situation, but it's still an I-130 process...  Hopefully you can get some peace of mind and not overthink every step - if it's critical stuff, send it in.  If it isn't, hold onto it for the interview.  And since you're really married for a real, normal reason, your marriage is valid.  Having the communication history and travel history to back up your connection to your husband is enough.  They don't care who you travelled overseas with, if the intent was to spend time with your husband then that is enough.