Help! Need example affidavits because we received request for more documentation!

[Rick and Zenith 0]

My wife and I married on may 12 2011 and she has been here since Feb 2012. Our situation is this....We have very little evidence of co-mingling of funds. We live in a condo which I paid cash for (No lease or Mortgage) Utilities were already in my name. I have an HELOC that I hold on my rental in another complex. since 2007 so in my name only. I had my own credit cards and have pristine credit, no joint cards but I taught her how to build credit and she has her own.

Neather of us has a car or car loan ether.

The only finacial evidence we have is that I am on her health ins. since this last Jan. and had no insurance before that. I am also on her benificiary form for her life insurance. She started work Aug. 2012. I have no life ins. on myself at all. We also can resend 2011, 2012 tax transcripts and now that we have filed 2013. These come from the IRS(We sent her I-751 in before tax filing time.)

We did not combine bank accounts because our financial habits are diametrically opposite and we have a system in place that works for us and makes our relationship strong. I provide housing, utilities, pay for the majority of our trips and do the long term financial investments. She buys our food and has me on her health insurance.

We can send the new copies of our tax transcripts for 2011,2012,2013 and also that info showing that I am on her insurance still. Even more evidence from credit card bills etc.. in her name, to show address is the same and also a copy of our upcoming trip tickets. We can probably ask and receive 10 affidavits some notorised some not.

The letter said if enough evidence is sent then they might not request an interview. We don't mind the interview as theres no fee and its not that far to travel 20 miles.

I have heard that they can not refuse her the removal of conditions actualy they would have to prove we were indeed not a real couple, but we don't want that hassle.

So any advice and any examples of what needs to be in the afidavits from family and friends would be great!

Rick and Zenith Roy

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

Affidavits are secondary, it won't help much with RFE. You can explain on a headletter why you don't have any financial means. Most likely, You will have an interview based on what you told us.

[tuckin14 58]

The burden of proof is on USCIS, but it is "preponderance of the evidence" - 51%.

My impression is that USCIS seeks substance over form. If you are able to show, for example, that you make 75% of the money and pay 75% of the household expenses, you may well be OK if you can show how your system works.

You mentioned paying for trips - do you have evidence of the trips? Boarding passes, tickets, etc?

In getting affidavits, you must of course have the author write them truthfully - they can't write what they didn't know or see or believe. Remember that they affiants may be required to appear and testify in support of them.

However, I would think a strong affidavit would be like this:

My name is John Jones. I am the brother of Jim Jones and brother-in-law of Mary Jones. I first met Mary in December 2011 when Jim brought Mary to our house to celebrate Christmas. Mary and Jim came together to my parents' house in 2012 and 2013 to celebrate Christmas, and the gifts they gave were labeled "From Jim and Mary." They slept in the same room on those occasions and seemed very happy and in love with each other. I also visited Jim and Mary in their home on approximately 6 occasions, and they were always there together. They lived in a 2-bedroom apartment and the guest room seemed to be a guest room, so I think it was likely that they had all their clothes and personal items together in the master bedroom. Jim frequently spoke of Mary and she seemed to be an integral part of his life, as he would say things like "Mary will be home soon and I'll get off the phone then" or "Mary and I are going to the beach for the holiday weekend." To the best of my knowledge, they continue to have this type of relationship to the present day. I attended their wedding on May 12, 2011, and all of Jim's immediate relatives were invited, and the occasion was as happy as festive as one would expect a wedding between two people deeply in love to be."

Probably specific examples are better than vague ones. Also if you are going to get multiple affidavits, try to be sure they don't all look like they were written by the same person. Have people say what they actually saw.

[The Humanists 10]

Hi, Rick and Zenith. Your case is kind of similar to ours in that we had very little evidence of commingling of finances, and I (the applicant) was approved without an interview. In our case, there is NO evidence at all of commingling. I have good credit, and my husband has terrible credit. The apartment lease is in my name. The credit cards are in my name. The utility bills are in my name. We don't have joint bank accounts. We even filed taxes as "married filing separately" because he owes the IRS a lot of money. The only items of evidence we sent for the I-751 were our health insurance cards and forms, showing me as the subscriber and him as my dependent; a basic life insurance policy showing him as my beneficiary; copies of waivers for my races (I'm a runner who runs races) showing him as my emergency contact; and pictures.

When we got the RFE, the only items we added were the 2014 health and life insurance policies; 2 affidavits - one from his dad and another from his close friend; an explanation of why we don't commingle our finances; and more recent pictures. On July 22, I received notification that my new card is in production. Today, I received another notification, and my USCIS case status now displays a USPS tracking number.

I was almost 100% sure that we would not be approved without first being interviewed. So even without evidence of financial commingling, there is hope. Just be very forthright and clear in your explanation of why this is the system in your marriage.

Good luck!

[The Humanists 10]

Oh, and the affidavit only needs to contain how the person writing it is related to you and how he/she knows that your marriage is real. My father-in-law wrote how he witnessed our struggles (we fought a lot), which most married couples have. My husband's friend wrote about spending time with us, hanging out at the apartment and sometimes sleeping over, etc. None of the affidavits submitted were notarized.

[Rick and Zenith 0]

Thanks Happy Chic for your reply. We have sent off for IRS transcripts and I'll print a copy of our itinerary and receipt for our upcoming trip together. As for the cover letter I'd already planned on that.

As for the affidavits, I will also send some of those. In the end the interview is not the end of the world as we had to go to the same facility for fingerprinting and a pic when we applied.

Rick and Zenith