Gathering I-751 Evidence

[clairdelune 0]

Hello Forum, sorry to post a silly question but how much material are people sending in with their I-751 petition? I've begun to organize my stack of papers with section tabs, but they don't fit in a 1-inch file - they may or may not fit in a 1.5-inch file. Does that seem normal or excessive?

For example, is it really necessary to supply a photocopy of every page of telephone bills for the last 2+ years? That alone amounts to more than 1/4 inch, double-sided. It would seem sensible to skip every few months or use just the first page of every bill, but it's surely stupid to be asked for more information for being incomplete the first time around.

I think my attorneys would definitely overprepare me - they would absolutely provide everything (so that may be the safe way to go). Only I'm not using them this time, partly because I figured it would be simple enough. Now I've spent far too much time and energy doing this myself. Whoever said on the I-751 instructions that it takes "50 minutes to assemble and file the petition" must have been positively joking.

Any thoughts?

[JubJub 0]

I would think that every page of telephone bills for 2 years is excessive:

Here's what I sent with mine:

Copy of joint mortgage statement

Copy of joint car title

Copy of joint village taxes

Copy of one phone bill cover sheet showing both names

Copy of joint car insurance, health insurance

Copy of 2005 joint taxes

Copy of greencard, drivers license, and 2 photos.

Probably on the slim end of the range, but worse case they'll call us in for an interview. It probably took me about 15 minutes

[Inlove_tx 0]

I can't help you much since I still have over a year and 1/2 before applying to lift my conditions, but I understand your stress, as I'm already stressing right now just thinking about it!

I have already prepared a box where I'm putting all the stuff that *I think* could be important to have when the time comes for me to apply, but I definitely think it's already a lot, and there's still over a year and 1/2 to go!

For example, I don't think I will mail EVERY page of our bank statements and bills for 2+ years (even though right now I'm saving them all). Plus, a lot of bills (including the phone bill) are paid online directly from our bank, so it's hard to always keep every record.

I think the most important things to have are a joint car(s) registration, joint insurance(s), joint lease (or mortgage/house property), joint tax returns, itineraries and tickets of trips taken together and just *some* bills and bank statements.

So far I have all the above mentioned and, besides the new lease(s), tax returns, mail correspondence and pics, I don't think I will be adding much to it (unless a baby should come along! ).

Good luck and keep us updated!

[cat 0]

Oh my Goodness !!! Now I become more and more scaried... so many evidence. I did not prepared at all during these two years. I completely forgot abot all this paper works so did not keep any tickets, etc... I really thought that it is easy step. Now reading here I am really affraid.

I think the only thing we can show is joint home property, taxes, joint account and joint saving account and letters from three or more friends and Ultrasound picture for our baby coming end of july... (Or maybe I can ask my Ob/gyn give us an attestion, I don;t know...),

What phone bills could we send...

Health insurance ? we are working in the same company, so we have two different insurances...

We don't have joint car title, we are leasing my car, and for make it cheaper my car is on my hubby name and the insurance in on my name...

What esle can we send?

[I'm Gone 60]

Hello Forum, sorry to post a silly question but how much material are people sending in with their I-751 petition? I've begun to organize my stack of papers with section tabs, but they don't fit in a 1-inch file - they may or may not fit in a 1.5-inch file. Does that seem normal or excessive?

For example, is it really necessary to supply a photocopy of every page of telephone bills for the last 2+ years? That alone amounts to more than 1/4 inch, double-sided. It would seem sensible to skip every few months or use just the first page of every bill, but it's surely stupid to be asked for more information for being incomplete the first time around.

I think my attorneys would definitely overprepare me - they would absolutely provide everything (so that may be the safe way to go). Only I'm not using them this time, partly because I figured it would be simple enough. Now I've spent far too much time and energy doing this myself. Whoever said on the I-751 instructions that it takes "50 minutes to assemble and file the petition" must have been positively joking.

All we sent was one copy of each bill for each 6 month period. I would say you have way to much. The packet shouldn't take two people to lift it. LOL

This is the highlights of what we sent

-- Copy of the 1099 statements for 2002 and 2003 for our savings acount

-- A copy of our 2002 and 2003 joint US Federal tax returns.

-- Letters designating spouse the beneficiary of my Federal government retirement plans.

-- Copies of various insurance notices, utility bills, bank statements and car purchase and loan papers

-- Copy of the title and registration of our cars showing joint ownership.

-- Copies of credit card statements showing a joint account.

-- Copy of our health insurance cards showing a family policy.

[clairdelune 0]

Thanks to those who offered advice. I'm getting better ideas on how to proceed.

All we sent was one copy of each bill for each 6 month period. I would say you have way to much. The packet shouldn't take two people to lift it. LOL

This would make perfect common sense, but part of my dilemma was the I-751 instruction "...The document should cover the period from the date of your marriage to the filing of this petition." Curious some people don't seem to take this literally.

Probably on the slim end of the range, but worse case they'll call us in for an interview.

Well, my aim is to avoid an interview, or even a request for more information, at all cost. I just want to do this once and get it over with. To that end, I'd probably lean towards the cautious side (but without looking ridiculously redundant).

[I'm Gone 60]

Thanks to those who offered advice. I'm getting better ideas on how to proceed.

Well, my aim is to avoid an interview, or even a request for more information, at all cost. I just want to do this once and get it over with. To that end, I'd probably lean towards the cautious side (but without looking ridiculously redundant).

Well we were approved without an interview and I looked at the copy of our packet and it's around 3/4 of an inch thick. If throwing everything in there makes you feel better go right ahead, but there is no magic bullet to avoid an interview. They randomly pick a certain number of people for interviews no matter what. If you pull the short straw you will be interviewed no matter what you send.

I would thin it out to one phone bill for every 6 month period, i.e. June and December's bill Same thing with credit card and bank statements.

Edited March 14, 2006 by mdyoung

[zyggy 9]

Thanks to those who offered advice. I'm getting better ideas on how to proceed.

All we sent was one copy of each bill for each 6 month period. I would say you have way to much. The packet shouldn't take two people to lift it. LOL

This would make perfect common sense, but part of my dilemma was the I-751 instruction "...The document should cover the period from the date of your marriage to the filing of this petition." Curious some people don't seem to take this literally.

Probably on the slim end of the range, but worse case they'll call us in for an interview.

Well, my aim is to avoid an interview, or even a request for more information, at all cost. I just want to do this once and get it over with. To that end, I'd probably lean towards the cautious side (but without looking ridiculously redundant).

All your first quote means is that they want documentes dated since the time your PR was approved. They don't want anything dated before that time.

All they want is some differing forms of evidence that you have a shared life during the period since you were approved for PR. Phone bills in both your name every six months shows that. It shows that you continued to have that shared account during the time period. Same with a credit card.

Each person will have a different types of documents to provide... it is truly unique.. But the documents that they love the most are the following

1) Proof of joint ownership or leasing of property (real or personal) such as house deeds, property tax statements, car titles, car registration documents, etc.

2) Proof of joint financial information (bank statements in both your names, joint credit card accounts, etc)

3) Proof of beneficiary status (having each as a beneficiary on life insurance, 401k's etc. Wills made naming each as executor, medical and financial powers of attorney for each other, etc.)

4) Tax returns filed as married (seperately or jointly) If separately, they both should have the same address.

If you have a few things from each of the first three categories plus the tax returns, you will have little problem being approved either at the SC or during an interview (if you are randomly selected)

Edited March 14, 2006 by zyggy

[motu 5]

I vote for zyggy's approach. Seems to me that too many bils and statements from each month and all kinds of documents are an overkill and don't necessarily help the process. I am going to save zyggy's list and use that as a guideline when we go for ours. That's the same approach I have used in the K1 and AOS - as little as possible (or just a tiny bit more but not too much!)

Edited March 14, 2006 by motu

[cat 0]

Hello,

I have read all documents you sent... what can we do... during these two years almost everything was on my husband name...

"1) Proof of joint ownership or leasing of property (real or personal) such as house deeds, property tax statements, car titles, car registration documents, etc."

Our ownership title for our house is on our both names, but our mortgage is on his name

We lease the car but on my husband name (the price difference was very big, if my name was on the lease, as I did not have any vredit story here...). We have only car insurance on our both names...

"2) Proof of joint financial information (bank statements in both your names, joint credit card accounts, etc)"

We have joint bank account, joint small savings account, but different credit card (i was done because again I needed to built my own credit history)

"3) Proof of beneficiary status (having each as a beneficiary on life insurance, 401k's etc. Wills made naming each as executor, medical and financial powers of attorney for each other, etc.)"

We don't have it at all

"4) Tax returns filed as married (seperately or jointly) If separately, they both should have the same address"

We have it for last year and will do now too

BUT THIS IS ALL WE HAVE ... (EXCEPT THAT I AM PREGNANT NOW) WHAT SHOULD WE DO ? I AM VERY NERVIOUS....

[meauxna 15]

I've posted some example packets in this forum; if you read back you can see how others handled it.

To cover the period of the past two years, I did not interpret that as 'document every day'. I sent samples from about each 6 month period of the different types of evidence.

EX: Bank statements--2 from each year, six months apart. Same account, so obviously nothing changed in between times.

Same went for insurance statements, utilities or other on-going accounts.

Successfully approved with no interview. Full list posted to the forum.

[cat 0]

Hi meauxna,

Where did you post example of packets...? In this topic or in others?

Is it a big problem that we don't have cars registration, phones etc on the same name.. We can change now, and add me everywhere but it will not be for 2 years period?

Please help

[meauxna 15]

Hi meauxna,

Where did you post example of packets...? In this topic or in others?

Is it a big problem that we don't have cars registration, phones etc on the same name.. We can change now, and add me everywhere but it will not be for 2 years period?

Please help

The posts that are "pinned" to the top of a forum often have information that is useful to all:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=310

What to Include With Your I-751

Several people have posted their successful I-751 application lists to detail what evidence was included. If you are getting your I-751 ready now, or just planning ahead, please read the following threads:

Where do i begin?

http://www.visajourney.com/forums2/index.php?showtopic=64439

What Documents to attach to 751?, Is there a standard list?

http://www.visajourney.com/forums2/index.php?showtopic=45767

[zyggy 9]

Hello,

I have read all documents you sent... what can we do... during these two years almost everything was on my husband name...

"1) Proof of joint ownership or leasing of property (real or personal) such as house deeds, property tax statements, car titles, car registration documents, etc."

Our ownership title for our house is on our both names, but our mortgage is on his name

We lease the car but on my husband name (the price difference was very big, if my name was on the lease, as I did not have any vredit story here...). We have only car insurance on our both names...

What you have sounds like excellent evidence to me in this category

"2) Proof of joint financial information (bank statements in both your names, joint credit card accounts, etc)"

We have joint bank account, joint small savings account, but different credit card (i was done because again I needed to built my own credit history)

Again... this shows that you have a shared financial life... Are you an authorized user on each others cards... you can make a photocopy of the cards with all but the last four numbers blacked out, this would be good evidence as well.

"3) Proof of beneficiary status (having each as a beneficiary on life insurance, 401k's etc. Wills made naming each as executor, medical and financial powers of attorney for each other, etc.)"

We don't have it at all

With a child on the way.. this portion is crucial. You both should at least have wills done up and have medical powers of attorney for each other, not just for yourselves, but this is very important for your children to name thier guardians at this time.... This is worth the few hundred dollars or so that it costs.. now that you have children, you should both be thinking about life insurance as well. I have a significant amount of money in life insurance for less than $75 a month.

"4) Tax returns filed as married (seperately or jointly) If separately, they both should have the same address"

We have it for last year and will do now too

BUT THIS IS ALL WE HAVE ... (EXCEPT THAT I AM PREGNANT NOW) WHAT SHOULD WE DO ? I AM VERY NERVIOUS....

The key is to give the adjudicator as complete a picture as possible.. that you both have a shared life... There is no one way to go about this as each couple has their own way of going about it. You just want to build a picture to an outsider that you indeed have a shared life...

And I forgot the best evidence of all.. a copy of your child birth certificate naming you both as parents...

Edited March 14, 2006 by zyggy

[lucyrich 20]

BUT THIS IS ALL WE HAVE ... (EXCEPT THAT I AM PREGNANT NOW) WHAT SHOULD WE DO ? I AM VERY NERVIOUS....

First, take a deep breath and relax. The worst that will happen if they find your evidence inadequate is that they'll call you in for an interview. They won't reject the thing outright without giving you plenty of opportunity to explain.

Second, they know that not every couple has every type of evidence. It's not essential to have every single type of thing they list; it's only necessary to paint a broad picture consistent with a genuine married couple sharing life together.

Third, your pregnancy is no small thing, both for your life in general and for immigration. Congrats! If the due date is well past the date when you'll have to file the I-751, can you at least get a written statement from your doctor saying that you are pregnant? If your husband is attending prenatal doctors appointments with you, that fact can also be noted.

Finally, consider getting affidavits from friends and neighbors who see you frequently and can attest that you seem to be conducting yourselves as a married couple would.