Hi,
Do the affidavits need to be notarized? I read conflicting stories. One said yes and one said no.
Thanks,
Carmelisa

yes it needs to be notarized.

i just want to confirm that you mean the affidavits from people that say they know you are in a real relationship (not the affidavit of support). thanks!!

oh i'm sorry! I got confused.

you do not need them notarized unless your interview is passed the expiration date of your NOA2.

Heh, you're still confused. Affidavits in support of the I-751 should be notarized. However, federal law (28 U.S.C. § 1746, to be precise) does permit one to append the following declaration in lieu of notarization when one is required to submit a sworn affidavit:

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on (date).

(Signature)

We did not have the letters notarized, nor did they have the sentence James posted above. (Just plain forgot the letters were to be notarized!) We were recently approved. I think given the other evidence we sent in, the letters not being notarized probably did not have much effect. But, I am just speculating and sharing our experience.

Its better to have them notarized, but it is not a requirement. All of ours are notarized because I think it looks better and shows that the affidavits are true and are not just made up by joe bloggs! It saves USCIS time as they don't have to call the person to testify and lets face it...USCIS needs all the help they can get to approve our petitions faster!

Actually, the instructions require that the affidavits be "sworn." That means they should be notarized or, if not possible, have the declaration quoted above.

our letter from friends were notarized, but i haven't been approved yet so.......

We didn't do affidavits. We were told by friends on here that they are only needed if there isn't any other good evidence to submit.

hi Honeyblonde,
did you find out yet if you were approved? thanks for your help!
carmelisa

We just filed ours, but some of those who told us they didn't do them have gotten their 10 year cards already. It really depends on how strong your other evidence is as to whether you need to send affidavits or not.

We have not submitted affidevits because our lawer told us that there is no need. I followed his directions because if you do immigration law for 20 years, you have to know something in the craft. Seams that financial comminglig is way more important. If you have other proof-I would not bother.

We didn't submit affidavits either. We submitted financial records (insurance, tax, loans) and birth certificate of our daughter. I don't think you can beat birth certificate though. But then again, the application is still pending, so knock on wood.

Simon

When in doubt! DO IT!!!!

Like a previous poster said, affidavits are probably not even an issue if you have overwhelming documentary evidence. In most cases you won't need them as all they are is a statement requiring no underlying proof. There's no way to prove anything an affiant says is false unless USCIS vigorously pursues it (and I doubt they have the interest or resources to do so unless someone is charging $$$ for their sworn statements).

My wife got approved without affidavits no problem. We just ignored it because we had ample docs that supported our case. I would think affidavits would be most useful as substitutes for birth certificates from places such as Somalia or Cambodia where the vital stats were destroyed by warlords or the Khmer Rouge. In cases such as proving a bona fide marriage however, they're pretty worthless.

Short answer --- Don't worry about it.

You have no idea what you're talking about. Affidavits are statements "requiring no underlying proof"??? Affidavits are indeed a form of proof in and of themselves. Witness statements (and of course any subsequent testimony from those witnesses) are probative evidence.

Now, it may well be that the majority of people who send in I-751s without affidavits are approved. But the fact remains that CIS regs and the I-751 instructions expressly mention affidavits as one form of proof that may be included. Plus there have been more than a few people here on VJ who thought they had strong evidence, did not send in affidavits, and received RFEs. They responded to the RFEs with affidavits among other things and were approved. Would you know that? Of course not. You're a newbie whom nobody has ever seen or heard of before.

The only thing worse than an ignorant newbie is an ignorant newbie passing off misinformation.

An affidavit is a sworn statement and nothing more. It does not prove a bona fide marriage. It is essentially one person's word that because it is done under oath supposedly carries some sort of powerful evidenciary weight. In the absence of strong first-hand evidence, it's probably useful, but it is certainly no substitute for strong tangible evidence establishing a valid marriage.

Give the kindergarten name-calling a rest James. You only show your own immaturity and insecurities in so-doing.

*SIGH*

We had both sworn/notarized affidavits and strong financial evidence. I believe that affidavits should come from people who TRULY know you. Ours were from my mother and sister, who are around us all the time.

I say that affidavits can't hurt you, only help further your case along. If you can provide them, provide them. If you can't, then don't. But remember this, your whole purpose to this application is to give them considerable evidence to decide if you two are in a bonafide relationship. You sure as hell better have plenty of info that represents that, and if you don't, be prepared for an RFE.

Good luck...with USCIS you're going to need it.

Who are you again? Nobody knows. Aren't you the newbie troll who tried to tell everybody off on the TSC-VSC thread when you joined VJ last week? http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...t&p=1811686

I agree with your assessment Staashi. Affidavits can't hurt, but I don't think they help much either in most cases. I guess it's kind of like filling your 4-banger Toyota Corolla with premium gas...nice, but probably not necessary. If you've had a baby together, are paying off a mortgage, and have your foreign spouse listed as a beneficiary on insurance, that's pretty damn solid.

I think USCIS would tend to give a closer look at relationships where there is considerable age difference between the spouses. In cases such as these, affidavits would certainly be helpful.

No James,

I did not "tell everybody off." I told you and others who were flaming USCIS and low-level officials to knock off the petty name-calling, as it probably doesn't help things much. Then you started channeling all that anger towards me and suggested I step in front of a bus.

Grow up.