Newlyweds--How much frontloading? (Canadian)

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

I think being that the K1 wasn't completed, I wouldn't worry about like NLR said.

Some people just have a type, yah know? I got out of a 10 year relationship with a Swede, just to marry a Dane! Apparently, I like Scandinavians. I was about to move to Sweden when I started talking to my husband online and fell in love for the first time ever. Sometimes you just can't control these things.

I think it would be ok to explain it if they ask at an interview about it. Coming from Canada it isn't like you have anything to gain by moving to America, so that will be looking at it differently.

I know I have a type. Super brainy. *grin*

And seriously. I'm not gaining ANYTHING by moving. I lose my wonderful healthcare. I lose rights that I take for granted as a ####### person living in Canada. Especially since I'm moving to Texas.

[keysjangle 145]

Wow, I hadn't put two and two together that the DOMA decision would finally allow for same sex immigration! Congratulations!

I'm also from Toronto, and in my I-130 package I included screenshots from my e-mail inbox showing how long we'd been e-mailing for, an assortment of photos from visits including us with friends and family (with a little who, what, when blurb for each), receipts from gifts/rings/vacations, cards from each other, some selections from MSN conversations, airline boarding passes, overview of my tax return showing me as married, his name and income, his life insurance showing me as the primary beneficiary, his tax transcripts showing him as married filing separate (as I didn't have a SSN/ITIN)... that's all I can remember. It was probably overkill, but I did have a lot of evidence on hand because I'm a nostalgic, wishy-washy #######. Some people don't send much or anything at all.

Definitely keep collecting evidence for future applications (like removal of conditions, which I'm in right now). They'll be interested in seeing what's been going on with you guys since you got your visa, e.g. joint lease, joint tax returns, joint bank accounts, phone plan, new photos, health/life insurance, etc. Buy a big fat folder and toss it all in there. You'll feel way better once it's time to deal with USCIS again knowing that you have lots to work with... especially if it corresponds, for example, boarding passes for a vacation you guys take + photos from that trip.

All the best to you guys, I don't see you having any issues

If you haven't found it yet, checking out the Canada subforum. Tons of specifics for us: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/93-canada/

Edited April 2, 2014 by Gervl

[Tala202 27]

We're just putting our petition together and it occurred to me to be worried about this.

We've only just been married. I still live in Canada. I've heard that they don't really care about affidavits of bona fide marriage.

We have the receipts from our elopement. We have our marriage certificate. We have a few pictures of us together. We have chat records going back years.

We don't have a lot of proof of ongoing marriage because, well, we were married two weeks ago and while I've applied to change my name to hers on all of my government stuff, I don't even have the OHIP and SIN cards back yet.

Does anyone have suggestions for what we should add/how much to add or if we should just continue to collect evidence after our petition goes in and take it to the interview later?

We're in pretty much the same situation.. got married on Jan 30th and sent out our petition on Feb 13th (would've done it earlier, but we didn't wanna send it in while I was still in the US). We haven't been approved, so I can't tell for sure if what we sent in is enough, but I'm pretty comfortable with it. Here's what we sent in:

- All trip itineraries Montreal - DC

- Itinerary of trip together to Florida

- Itinerary of trip together to Germany

- Skype log

- Screenshots of my Gmail inbox with all his messages/Gchats (every 5 pages only though)

- Screen shots of FB messages showing 1300+ messages

- 8 or so pictures of us and his parents in various family settings

- Our best evidence: the lease for his current apartment that we signed together when I was with him on a J1 over the summer

I never changed my name (nor do I plan to) and we don't have joint finances (although I do have a SSN). We also eloped, so there were no wedding pictures or anything.

That said, there wasn't really proof of post-marriage because, as you said, we'd only been married for two weeks.

As others have said, Canadians don't gain much from moving to the US (in fact, we have a bunch of things to lose), so they're not as worried about immigration fraud with us. If you can, though, get something showing that you've applied for a name change for your OHIP and SIN? I'd also say try to get some affidavits; I know I would have included a lot more of those if we didn't have the joint lease. I especially think affidavits from family would be helpful.

I hope that helps!

Edited April 2, 2014 by Tala202

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

I think I'll wait to send my stuff to my wife until my new Id comes in just so I can send her photocopies, then. I applied a couple weeks ago, so it should come soon!