Anyone recently do a CR1?

[lanc3r30000 1]

I'm currently doing mine and our case should be pretty straight forward. No criminal background or anything like that.

 

I have all the evidence except any joint financials like bank/house/utilities.

 

I'm not sure if the process changed or anything, but I'm hearing people are going through a lot more scrutiny now at the I-130 stage?

[Dashinka 24,899]

Where are you hearing that?  If you have a good case and can provide solid evidence for the I130 filing, I would file as soon as you can.

 

Good Luck!

[Daphne . 1,954]

Shared finances and such are not required as evidence for consular cases because USCIS understands that couples who live in different countries usually don’t have that type of evidence. 
 

Haven’t heard anything about people going through more scrutiny. Where did you hear that? 

[lanc3r30000 1]

20 hours ago, Daphne . said:

Shared finances and such are not required as evidence for consular cases because USCIS understands that couples who live in different countries usually don’t have that type of evidence. 
 

Haven’t heard anything about people going through more scrutiny. Where did you hear that? 

 

Ok. I decided to have a consultation with a lawyer just to answer some questions. I assume it is their job to make sure we have "everything", so she was saying that I needed more evidence or I risk a RFE.

 

As for more scrutiny, was a youtube video I was watching from a lawyer this past year. But now that I think about it, I believe he's just talking about what is mentioned in visajourney's guide about how USCIS now requires these types of evidence.

Edited February 12 by lanc3r30000

[Daphne . 1,954]

3 hours ago, lanc3r30000 said:

 

Ok. I decided to have a consultation with a lawyer just to answer some questions. I assume it is their job to make sure we have "everything", so she was saying that I needed more evidence or I risk a RFE.

 

As for more scrutiny, was a youtube video I was watching from a lawyer this past year. But now that I think about it, I believe he's just talking about what is mentioned in visajourney's guide about how USCIS now requires these types of evidence.

What have you submitted to them? And what did they tell you to add? 
 

The type of evidence that USCIS requires for the CR1 has not changed in last the 7-ish years that I have been a member here. 

Edited February 12 by Daphne .

[Dashinka 24,899]

4 hours ago, lanc3r30000 said:

 

Ok. I decided to have a consultation with a lawyer just to answer some questions. I assume it is their job to make sure we have "everything", so she was saying that I needed more evidence or I risk a RFE.

 

As for more scrutiny, was a youtube video I was watching from a lawyer this past year. But now that I think about it, I believe he's just talking about what is mentioned in visajourney's guide about how USCIS now requires these types of evidence.

I would never assume a lawyer or a visa service is correct.  It is still up to the petitioner to make sure the package (I130) is correct and includes all the evidence you can submit before signing anything.  Now a lawyer or visa service may have some suggestions, but each case is different, and not everyone has the same evidence before submitting.  Some petitioners submit the minimum evidence and have no problems, and some front load the I130 with a lot of evidence and still get RFEs, no one can give guarantees.  I agree with @Daphne ., not much has changed in the past several years relative to the I130 process for a spouse.

 

Good Luck!

[lanc3r30000 1]

1 hour ago, Daphne . said:

What have you submitted to them? And what did they tell you to add? 
 

The type of evidence that USCIS requires for the CR1 has not changed in last the 7-ish years that I have been a member here. 

 

Short preface, we have talked for 1 year, beginning in Jan 2024, got married in Dec 2024. We met in June 2024 for 2 weeks, and Dec 2024 for 1 month.

 

Evidence prepared so far:

All the required documents(marriage cert, translations, etc).

Phone log - Shows 1 convo and 1 video call per month with captions. So there's 24 images from Jan to Dec 2024. Even have a preface convo of me talking with her Uncle, the person who introduced us to each other.

Photos together - Shows 22 photos total(2 per page with captions) between our 2 in person meetings, a few include her family and friends as well.

Itineraries - Showed flight itineraries with some having both our names as we flew to different cities together. We forgot to save the actual boarding passes, but I assume having photos of us together at those locations are good enough? We do have our stamps on our passports too, but I assumed the same as the former so did not add those. Unless that is important.

Gifts - Receipts of ubereats and photos, and a few gifts we bought each other throughout the year.

Letter of Living Situation - A formal letter explaining why we live apart and do not share joint finances. A couple lines explaining our relationship. Just a few paragraphs.

 

We are basically just missing joint finances. We didn't do affidavits because from what I've read they are pretty much worthless.

Edited February 12 by lanc3r30000

[lanc3r30000 1]

Sorry to double reply. Forgot to add the lawyer suggested adding my spouse to a credit card account so both our names are on there. I have done that.

 

Since it is February now, I am wondering if I should add more photos for Jan 2025? We still have many, but I didn't want to overdo it.

[TBoneTX 46,294]

Brother, you seriously need to consult with one of our VJ Partners:

https://www.visajourney.com/partners/platinum-immigration-services/

 

I have no conflict of interest in making the above recommendation.

[Daphne . 1,954]

8 hours ago, lanc3r30000 said:

Sorry to double reply. Forgot to add the lawyer suggested adding my spouse to a credit card account so both our names are on there. I have done that.

 

Since it is February now, I am wondering if I should add more photos for Jan 2025? We still have many, but I didn't want to overdo it.

Your evidence looks really good and your lawyer really is creating issues where there are none. They are asking you to create evidence that is unnecessary. 

[Lemonslice 4,989]

9 hours ago, lanc3r30000 said:

 

Short preface, we have talked for 1 year, beginning in Jan 2024, got married in Dec 2024. We met in June 2024 for 2 weeks, and Dec 2024 for 1 month.

 

Evidence prepared so far:

All the required documents(marriage cert, translations, etc).

Phone log - Shows 1 convo and 1 video call per month with captions. So there's 24 images from Jan to Dec 2024. Even have a preface convo of me talking with her Uncle, the person who introduced us to each other.

Photos together - Shows 22 photos total(2 per page with captions) between our 2 in person meetings, a few include her family and friends as well.

Itineraries - Showed flight itineraries with some having both our names as we flew to different cities together. We forgot to save the actual boarding passes, but I assume having photos of us together at those locations are good enough? We do have our stamps on our passports too, but I assumed the same as the former so did not add those. Unless that is important.

Gifts - Receipts of ubereats and photos, and a few gifts we bought each other throughout the year.

Letter of Living Situation - A formal letter explaining why we live apart and do not share joint finances. A couple lines explaining our relationship. Just a few paragraphs.

 

We are basically just missing joint finances. We didn't do affidavits because from what I've read they are pretty much worthless.

You could also add your spouse as a beneficiary to your financial accounts (bank accounts, retirement, investment, life insurance, etc.), that is usually easy enough to do online and you can screenshot the updated beneficiary.   

 

Please do not forget to update your timeline when you have a chance. 
https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=475016

Edited February 13 by Lemonslice