RFE Received, Help!

[raspbenz 0]

I just found out in my mail, they have sent me an RFC, which wasn't very surprising to me since I didn't submit Tax Returns. Like I expected the notice told me to submit Tax returns, financial records, residence proofs, insurance and travel documents etc., When I filed for ROC, I've submitted the following documents. (I got my Conditional Residency in Mar 2010 and I Filed ROC in Dec 2011). We don't have any kids and we are fresh out of college.

1. Joint Bank Account Statements (3/year so in all 6).

2. Current Lease Agreement for the apartment ( Living there since Jun 2011)

3. Proof of Health and Dental Insurance and coverage letter from the provider mentioning that we are covered with them since 2010.

4. Since I'm an Indian Citizen and my Spouse is a US citizen, I've filed POI card for the spouse ( People of Indian Origin, equivalent to PR in India) and I submitted a copy.

5. A travel Itinerary of a trip we took to Texas in 2011.

I've figured since the application requires atleast two or more, this would be enough. But apparently, it isn't. Now there are a few more complications in providing additional requested documents.

1. Tax Returns: Before 2010, neither of us had to file taxes since we didn't have any income and we were still in college. But in 2010, my spouse got a part-time job and the school directly sent the tax documents to my spouse's parents' address and they filed taxes on her behalf without notifying us. (Her parents till date don't know we are married, since they don't approve inter-racial marriage). We talked to the accountant who filed her taxes and on his advice I filed my taxes as single by the same accountant, since it was already late by then, and her parents would lose a significant refund money.

2. For 2011, we filed taxes jointly in Feb 2012 and we got our refund check, no issues. I thought about filing an Amended Tax Return for 2010, but I've neglected it and my current accountant warned that IRS might scrutinize closely, if tax returns are amended years later and suggested to leave it alone.

Now with regards to sending documents for RFE Notice.

1. State IDs/Driving Licenses: I've got my driving license very recently like in Sep 2011. Before that I only have a State-ID. My driving license has our current address. But my spouse's driving license has our old Address from more than 16 months ago. We changed the addresses online, but I guess the old address still stays on the card. Will that be an issue?

2. Credit Cards: We have like 3-4 credit cards jointly. But for all of them, I am the primary account holder and she is an additional card holder. So all the statements reflect my name. I'm planning on making copies of the cards along with the statements and submit them. (Cards have the same number, but different names).

3. Health Insurance: I'll resubmit all the Health Insurance documents and also we went to the same dentist for treatment at different times. So I'll plan on gettings those treatment records and submitting them too.

4. Auto-Insurance: My wife owns a car and she has the auto insurance on her name since 2010. I only got my license very recently and she added me to her insurance like a month ago. So we only have one insurance statement for evidence and our car is only on her name.

5. Renter's Insurance: We have joint renter's insurance for our current apartment since Jun 2011 and we will be renewing it this month.

6. Cancelled Checks: We have many different checks written to our apartment landlords over the past year from the joint checking account. I'll be submitting them too.

7. Residential Proofs: We have a few W-2's mailed to us on our previous addresses and we requested bank statements that show our old addresses. I only have a lease agreement for the current apartment (From Jun 2011), since before that we were living at our friend's house temporarily (From Oct 2010-Jun 2011). We also have 1099IN from the joint savings account mailed to our old addresses. We only have Utility bills from the current apartment.

8. Certified Tax Copies:

I've just requested certified tax copies from the IRS for the past two years online. They will be arriving in 7-10 days according to the website.

Now should I mention in a letter that "For 2010, we filed taxes in single status due to an accounting misunderstanding, but in 2011 we've filed jointly." Or should we file an Amended Tax Return for 2010 and attach the acknowledgement from IRS. Since processing that takes many weeks, I'm not sure if it would be wise.

In any case, I'm a little worried. Do you guys think I'm still thin on evidence? I don't know what other documents I can provide.

Thanks for your help.

P.S.: Our's is a California Confidential Marriage, if it helps anything.

[DaniG 3]

It seems like you have a lot of documents. For the ones where things look weird, like the 2010 tax return and the DL's/state ID - maybe you could get letters from the accountant explaining the situation & the state/DOT saying you are registered at the same address - if not possible, concentrate on providing more of the other types of evidence & send what you have. BTW, it's not 100% clear above if for 2010 you filed as "single" or as "married filing separately" - the second is totally okay with USCIS, the first not so if you're sending them the 2010 return make sure it comes with a good explanation. You don't mention sending any affidavits from friends/relatives or photos - these are some easy things to provide, also residence can be shown with copies of letters addressed to both of you in addition to what you already have.

[raspbenz 0]

Thanks for the reply. The 2010 Tax return is filed as single. I will definitely write a clear explanation. Coming to the state ID, CA doesn't issue new id's for change of addresses. (One ID lists the current address because its new, while the other one lists our old address). Not sure how to get the state to issue a document listing our current address. Coming to affidavits/photos, we have a few photos we took when visiting my wife's cousins and other occasions.. Since we were college students, we don't have many photos with family and we didn't undertake many trips.

Thanks again for your help.

[raspbenz 0]

Also, do we have to send them only IRS Certified copies, or can we send them a personal copy? (one from my accountant).

Thank you.

[DaniG 3]

IRS transcript is better, some people get RFE's when they send tax return copies. For the DL, if you got an e-mail or confirmation for reporting the change of address, you could attach that to the DL - you have a rental agreement though, so I wouldn't worry too much about proving joint residence. Also, they don't care to see a ton of photos, just 10, max 15 is more than enough.

[lyekka 5]

Our drivers license have different addresses. We went to the local department of licensing and they printed us out a copy of each record showing our same address where we had changed it, they even put an official state government stamp on it for us. We sent that original paperwork in with the copy of our drivers license. Now that the packet is sent, we are going to go back and get new licenses to show the correct address on them just incase we get a rfe. fingers crossed we wont, but im not too worried if we do, just submit what they ask for.

good luck!