AOS Interview... Ceremony plans for next yr?

[Yellowhead 12]

My husband and I have our AOS interview tomorrow and we are just compiling our proof for our marriage. We had our civil ceremony in May 2011 and have all proof of that (we were dressed nicely, but it by no means looked like a traditional wedding. We are now planning our committment ceremony (which we are also calling a wedding, for family and friends) for August 2012 in the Caribbean on a cruise. We have all details relating to that, including a facebook event with various people stating they are attending, the formal wedding invites, NO rings yet as it is a year away, receipt for the cruise deposit, receipt for the photographer, and a receipt from the wedding planner stating the day of and location. My question is, will bringing this info hurt our harm our case? I know a lot of people do things this way and plan for a committment ceremony for a later date. We have not told all of our family that we are currently married because they are extremely judgmental, however we have letters from his parents who attending our civil ceremony stating they are aware of and support our marriage, and acted as witnesses to it.

In addition to all of this, we have the usual documents: lease, life insurance, joint car insurance, letters coming to the same address, pictures from the civil ceremony, marriage certificate, as well as knowing each other intimately and being prepared for any questions that legitimize our relationship.

Any advice welcome. Good advice, not rude advice Excited to FINALLY get this done.

[Anh map 2,098]

The marriage certificate is the proof that you are legally married. Nothing else needed to prove that.

Showing the comingling of lives is the more important part. Especially financials. Lease, insurance policies, drivers licenses with common address, bank accounts, etc.

[Deema & Wayne 28]

The marriage certificate is the proof that you are legally married. Nothing else needed to prove that.

Showing the comingling of lives is the more important part. Especially financials. Lease, insurance policies, drivers licenses with common address, bank accounts, etc.

Regarding the drivers license and insurance, we don't get an SSN number to get those things till after we get the green card..how do we provide such things?

[Yellowhead 12]

Regarding the drivers license and insurance, we don't get an SSN number to get those things till after we get the green card..how do we provide such things?

K-1's can get SSN before green card and EAD. I got mine after 10 days of arriving at POE. You just have to wait until you are in the computer system at the SSN office which takes 10 days. From there, you can get a Drivers License in some states, but regulations vary. In California you can get a DL, but it is only valid for the duration of your I-94, which is 3 months. Then you have to wait until you get your EAD or GC, whichever comes first, to renew. I had everything within 2 weeks, so should be no problem to provide this, as well as joint vehicle insurance on both our vehicles.

[Deema & Wayne 28]

K-1's can get SSN before green card and EAD. I got mine after 10 days of arriving at POE. You just have to wait until you are in the computer system at the SSN office which takes 10 days. From there, you can get a Drivers License in some states, but regulations vary. In California you can get a DL, but it is only valid for the duration of your I-94, which is 3 months. Then you have to wait until you get your EAD or GC, whichever comes first, to renew. I had everything within 2 weeks, so should be no problem to provide this, as well as joint vehicle insurance on both our vehicles.

I'm not doing the K-1, I'm adjusting from a B1/B2

[Yellowhead 12]

Another question for anyone reading this thread... Our mailing address is my husband's parents house (he never changed it when he moved out with all his contacts, so all his mail goes there), however we live at a different address, which is what our lease and utilities are under. My mail, aside from utilities, goes to his parents house as well, so essentially we have two differing addresses depending on the bill/letter. They do coincide, however, as do our addresses on our DL, Insurance, etc. We tried filling out the change of address form for USCIS, but it only gave us the option to change the mailing address, which we did not want to do. So we left the address with USCIS as his parents address for mailing purposes. We don't want mail coming to our apartment as we live in a tier based co-op community, and aren't done moving around yet as we have to request the apartments we want and residents with higher seniority get first choice (every time we get a new apartment, the address changes).

Long story short, will this be a problem?

I'm not doing the K-1, I'm adjusting from a B1/B2

Oh okay. I am K-1. If you can't legally obtain those docs, they will not expect them at the interview. Other proof such as joint accounts, photographs from marriage, etc. will be necessary and weighted more.

[Deema & Wayne 28]

Another question for anyone reading this thread... Our mailing address is my husband's parents house (he never changed it when he moved out with all his contacts, so all his mail goes there), however we live at a different address, which is what our lease and utilities are under. My mail, aside from utilities, goes to his parents house as well, so essentially we have two differing addresses depending on the bill/letter. They do coincide, however, as do our addresses on our DL, Insurance, etc. We tried filling out the change of address form for USCIS, but it only gave us the option to change the mailing address, which we did not want to do. So we left the address with USCIS as his parents address for mailing purposes. We don't want mail coming to our apartment as we live in a tier based co-op community, and aren't done moving around yet as we have to request the apartments we want and residents with higher seniority get first choice (every time we get a new apartment, the address changes).

Long story short, will this be a problem?

Oh okay. I am K-1. If you can't legally obtain those docs, they will not expect them at the interview. Other proof such as joint accounts, photographs from marriage, etc. will be necessary and weighted more.

Thanks, yeah we have a joint account and pictures..just going to put together an album, most of our pictures are copies on the computer so I have a lot of printing to do!

[Yellowhead 12]

Thanks, yeah we have a joint account and pictures..just going to put together an album, most of our pictures are copies on the computer so I have a lot of printing to do!

Make sure you put the date, location and names of anyone in the photos on the back. If you can datestamp the front, even better. They will require this in many cases to identify time-frames, etc. Pics with each others family are great to have. We have his parents as co-sponsors, and their ID's are in the application, so having pics WITH them is helpful to the case. As well as letters from family and others stating knowledge of your union and cohabitation. Lease is very important too, if applicable.

[Deema & Wayne 28]

Make sure you put the date, location and names of anyone in the photos on the back. If you can datestamp the front, even better. They will require this in many cases to identify time-frames, etc. Pics with each others family are great to have. We have his parents as co-sponsors, and their ID's are in the application, so having pics WITH them is helpful to the case. As well as letters from family and others stating knowledge of your union and cohabitation. Lease is very important too, if applicable.

We sent in Affidavits of both his parents and had them notarized, I have pics of us with his family during Christmas with a cute cake with my name on it Most of our pics aren't stamped, they were taken mostly by our cell phones, but I can put the dates and locations on the back, that's a great tip. His parents witnessed our ceremony, we didn't have a wedding but we're going to later on. I didn't know I was required to put in the dates on the pics, whew, I need to remember to do that.

[Yellowhead 12]

We sent in Affidavits of both his parents and had them notarized, I have pics of us with his family during Christmas with a cute cake with my name on it Most of our pics aren't stamped, they were taken mostly by our cell phones, but I can put the dates and locations on the back, that's a great tip. His parents witnessed our ceremony, we didn't have a wedding but we're going to later on. I didn't know I was required to put in the dates on the pics, whew, I need to remember to do that.

Not required, but definitely preferred. I have a friend who had a problem because of that, got an RFE which is silly as they don't specify. Sometimes you have to read their minds

[Deema & Wayne 28]

Not required, but definitely preferred. I have a friend who had a problem because of that, got an RFE which is silly as they don't specify. Sometimes you have to read their minds

Yup that's different, we didn't send in any pictures with our application because such proof is taken to the interview. K1 is different than AOS. We didn't receive an RFE requesting pictures.

[Yellowhead 12]

Yup that's different, we didn't send in any pictures with our application because such proof is taken to the interview. K1 is different than AOS. We didn't receive an RFE requesting pictures.

That's good than. We send everything with our K-1, and now just need to add marriage stuff, so most of it is done. Minus the above. I am not worried as we have plenty of proof and I am sure once they meet us they will know we have a bona fide marriage. We have nothing else out of the ordinary, come from same culture, language, backgrounds, same education, same family life. I just hate the finicky stuff they ask for. Like the above address problem, even though they have no resolve for it Lol

[Deema & Wayne 28]

That's good than. We send everything with our K-1, and now just need to add marriage stuff, so most of it is done. Minus the above. I am not worried as we have plenty of proof and I am sure once they meet us they will know we have a bona fide marriage. We have nothing else out of the ordinary, come from same culture, language, backgrounds, same education, same family life. I just hate the finicky stuff they ask for. Like the above address problem, even though they have no resolve for it Lol

Well the best of luck to you

[Enigma11561 336]

First, you had a civil ceremony ( as I did), so you are married. Do not even bring up the cruise or anything else that will muck up the works. Give them want they want. Keep it simple. Docs on your marriage, some photos ( 1-2) of your ceremony, more important photos of you with friends at events ( to show a bona fide marriage) and any other docs such as joint accounts, leases. At my wife's interview all the CO did was ask some simple questions, looked at the photos, asked my wife who were these people and where, and we were done. What plans you have after the interview is your business. And good luck to you.

[Yellowhead 12]

Thanks to everyone. Heading to the local office now for our interview!!!