preparing I-130 form

[vincesca 2]

Hi,

I am new to this forum.

I am Italian and I recently got married with my American husband and we are getting all the documents to file the petition.

I have a couple of questions and hope anybody can help me:

- Which kind of evidences of your bona fides marriage did you add? We have the marriage certificate, a joint bank account statement, pictures of the wedding, two affidavits from friends.. Do you suggest that we add anything else?

- Since we got married in Italy the marriage certificate is in italian. Do we have to get it translated from a certified US translator or is if fine if a person that is fluent in both italian and english translates it?

Also, I am a little worried about doing this alone without using a lawyer. Has anyone done this on their own and can you reassure me that we are doing the right thing?

Thanks so much in advance

[Vick M 0]

Hey!

First of all Congrats!

you will need your marriage certificate in english, a certified copy.

for my package, i sent in 3 affdavits from my parents and a close friend.

i would recommend you to send in pictures, affidavits, marriage certificate plus joints account statements & supporting documents is a plus.

i sent in a full copy of my wifes passport too.

and you dont have to be scared. its pretty easy. lawyers are just to rip you off. you can do it.

[AriannaC 17]

Hi,

I am new to this forum.

I am Italian and I recently got married with my American husband and we are getting all the documents to file the petition.

I have a couple of questions and hope anybody can help me:

- Which kind of evidences of your bona fides marriage did you add? We have the marriage certificate, a joint bank account statement, pictures of the wedding, two affidavits from friends.. Do you suggest that we add anything else?

- Since we got married in Italy the marriage certificate is in italian. Do we have to get it translated from a certified US translator or is if fine if a person that is fluent in both italian and english translates it?

Also, I am a little worried about doing this alone without using a lawyer. Has anyone done this on their own and can you reassure me that we are doing the right thing?

Thanks so much in advance

Ciao Francesca,

this is what we sent :

Evidence of Bona Fide Marriage:

• Letter explaining our relationship history, marriage, and our future plans together
• Copies of affidavits affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of our marriage
• Copies of travel documents showing beneficiary’s trips to the United States to visit petitionary (Flight itineraries, passport stamps, boarding passes.)
• Copy of Chat logs and messages (Skype, Facebook, Google Hangouts, Whatsapp)
• Photos as evidence to our bona fide relationship and marriage

I would add some pictures of the two of you before the wedding, but I think you have pretty much everything they might need.

Anyone who is fluent both in English and Italian can translate the marriage certificate, however the petitioner or the beneficiary can not translate the document.

[Abby&Mario 100]

Hi vincesca,

The best places to look are here: http://www.uscis.gov/i-130 and here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

Unfortunately, there is some misinformation in the replies you have already received. USCIS no longer requires certified copies of anything under normal circumstances. Legible and complete copies from a scanner or copy machine will do just fine at this stage. No need to send any original documents either--you will need those later on, but not for the I-130. Source: http://www.uscis.gov/forms/forms-and-fees/general-tips-assembling-applications-mailing

You do need translations and you can see those instructions here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/translations

The USCIS instructions having to do with translations are also in the first link above. I think the term "certified translation" is what throws people off. I've never seen anything stating that the petitioner and beneficiary are not allowed to do the translations. Plenty of people on the forum have translated their own documents.

This forum is better than any lawyer. Don't be intimidated!

[AriannaC 17]

Hi vincesca,

The best places to look are here: http://www.uscis.gov/i-130 and here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

Unfortunately, there is some misinformation in the replies you have already received. USCIS no longer requires certified copies of anything under normal circumstances. Legible and complete copies from a scanner or copy machine will do just fine at this stage. No need to send any original documents either--you will need those later on, but not for the I-130. Source: http://www.uscis.gov/forms/forms-and-fees/general-tips-assembling-applications-mailing

You do need translations and you can see those instructions here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/translations

The USCIS instructions having to do with translations are also in the first link above. I think the term "certified translation" is what throws people off. I've never seen anything stating that the petitioner and beneficiary are not allowed to do the translations. Plenty of people on the forum have translated their own documents.

This forum is better than any lawyer. Don't be intimidated!

http://www.***removed***/immigration/document-english-translation.html

Now you have

[vincesca 2]

Thanks so much for reassuring me!

Got a lot of work to do to put together all the documentation.

[TeaCup 65]

Pictures together from trips, plane tickets, passport stamps, a log showing calls/messages

[Abby&Mario 100]

http://www.***removed***/immigration/document-english-translation.html

Now you have

I am not familiar with that web site. I'll believe it when I see it stated on a U.S. government web site. There are tons of people on the forum who translated their own documents, included the signed certification and had their petitions approved. If you search, you will find plenty.

Sometimes (I believe this is the case with China) documents do need to be translated by a government office in the country of origin. That is the only exception I am aware of when it comes to being able to do the translations yourself, and I am not even sure if that's at the USCIS stage so I'm not the one to ask about that specific topic.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Abby&Mario

[bkghosh 121]

- Which kind of evidences of your bona fides marriage did you add? We have the marriage certificate, a joint bank account statement, pictures of the wedding, two affidavits from friends.. Do you suggest that we add anything else?

- Since we got married in Italy the marriage certificate is in italian. Do we have to get it translated from a certified US translator or is if fine if a person that is fluent in both italian and english translates it?

Also, I am a little worried about doing this alone without using a lawyer. Has anyone done this on their own and can you reassure me that we are doing the right thing?

Thanks so much in advance

These evidence for marriage is already pretty good. Any kind of proof of comingling of assets is good. You do not need a lawyer. You can do this on your own and now you have VJ members to help you all the way. Just do not hesitate to ask questions. Someone will respond fairly quickly. Please do not send any originals to USCIS. Send only copies (simple Xerox copies, do not need certified copies).

Please check the VJ- I130 Guide (as mentioned in the following post) for a check list of things to send to USCIS.

The best places to look are here: http://www.uscis.gov/i-130 and here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

Unfortunately, there is some misinformation in the replies you have already received. USCIS no longer requires certified copies of anything under normal circumstances. Legible and complete copies from a scanner or copy machine will do just fine at this stage. No need to send any original documents either--you will need those later on, but not for the I-130. Source: http://www.uscis.gov/forms/forms-and-fees/general-tips-assembling-applications-mailing

This forum is better than any lawyer. Don't be intimidated!

Excellent advise. We do not need to send originals and or certified copies to USCIS. Also agree that VJ 'rocks'.

Edited April 20, 2014 by bkghosh

[vincesca 2]

Hi guys,

I have anoher question. My husband and I are having some doubts about his birth certificate.

You are all saying that we can send copies (xerox) of documents to USCIS.

He has his original birth certificate from when he was born.

Can we use a copy of that or do we have to go to get a copy at the Vital Records Offie (and then xerox it and send it to USCIS)?

thanks again!

[B & G 200]

Hi guys,

I have anoher question. My husband and I are having some doubts about his birth certificate.

You are all saying that we can send copies (xerox) of documents to USCIS.

He has his original birth certificate from when he was born.

Can we use a copy of that or do we have to go to get a copy at the Vital Records Offie (and then xerox it and send it to USCIS)?

thanks again!

A photocopy of his original birth certificate is just fine. No need to order a certified copy. Keep in mind that all the original or certified copies that you guys will need to provide during the whole process wont be until you get to NVC (National Visa Center) and it will only be documents that pertain to the beneficiary (you) and not the petitioner (your husband).

In our packet we included:

All relevant forms (I-130, G325-A)

Passport pics of myself and my husband

Photocopies of all the pages of my husband's US passport

Photocopy of my passport's bio page

Photocopy of marriage certificate

Photocopy of my husband's divorce decree

To add my 2 cents in about bonafide relationship evidence. What you have right now is perfectly fine. What I would suggest is adding some evidence of your relationship prior to the marriage. What I did was divide our relationship history in trips e.g B's visit to Athens Greece Aug 2011. Under that heading I added 3 pics, copies of boarding passes and passport stamps. It showed a progression of our relationship, (through pics) when I met his family, when he met my family and so on and so forth, all the way up to our marriage.

Skype logs. i printed examples months ( printed out apr 2011 log, than aug 2011 etc), no need to include all of them.

Others had mentioned no need to send chats or emails. We used to use blackberry messenger and I just took screen shots of chat history dates for various months. And one email that was a page long where we were talking about the fact that blackberry messenger wasn't working! lol!

We were approved without a RFE (request for further evidence) and no lawyer was used. The process is not hard, just time consuming!

And welcome to the journey, and good luck!

[christeen 966]

Thanks Ahsan. Why would you need the legal age affidavit? If you're sending in your Birth Certificate.

2 Affidavit of your self asserting that your of legal age to marry and are joining in marriage with ____ your partner at free will

For the affidavits, will just a few sentence be okay and then have it notarized?

You mentioned that the chat logs etc are not mandatory, but it can only help right? Yes, our marriage is legal and real. We married here in the states, she entered with her C1D visa (Crew visa) and she's been back to work as usual (she's a flight attendant). We had our reception in Vietnam just last month. So that's why I'm very thankful for the support from you guys and all of VJ. I want to kick off my CR1 request as soon as I can. Although I am very fortunate to see my wife, but one day with her every now and then just isn't enough. Thank goodness for Skype and all the technology out there to help us communicate and see each other.

Thanks again for your advice

My husband worked n his C1/D right up until the IR1(CR1) visa was put in his passport... Then he worked using the I551 stamp (given upon entry to the USA) until his GC arrived so no worries... It is not cancelled until another visa is issued.

To the OP... Time spent together in person and face to face is most weighted... So be sure include copies of passport showing entry into Italy, receipts showing stuff you did together etc... But Naples is not super strict at looking at bonified proof (it is not considered a high fraud country ) they are however, known to be sticklers for showing that the immigrant will not become a financial burden (in other words the USC makes enough money)... We self translated everything and had no issues.

[Ryan H 3,812]

***Post with content violating the TOS removed, post minus the content returned below. Administrative Action taken.***

Greetings,

The requirement of chat logs and phone calls or instant messaging are not mandatory. If your marriage is legal and real, than you don't have to worry about sending in your chat logs or video logs and even phone/text logs.

Simple way to proof your marriage is through

- Marriage Certificate registered with your local government where you got married

- 2-4 Affidavits, 2 Affidavit of your self asserting that your of legal age to marry and are joining in marriage with ____ your partner at free will

- Marriage/Reception pictures, with description of what is it you are showing, Don't send them a 40 page album, few are fine, that shows the couple, couple with relatives, friends, gifts, than 3-4 pictures from a vacation or a dinner you guys attended,

- Passport Entry and Exit stamp

- Copy of your tickets

- And if possibly you got pregnant than that's something they can't deny. If you have a doctors report that shows you got pregnant during the time of your stay and after marriage they won't have anything else to question about your marriage and eliminates the requirement sending in pictures, but you should still send like a minimum of 10.

If you have further questions, don't hesitate to ask.

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.

[Hollyday 122]

Anyone who is fluent both in English and Italian can translate the marriage certificate, however the petitioner or the beneficiary can not translate the document.

Who told you that they cannot? Many people do it themselves. I'm the beneficiary, did the translation myself, certified it, no problem on the way whatsoever.