Original Documents

[Luckygoat 2]

The guides states that i need a certified of marriage certificate for both the i130 and i485 packages. I only have my original and I was going to copy it for the packages and take the original to the interview. Is that ok?

Also the i485 package needs a birth ceriticate but I don't have mines right now. Just my passport. Can I send the package without the birth certificate but have it for the interview?

[Calypso 464]

The guides states that i need a certified of marriage certificate for both the i130 and i485 packages. I only have my original and I was going to copy it for the packages and take the original to the interview. Is that ok? Send photocopies. As much as possible, use colored photocopies (if your marriage certificate is colored). That's what my husband and I have done and the photocopy looked like the original.

Also the i485 package needs a birth ceriticate but I don't have mines right now. Just my passport. Can I send the package without the birth certificate but have it for the interview? A January filer got an RFE for his birth certificate. Send a photocopy for this, too.

I wish you all the best for your AOS.

May it be easy and quick.

Hakuna matata.

God bless us all.

FAE

[HeatDeath 430]

The guides states that i need a certified of marriage certificate for both the i130 and i485 packages. I only have my original and I was going to copy it for the packages and take the original to the interview. Is that ok?

Also the i485 package needs a birth ceriticate but I don't have mines right now. Just my passport. Can I send the package without the birth certificate but have it for the interview?

When we took our marriage license to the county after the ceremony to register it, we bought 4 certified copies at the time. They were like 5 dollars each, and were signed and embossed by the county clerk. Yours may be different but ours had a warning on the back not to photocopy them. Generally speaking, USCIS will accept legible (ideally color) photocopies of documents in the petitions these days. I think they were fussier several years ago. [i know they used to require notarization on some documents, but no longer.] They accept these photocopies on the condition that you are prepared to show originals upon request. Based on people's experiences here, you will probably be ok with a personal photocopy of your marriage license. I don't think they'd RFE you for a legible but mediocre-quality photocopy. In the worst case scenario, it might increase your chance of having an interview (as opposed to getting transferred to CSC), if they get curious enough about it to want to see a properly certified copy and/or original.

As for the birth certificate, read the detailed instructions for both forms. Chances are, the only place the instructions refer to "birth certificate" is in the sections where they tell you that you need to include proof of citizenship (either for the petitioner to the US, or the beneficiary, to their country, depending on the form in question). That section will have a list of valid items you can use to prove citizenship. You will probably find that a photocopy of a passport for a country will also serve as acceptable proof of citizenship to that country.

The lists of items to include with your forms on this site are no longer quite synchronized with the instructions on the USCIS forms themselves, in some cases. They're conservative - you won't go wrong following them, it's just that they have you including things you don't actually need, or extra copies of things you do need. I spent some time going through the USCIS form instructions when I did my I-485, and found that the VisaJourney list included an extra, unnecessary copy of my passport, and one or two other things. Go through the instructions for the forms you are sending with a fine-toothed comb, and make a note of every document they say you need. Do not rely solely on lists you find on this, or any other website. The USCIS instructions are your final authority on what you need to include. When in doubt, have someone else (ideally your spouse!) do the same thing, to double check.

My AOS packet (which was approved with no RFEs and no interview, for whatever that's worth) included these items, grouped by the form they belong to. Note that this list was derived solely from the instructions to the forms themselves, and will differ slightly from the list you find in the Guides here. The items on this list are listed in the same order in which they are referred to in the instructions for the relevant form. As you are also submitting an I-130, you will need to go through the I-130 instructions very carefully to extract a similar list from it's instructions. Notice that my wife, the USC petitioner, had a joint sponsor for the I-864. You will probably not need to include the extra I-864 or it's associated evidence. This list is basically copy/pasted from my I-485 cover letter.

- Payment in the amount of $1010
- I-485
- I-485 Supplement: Part 3, C: Organization Membership
- Copy of Birth Certificate
- Copy of passport page with K-1 nonimmigrant visa
- Two (2) passport-style photos
- I-693: Medical Examination Report Vaccination Supplement [in sealed envelope]
- G-325A and G325A Supplement: Employment Last Five Years [Four (4) copies of each]
- I-864: Affidavit of Support: [Petitioner]
	- Written Explanation of Federal Tax Returns: [Petitioner]
	- Income Tax Return: 1040 EZ for 2007: [Petitioner]
- I-864: Affidavit of Support:  [Joint Sponsor]
	- Proof of Citizenship: Photocopy of biographic page of passport: [Joint Sponsor]
	- Employer Letter:  [Joint Sponsor]
	- Income Tax Return: 1040 for 2008:  [Joint Sponsor]
	- Income Tax Return: 1040 for 2007:  [Joint Sponsor]
	- Income Tax Return: 1040 for 2006:  [Joint Sponsor]
- Copy of I-797: Fiancé Petition Approval Notice
- Certified copy of Marriage Certificate
- Copy of I-94
- I-765
- Copy of passport page with K-1 nonimmigrant visa
- Two (2) passport-style photos
- I-131
- Official Photo Identity Document: Photocopy of biographic page of Canadian passport
- Documents issued by USCIS showing present status in United States:
	- Photocopy of page of Canadian passport showing stamps from previous entries to
		United States
	- Copy of passport page with K-1 nonimmigrant visa
	- Copy of I-94
- Two (2) passport-style photos

Edited February 3, 2010 by HeatDeath

[Luckygoat 2]

When we took our marriage license to the county after the ceremony to register it, we bought 4 certified copies at the time. They were like 5 dollars each, and were signed and embossed by the county clerk. Yours may be different but ours had a warning on the back not to photocopy them. Generally speaking, USCIS will accept legible (ideally color) photocopies of documents in the petitions these days. I think they were fussier several years ago. [i know they used to require notarization on some documents, but no longer.] They accept these photocopies on the condition that you are prepared to show originals upon request. Based on people's experiences here, you will probably be ok with a personal photocopy of your marriage license. I don't think they'd RFE you for a legible but mediocre-quality photocopy. In the worst case scenario, it might increase your chance of having an interview (as opposed to getting transferred to CSC), if they get curious enough about it to want to see a properly certified copy and/or original.

As for the birth certificate, read the detailed instructions for both forms. Chances are, the only place the instructions refer to "birth certificate" is in the sections where they tell you that you need to include proof of citizenship (either for the petitioner to the US, or the beneficiary, to their country, depending on the form in question). That section will have a list of valid items you can use to prove citizenship. You will probably find that a photocopy of a passport for a country will also serve as acceptable proof of citizenship to that country.

The lists of items to include with your forms on this site are no longer quite synchronized with the instructions on the USCIS forms themselves, in some cases. They're conservative - you won't go wrong following them, it's just that they have you including things you don't actually need, or extra copies of things you do need. I spent some time going through the USCIS form instructions when I did my I-485, and found that the VisaJourney list included an extra, unnecessary copy of my passport, and one or two other things. Go through the instructions for the forms you are sending with a fine-toothed comb, and make a note of every document they say you need. Do not rely solely on lists you find on this, or any other website. The USCIS instructions are your final authority on what you need to include. When in doubt, have someone else (ideally your spouse!) do the same thing, to double check.

My AOS packet (which was approved with no RFEs and no interview, for whatever that's worth) included these items, grouped by the form they belong to. Note that this list was derived solely from the instructions to the forms themselves, and will differ slightly from the list you find in the Guides here. The items on this list are listed in the same order in which they are referred to in the instructions for the relevant form. As you are also submitting an I-130, you will need to go through the I-130 instructions very carefully to extract a similar list from it's instructions. Notice that my wife, the USC petitioner, had a joint sponsor for the I-864. You will probably not need to include the extra I-864 or it's associated evidence. This list is basically copy/pasted from my I-485 cover letter.

- Payment in the amount of $1010
- I-485
- I-485 Supplement: Part 3, C: Organization Membership
- Copy of Birth Certificate
- Copy of passport page with K-1 nonimmigrant visa
- Two (2) passport-style photos
- I-693: Medical Examination Report Vaccination Supplement [in sealed envelope]
- G-325A and G325A Supplement: Employment Last Five Years [Four (4) copies of each]
- I-864: Affidavit of Support: [Petitioner]
	- Written Explanation of Federal Tax Returns: [Petitioner]
	- Income Tax Return: 1040 EZ for 2007: [Petitioner]
- I-864: Affidavit of Support:  [Joint Sponsor]
	- Proof of Citizenship: Photocopy of biographic page of passport: [Joint Sponsor]
	- Employer Letter:  [Joint Sponsor]
	- Income Tax Return: 1040 for 2008:  [Joint Sponsor]
	- Income Tax Return: 1040 for 2007:  [Joint Sponsor]
	- Income Tax Return: 1040 for 2006:  [Joint Sponsor]
- Copy of I-797: Fiancé Petition Approval Notice
- Certified copy of Marriage Certificate
- Copy of I-94
- I-765
- Copy of passport page with K-1 nonimmigrant visa
- Two (2) passport-style photos
- I-131
- Official Photo Identity Document: Photocopy of biographic page of Canadian passport
- Documents issued by USCIS showing present status in United States:
	- Photocopy of page of Canadian passport showing stamps from previous entries to
		United States
	- Copy of passport page with K-1 nonimmigrant visa
	- Copy of I-94
- Two (2) passport-style photos

Thank you so much for your response I will def follow the last you provided. one question:

- G-325A and G325A Supplement: Employment Last Five Years [Four (4) copies of each]

Why did you need to provide 4 copies?

And what is the G325A Supplement: Employment Last Five Years for? I only filled out the G325A

[HeatDeath 430]

Thank you so much for your response I will def follow the last you provided. one question:

- G-325A and G325A Supplement: Employment Last Five Years [Four (4) copies of each]

Why did you need to provide 4 copies?

And what is the G325A Supplement: Employment Last Five Years for? I only filled out the G325A

The older version of the G-325A had four identical sheets. You had to fill out and sign all four. Earlier last year it was replaced with a new version that has only one sheet. But the instructions for the form continued to refer to quadruplicate copies of the form for several months afterwards, causing no end of confusion around here. Many people, including myself, sent in four copies of the form regardless of the new version, just to be safe. It seems reasonably clear now that only one copy is now required. Do a search on the forums here to read more about it.

The G-325A, in the section where it asks for your job history for the last five years, has only 3-4 lines in which to put your information. My employment history is somewhat busier than that (multiple simultaneous substitute teaching contracts, mostly), so instead of trying to cram it all into an insufficient space, I typed "See Attachment" and recreated the table on a separate piece of paper, with enough space to list everything. I stapled one of these attachments to each copy of the G-325A, so that in case more than one copy was required, each copy would be completely filled out, having it's own attachment.

[Luckygoat 2]

The older version of the G-325A had four identical sheets. You had to fill out and sign all four. Earlier last year it was replaced with a new version that has only one sheet. But the instructions for the form continued to refer to quadruplicate copies of the form for several months afterwards, causing no end of confusion around here. Many people, including myself, sent in four copies of the form regardless of the new version, just to be safe. It seems reasonably clear now that only one copy is now required. Do a search on the forums here to read more about it.

The G-325A, in the section where it asks for your job history for the last five years, has only 3-4 lines in which to put your information. My employment history is somewhat busier than that (multiple simultaneous substitute teaching contracts, mostly), so instead of trying to cram it all into an insufficient space, I typed "See Attachment" and recreated the table on a separate piece of paper, with enough space to list everything. I stapled one of these attachments to each copy of the G-325A, so that in case more than one copy was required, each copy would be completely filled out, having it's own attachment.

O ok I gat you. I would like to think you guys sent in sufficent evidence as well considering you didnt have a interview. what all did you sent?

[HeatDeath 430]

O ok I gat you. I would like to think you guys sent in sufficent evidence as well considering you didnt have a interview. what all did you sent?

I was a K-1 fiance visa entrant. That means my wife filed an I-129F fiance petition with USCIS in Fall of 2008. The fiance petition requires only that you prove that you two have met (been in the same place at the same time and interacted) at least once in the preceding two years.

But because some consulates (primarily those in "high fraud" countries) are known to ignore evidence of a bona fide relationship brought to the consulate interview by the applicant, it is common practice for I-129 filers to "front load" their fiance petition: that is, to include a significant amount of evidence: photos, airline flight stubs, emails, chat transcripts, affidavits from family members, etc - in order to force the consulate, who eventually receive all of this material, to at least look at it. Understand that none of this evidence makes any difference to USCIS when they adjudicate the fiance petition - they just pass it along to the consulate who, because they received it through official channels, are forced to consider it in their decision to grant the visa.

Canada is not a known "high fraud" consulate. Indeed, I almost feel guilty, thinking about the easy time I had getting through compared to the nightmares I read about here concerning consulates in central and south america and the MENA (Middle East, North Africa) region. As such, we probably did not have to "front load" at all - but we did a little. 5-6 examples each of the categories I mentioned above.

As requested by the US Consulate in Vancouver, Canada, where I interviewed to get my visa, I did bring some more relationship evidence: primarily emails, the remaining flight stubs, and long distance phone bills documenting communication and visits from between the time of the I-129 filing and the consulate interview, bringing the evidence stack up to date. I also brought some more photos, documenting our engagement. They weren't interested in seeing any of that, and issued my fiance visa.

When it came time to file for Adjustment of Status, after our wedding, as you can see they already had a significant amount of documentation regarding our relationship up to that point. There was no need to send anymore, and none was requested in the instructions for the AOS application, EAD application, or Advance Parole application. So I didn't send anymore. The list above is everything I sent with my AOS packet. It seemed to have no impact on the Adjustment of Status, because they already had a significant amount of evidence. But no extra evidence was needed at the Adjustment of Status step.

The I-485, I-765, and I-131 require no relationship evidence, other than the marriage certificate. Evidence sent with the I-129F is useless for the I-129F itself, but becomes useful if your petition will be sent to a US Consulate. I do not know specifically what kids of evidence are requested and advised by the I-130. If they request evidence of a bonafide relationship, know that photos, taken over a long time frame, are very good. Transcripts of electronic communications, long distance phone records, and transportation records (airline flight stubs showing travel to be with each other) are also very good. For fiances trying to prove a meeting, airline stubs are especially preferred because they can be independently verified. I would also recommend including evidence that you are cohabiting and mingling your finances.

The evidence requirements for the I-130 seem almost to be a combination of those requested for the consular interview and the I-751 lifting of conditions. The USCIS AOS interview, for I-130 filers, is in some ways analogous to the Consular interview for K-1 fiances. For more information about what kind of evidences to include, I would read and search in both the AOS from a Family visa forum, and the Lifting of Conditions forum.