Document Organization Question

[nicholas.f1 0]

Hi everyone,

I'm Canadian, married to my American wife in 03/2013. I just finished my studies and my F-1 visa expires in 08/2013. I am putting together my paperwork for adjustment of status and planning to file I-130, G-325a, I-864, I-485, I-765, I-131, G-1145 as per the instructions here on Visa Journey.

When preparing the package, do I need to create separate bundles of support documents for each form? In other words, can I have all the forms together and all of the support documents (passport, birth certificates, etc) together, or do I need to create packages for each form? I'm asking this because it seems that some support documents are required by several forms and I'm wondering if I need to include one copy for each form, or if a single copy is sufficient for the entire package.

Should I organize the documents like so?

I-130

passport

birth certificate

etc...

I-485

passport

etc...

other forms...

other support docs...

or can I do:

FORMS

I-130

I-485

other forms...

SUPPORT DOCUMENTS

passport

birth certificate

etc...

Edited July 6, 2013 by nicholas.f1

[Newbie608 103]

I believe your questions were answered in another post, no?

[nicholas.f1 0]

I believe your questions were answered in another post, no?

Can you be more specific please? How was my question answered, and in what other post?

Thanks.

[Little_My 464]

It is totally up to you how you want to organize your package - there's no rule book or guide for that. However, personally I found it easier to arrange them as "separate" packages, also to make sure I had every required document for each separate form. So I basically

1. Wrote a separate cover letter for each form, entailing what documents I was submitting in connection to that particular form (I-130, I-485, I-131, I-765)

2. Put each form separately in a manila folder, with all supporting documents attached

3. Put all four manila folders in one big envelope, with one joint cover letter.

It's totally up to you though, but I found this method to be easier mainly for me staying on top of what was in each package. I also would not just pile all the supporting documents in one huge pile without somehow separating them for each form they are for -that would be a pain in the a** for an IO to sort through, and you'd rather make things as easy as possible for them than make them do extra work trying to figure out what document is for which form.. which, to be honest, they might not even do in the first place.

Also, just noticed your other post on this same topic - YES, you have to have each supporting document SEPARATELY for each form they are required for - so, for example, if both I-130 and I-485 require a passport copy, you cannot just include one - you need two, one for each form. While you submit everything together, each package has to be able to stand on its own. You have to include separate copies for each form/petition/application you are submitting.

Edited July 7, 2013 by Little_My

[nicholas.f1 0]

Thanks for your detailed reply Little_My.

I double posted this question under a different title without realizing it. Forum hiccup. I tried to remove the other thread, but there doesn't seem to be a delete function, so I will cross link it to here.

[nicholas.f1 0]

OP here. I found this: USCIS Immigration Form Assembly Tips after posting this thread.