Seeking advise for I-130 for marriage after 3-months of dating

[LLuo 0]

Hi everyone,

First of all let me start by saying that this website and forum members are very helpful. I've been looking at the forum and guides for the last couple days, impressed by the site, and decided to join in the fun

A little about us: My wife and I started dating January this year, and got our marriage certificate in China at the beginning of May. We've known each other and been very good friends for a year and a half, back when I had job assignment in Seattle and she was looking for a job after her grad school. She was dating someone else at the time and left the country last summer before her student visa expired. We kept in touch after she left, and a couple months after her long distance relationship ended, we started "dating", first talking on the phone daily and instant messaging. I flew to see her for Valentine's day, immediately confirmed our feelings for each other, then i flew to see her again 1 month later in March, and again at the end of April, when I went to visit her family. All this time we video chat on Skype almost every single day, and because we were already close friends before this, we were pretty sure that we are getting married sooner or later. She works in Shanghai, but her hometown is in a different province (Shandong). We found out that due to the residency rule in China, we can only register in her hometown because she hasn't established residency in Shanghai, so rather than take a separate trip later, we decided to register first to get the paperwork started, we'll then have our wedding later. I proposed to her on my last trip, she said YES of course =), and we're actively planning our wedding for October this year. I have a trip planned for the July 4th weekend for a photoshoot, and also in August to again go to her hometown for additional wedding planning. She's also planning to apply for a tourist visa to meet my family in the summer before the wedding party, of course after we submit the I-130 and receive NOA1.

Because things moved so quickly for us, this will no doubt raise questions for USCIS. We've been good at keeping evidences, such as the boarding passes for my trips; train tickets for our trip to see her family and train tickets for a side trip we took to Suzhou; photos with her friends and family in each of our visits; instant messaging log dating back to 1 year ago when we were friends; Skype call log; we use this social network called Wechat that's popular in China, and we share "Moments" (sort of like Facebook status) that include pictures of us throughout these last few months; we also have pictures with friends back in Seattle to show that we had known each other for a while; we are actively planning our wedding for October this year, already booked the hotel for the wedding party; also picture of her engagement ring =).

The reason we didn't want to go through the K1/K3 route is because there's a downtime of up the three months while she's waiting for her EAD, and she dislikes sitting at home doing nothing. The travel restriction imposed by K1 is also inconvenient.

I plan to start filing for I-130 in the coming weeks (after I receive her notarized birth certificate), and have a few things I want to make certain before hand. I'm a US citizen through naturalization.

1. On the I-130 instructions, it asks for proof of family relationship. Due to our circumstances, we don't have joint ownership of property or tenancy of common residency. We also don't have co-mingling of financial resources at the moment, so I'm wondering if I add her as additional cardholders for my credit cards, have her use the cards in China, and I pay off the balance on my end here in the US, would that count? It's probably too late to use it as proof now, but I plan to do that anyway and just curious if that would have worked.

2. "Affidavit sworn or confirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital status". I've researched this a bit, but I'm still confused. We plan to ask our friends to write letters to confirm our relationship, and include information about being notified of the wedding party in October, and show pictures of all of us together in my previous trips. Would this be sufficient? Our friends live in China, do the letters need to be notarized there?

3. Additional evidence of our family relationship. We plan to provide evidences such as photos, boarding passes, tickets, etc., is there anything else that would help prove our case on the I-130? We're certain that by the time of our interview, we will have additional evidence such as my continued visits to China to see her, our wedding party, etc., to prove our case.

4. Translation of documents. We plan to have as many official documents certified by professional translators as possible, such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, and notarized also. For the letters, most of her friends are fluent in English (all studied abroad in the US), so they can write them in English. In case a document or letter needs to be translated, is it sufficient to have one of her friends translate it, and put in the statement to certify that she's competent in both languages (as shown in the guides)?

I love her very much and don't want to risk making a mistake to delay her arrival. I appreciate your time and help in advance, and look forward to sharing our timeline and story with you!

Sincerely,

L. Luo

[amuna0526 11]

Here is VJ's list for evidence proof:

Evidence of Bona fides of Marriage

(include as many as apply to you)

Affidavit from petitioner and beneficiary verifying the marriage or relationship

Affidavit from witnesses to the relationship/marriage (parents, siblings, other relatives, close friends)

Wedding announcements, invitations

Church certificate

Wedding pictures

Joint bank account letter (when opened and balance) and recent statements

Joint credit card statement - including receipts from charges made by both of you

Evidence of joint life and cohabitation: monthly bills, insurance, assets etc.

A deed showing co-ownership of your property or a lease agreement with both of your names on the lease

Receipts of money transfer (if applicable)

Phone bills showing your conversations

Receipts of gifts sent online or otherwise

Transcripts of IM chats or Skype calls

Copies of letters and/or e-mails

Copies of holiday cards addressed to you both

Birth certificate of any child that has been born to your marriage

Airline ticket receipts showing trips taken together or to visit each other -- including boarding passes

Copies of the passport stamps from any visits to your spouse's country

Pictures of you together on vacation and/or with family and friends. It's best to include a range of times, not just a bunch of photos from a short period of time

[amuna0526 11]

For the affidavits to be notarized, it would be your choice, but a lot of people like to have them notarized. It's up to you. Good luck on your journey

[Ryan H 3,911]

My answers in bold and red:

1. On the I-130 instructions, it asks for proof of family relationship. Due to our circumstances, we don't have joint ownership of property or tenancy of common residency. We also don't have co-mingling of financial resources at the moment, so I'm wondering if I add her as additional cardholders for my credit cards, have her use the cards in China, and I pay off the balance on my end here in the US, would that count? It's probably too late to use it as proof now, but I plan to do that anyway and just curious if that would have worked.

USCIS and the Consulate do not require and will not expect a couple living apart in separate countries to have joint ownership of property, tenancy at a common residence, or co-mingled finances. You have plenty of evidence of time spent together in-person. Focus on that since that is your strongest evidence.

2. "Affidavit sworn or confirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital status". I've researched this a bit, but I'm still confused. We plan to ask our friends to write letters to confirm our relationship, and include information about being notified of the wedding party in October, and show pictures of all of us together in my previous trips. Would this be sufficient? Our friends live in China, do the letters need to be notarized there?

Such affidavits are not required and carry little to zero weight to begin with. If you choose to include them, notarization is not required.

3. Additional evidence of our family relationship. We plan to provide evidences such as photos, boarding passes, tickets, etc., is there anything else that would help prove our case on the I-130? We're certain that by the time of our interview, we will have additional evidence such as my continued visits to China to see her, our wedding party, etc., to prove our case.

This is the evidence of time spent together in person.

4. Translation of documents. We plan to have as many official documents certified by professional translators as possible, such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, and notarized also. For the letters, most of her friends are fluent in English (all studied abroad in the US), so they can write them in English. In case a document or letter needs to be translated, is it sufficient to have one of her friends translate it, and put in the statement to certify that she's competent in both languages (as shown in the guides)?

USCIS and the Consulate will only accept translations of official documents (e.g. your marriage certificate) that were issued by the notary office of jurisdiction (in VJ vernacular, this is referred to as a white book). Any other translation will not be accepted (professional or otherwise), so if you hired a professional translator to translate documents, you would only be wasting your money. Her birth certificate is not required when the I-130 is filed.

[LLuo 0]

Here is VJ's list for evidence proof:

Evidence of Bona fides of Marriage

(include as many as apply to you)

Affidavit from petitioner and beneficiary verifying the marriage or relationship

Affidavit from witnesses to the relationship/marriage (parents, siblings, other relatives, close friends)

Wedding announcements, invitations

Church certificate

Wedding pictures

Joint bank account letter (when opened and balance) and recent statements

Joint credit card statement - including receipts from charges made by both of you

Evidence of joint life and cohabitation: monthly bills, insurance, assets etc.

A deed showing co-ownership of your property or a lease agreement with both of your names on the lease

Receipts of money transfer (if applicable)

Phone bills showing your conversations

Receipts of gifts sent online or otherwise

Transcripts of IM chats or Skype calls

Copies of letters and/or e-mails

Copies of holiday cards addressed to you both

Birth certificate of any child that has been born to your marriage

Airline ticket receipts showing trips taken together or to visit each other -- including boarding passes

Copies of the passport stamps from any visits to your spouse's country

Pictures of you together on vacation and/or with family and friends. It's best to include a range of times, not just a bunch of photos from a short period of time

Thanks amuna0526, reminds me I should look into my insurance benefits and see how it works for her.

[LLuo 0]

My answers in bold and red:

Hi Ryan, thank you for your detailed response. Another question I have is, should I provide as many details about our relationship as I can in the cover letter? Or should I be concise about it?

[Ryan H 3,911]

Hi Ryan, thank you for your detailed response. Another question I have is, should I provide as many details about our relationship as I can in the cover letter? Or should I be concise about it?

The cover letter itself should be an outline of what the file contains. Part of your package can include a separate letter that is often referred to on VJ as an evolution of relationship letter. It is this separate letter where you explain the details of your relationship. How detailed you want it to be is up to you; some opt for being concise, others opt to be more detailed. Regardless of which way you write it, you don't want to write a novel, it won't get read, try to keep such a letter to 1-1.5 pages.

[LLuo 0]

The cover letter itself should be an outline of what the file contains. Part of your package can include a separate letter that is often referred to on VJ as an evolution of relationship letter. It is this separate letter where you explain the details of your relationship. How detailed you want it to be is up to you; some opt for being concise, others opt to be more detailed. Regardless of which way you write it, you don't want to write a novel, it won't get read, try to keep such a letter to 1-1.5 pages.

Understood. Thanks for the reply again!

I noticed that in your case it only took 7 months from the date you submitted I-130 to the interview. That's incredible!

[Boggy1974 124]

Hi, currently due to backlogged cases, 7month approvals are rare. The 7months you see in another person's timeline belongs to the past - probably two or more years ago. Current wait times are about 12months on average.

Also, I see you have set plans for October. I would say that's not realistic and feasible due to what I said earlier. I would not pay for hotel or make any concrete plans until your wife has her visa in hand. I would advice that you spend time reading others experience before paying for anything. Good luck!

Understood. Thanks for the reply again!

I noticed that in your case it only took 7 months from the date you submitted I-130 to the interview. That's incredible!

[LLuo 0]

Hi, currently due to backlogged cases, 7month approvals are rare. The 7months you see in another person's timeline belongs to the past - probably two or more years ago. Current wait times are about 12months on average.

Also, I see you have set plans for October. I would say that's not realistic and feasible due to what I said earlier. I would not pay for hotel or make any concrete plans until your wife has her visa in hand. I would advice that you spend time reading others experience before paying for anything. Good luck!

Thanks for the reply Boggy1974! I understand that 7 months is a rare case, my expection is 8-10 months.

Our wedding party takes place in China, so it wouldn't be an issue.