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Posted by: matt01 Nov 7 2009, 08:02 AM

All I have is tons of our ceremony photos and a receipt of our wedding bands we brought. Is that enough?
My wife is thinking of making a small color album of our ceremony and end photos of us signing our marriage certificate. I also have flight tickets and intinerys of us flying to see each other during our relationship apart. Some 30 family members attended our ceremony.

Posted by: Darnell Nov 7 2009, 09:25 AM

I suggest affadavits from people that attended the wedding, also.

Posted by: ashlesha Nov 7 2009, 09:30 AM

Its a MUST.

Posted by: MaddyCruise Nov 7 2009, 09:38 AM

I suggest Affidavit of Bona Marriage from your relatives, membership card from CostCo, Sams that it doesn't need your SSN. Newlyweds doesn't have a lot of evidence.
Coz banks and insurance need a SSN. And before I forget, Joint tenancy too. If you are renting your place just ask them if you can put the name of the spouse in the lease.
More evidence that better.


Good Luck

Maddy & Russ

Posted by: FinnLove Nov 7 2009, 09:45 AM

Don't waste your time on a photo album. I had a photo book made at a camera store (it was very thin with 38 pages!), and USCIS sent it back to me the day they opened up my package. They didn't even look at it.

Posted by: christeen Nov 7 2009, 12:43 PM

Agreed, dont send an album, I printed photos on regular paper (4 to a sheet) so they are easily included withe the package and sent 12 photos and just wrote captions under them... The affadavits are good too...

Posted by: pushbrk Nov 8 2009, 11:23 AM

No, they are not a must. They are optional as is anything listed in the instructions following the words, "in addition to the required....".

Evidence of marriage is a marriage certificate. Evidence of a bona fide ongoing relationship could be many things. Affidavits from friends and relatives are usually lame and useless particularly for newlyweds who have not yet lived in the same country together.

Posted by: Scott and Mhay Nov 8 2009, 01:04 PM

I used 4 affidavits, evolution of relationship letter from me, and pictures. I will give my wife chat logs, skype call logs, phone records, e-mails, letters and cards for the actual interview. She will also take my ticket stubs, hotel receipts, more pictures and such to the interview.

It is hard to show in the application for people that havent been married for very long. Get what you can together and keep gathering for the interview.

Posted by: Married2aTico Nov 8 2009, 01:43 PM

Just to clarify:

Are you asking about evidence for the I-130 petition or the interview?

Evidence is not a requirement for the packet. Aside from your certified marriage certificate, you do not have to submit anything. I submitted no additional evidence and my petitions (I-130 and I-129F) were approved with no RFE. Remember that your petition/s only get you an interview, not an approval for legal entry into the USA.

As for the interview - yes, bring evidence. Plane tickets are not accepted as travel evidence, since there is no guarentee you were actually on the plane. Travel is evidenced solely through passport stamps. Wedding pictures are good (especially those that include friends and family) and photos that show the progression of the relationship over time. For my interview, my husband and I took a very little book we titled "The History of Us...So far". In it, we put pictures from the night we met all the way through until the present time. We put labels on all of the pics, so the Officer would not need to ask tons of questions (i.e. when, where, who is in the pic). We put the book together on Ritz.com and I picked it up in an hour at the local store. Very easy. In addition, of course, you will wnt to take tax docs (and employment/salary verification and w2's) to prove financial eligibility. Generally, you will be asked for very little unless fraud is suspected.

Posted by: BunzTheMagicSnail Nov 8 2009, 02:34 PM

USCIS is not looking for evidence of marriage, they are seeking evidence of a bona fide, ongoing relationship
sending a ton of photos is not necessary, you should save those for the interview, if it makes you feel comfortable though you can probably send a few
copies of your tickets and itineraries are very good evidence of your ongoing relationship

Posted by: pushbrk Nov 8 2009, 05:10 PM

This is incorrect. In spouse visa cases, USCIS is looking for evidence of a legal marriage. A Consular officer will evaluating evidence of bona fides.

It's important to note that the I-130 is not just used in visa cases. In an adjustment of status case, USCIS is the agency that evaluates bona fides, so adding some evidence beyond the marriage certificate, when filing, is helpful. Nevertheless the I-130 can be approved without any "additional" evidence. The real evaluation of bona fides in an AOS case is at the interview that takes place in the process of approving the I-485.

Posted by: Kenza Nov 8 2009, 06:07 PM

I just sent one pic from each year we were together plus 2 photos from our wedding/engagement. total of 7 photos. All the other evidence should be saved for the interview.