Should I expect any RFE's for my submitted I-130?

[JusticeWarrior67 3]

So about a week ago, I sent all the I-130 package to my immigration attorney and he then submitted it to the USCIS lock-box in Arizona. Since I got married to my lovely wife last month, we don't have any co-mingling financial resources, a baby that was born to the two of us, property we share together or anything like that.

I explained that to my attorney, and he said that we should instead have our friends and family member sign an affidavit to attest our relationship. I provided him with the information about each one, and he then wrote the affidavits which I gave to them to sign & notarize shortly after.

My question is: Should I expect any RFE's now because we didn't submit any joint bank account statement, or anything like that to prove that our marriage is bona fide? What do you think? Is it normal that people like us who are newly married don't have this kind of documents?

[rodriguezhiraldo 7]

Hi,

What else did you include besides the affidavits? Affidavits are said to carry little to no weight in terms of proving that your marriage is bonafide. However, it is better than nothing and more is always better so it wouldnt hurt to have them.

You had no pictures, chat logs, money receipts, wedding pictures, costs of wedding, pictures with family and friends??? These are the things that help to prove your relationship and of course, all the co mingling of finances and mutual children. But most recent married couple dont have these things and they understand this BUT they do expect and certainly want to see any other proof that my establish your relationship to be legit.

so I dont believe that marriage certificate and affidavits will be enough so be prepared to receive RFE asking for proof. Ive seen it before many times.

Having said that, I am not saying you will receive an RFE for sure. You might just receive your acceptance. anyway, you should most definitely gather alll this proof for the interview part.

Hope this helps and others can chime in as well.

[Hypnos 6,576]

It's possible you will receive an RFE for further proof of a bona fide marriage, though USCIS understands that newlyweds do not have a mountain of this sort of proof right from the get-go.

[Miki28 91]

Hi,

What else did you include besides the affidavits? Affidavits are said to carry little to no weight in terms of proving that your marriage is bonafide. However, it is better than nothing and more is always better so it wouldnt hurt to have them.

You had no pictures, chat logs, money receipts, wedding pictures, costs of wedding, pictures with family and friends??? These are the things that help to prove your relationship and of course, all the co mingling of finances and mutual children. But most recent married couple dont have these things and they understand this BUT they do expect and certainly want to see any other proof that my establish your relationship to be legit.

so I dont believe that marriage certificate and affidavits will be enough so be prepared to receive RFE asking for proof. Ive seen it before many times.

Having said that, I am not saying you will receive an RFE for sure. You might just receive your acceptance. anyway, you should most definitely gather alll this proof for the interview part.

Hope this helps and others can chime in as well.

Just wondering in terms of pictures. We sent 20 pictures of all kinds of events in our relationship/marriage. Like pictures with both of our parents, friends, engagement pictures, court wedding pictures provided with contacts of all these people captured on them. + my husband wrote a letter about our relationship marriage like how we met, all events in our lives until now saying that there are also plenty of proof available if needed like copies of my flight tickets, letters and chats etc. We thought we need to keep all this proof for interview stage. I Wonder if this would be enough?

[TBoneTX 43,175]

*** Thread moved from CR-1 Process forum to the CR-1 Case Progress subforum. ***

[TBoneTX 43,175]

Duplicate threads have been merged. Please post just once on a topic.

Edited November 6, 2015 by TBoneTX

[usaanduk 0]

Hi I guess it depends on the circumstance. But I only sent affidavits as evidence (this year in febuary) and I didnt get a RFE and I'm now waiting my interview.

Best of luck

Edited November 6, 2015 by usaanduk

[ssk2331 13]

This varies case to case. We didn't front load our 130 that much and did not get a RFE. We included the noted required documents, 2 affidavits, a few wedding pictures.

And Pakistan is considered high fraud company when it comes to visas and we were okay. Sometimes I think we just got lucky cause I fretted over not front loading the 130 with chats and emails since I had a lot of those.

[islandinthesun 1]

This all varies on a case by case basis as others have pointed out. We only submitted our marriage certificate and no other proofs and were approved without any RFE's (although I was very concerned after reading the tons on information on here about front loading). What we did do was side load at the NVC stage and included some of our evidences so that when our file reaches the embassy there would be some information for the CO to consider prior to the interview. We also plan on bringing in what we submitted at the NVC stage plus more to our interview.

In the event that you do get through without the dreaded RFE it is definitely worth considering side loading at the NVC stage for peace of mind. All the best.

[rodriguezhiraldo 7]

Just wondering in terms of pictures. We sent 20 pictures of all kinds of events in our relationship/marriage. Like pictures with both of our parents, friends, engagement pictures, court wedding pictures provided with contacts of all these people captured on them. + my husband wrote a letter about our relationship marriage like how we met, all events in our lives until now saying that there are also plenty of proof available if needed like copies of my flight tickets, letters and chats etc. We thought we need to keep all this proof for interview stage. I Wonder if this would be enough?

Hi,

The pictures you sent are definitely enough. Me personally, included tickets, receipts and money transfers as well. But I did save the rest for the interview stage.

Its good that you have all that other stuff so save it for the interview . I think you’ll be fine with picture I mean everything is different case by case. Some people send nothing and get no RFEs and some ppl send loads of stuff and they end up getting an RFE.

Bottom line is to be prepared for everything, just like I am. The good thing is that you do have all the proof in hand. Lets not be so terrified about RFEs . According to what I’ve read, It only delays your case at maximum a month. Which is not bad considering all thethings that could go wrong.

So hang in there, and from the looks of it I think you’ll be fine as long as everything else such as forms and documents were properly filled. You sent much more pictures than I did .

[Miki28 91]

Hi,

The pictures you sent are definitely enough. Me personally, included tickets, receipts and money transfers as well. But I did save the rest for the interview stage.

Its good that you have all that other stuff so save it for the interview . I think youll be fine with picture I mean everything is different case by case. Some people send nothing and get no RFEs and some ppl send loads of stuff and they end up getting an RFE.

Bottom line is to be prepared for everything, just like I am. The good thing is that you do have all the proof in hand. Lets not be so terrified about RFEs . According to what Ive read, It only delays your case at maximum a month. Which is not bad considering all thethings that could go wrong.

So hang in there, and from the looks of it I think youll be fine as long as everything else such as forms and documents were properly filled. You sent much more pictures than I did .

Thank you. Appreciate your response. I am just worried as my husband is supposed to deploy again and any "slow down" in our case would be pain in the butt since we will be kept apart eventually again, so this is our time to be together and make up for it all: thank you again tho ?

[JusticeWarrior67 3]

Well, I perhaps forgot to clarify a few points when i was writing this post.

1. I married my wife while on a tourist visa (I've been here for 3 months now) and I'm leaving next month before my I-94 expires to not have any complications at the interview.

2. my lawyer said that pictures are requested in the interview process not the I-130 (it's not a K-1 visa we're applying for) plus, I'm here with her now so showing boarding passes/ pictures wouldn't make any point.

3. just like i stated above, we've been married for only 1 months now, so i hope USCIS will understand that people like us don't have properties together, joint bank account as yet.

4. i believe that since we also attached a G-28 form with our lawyer, USCIS would look at our case differently as it's been prepared by an immigration attorney rather than regular people.

[Hypnos 6,576]

It makes absolutely no difference that you filed through a lawyer.

[scotinmass 588]

Well, I perhaps forgot to clarify a few points when i was writing this post.

1. I married my wife while on a tourist visa (I've been here for 3 months now) and I'm leaving next month before my I-94 expires to not have any complications at the interview.

2. my lawyer said that pictures are requested in the interview process not the I-130 (it's not a K-1 visa we're applying for) plus, I'm here with her now so showing boarding passes/ pictures wouldn't make any point.

3. just like i stated above, we've been married for only 1 months now, so i hope USCIS will understand that people like us don't have properties together, joint bank account as yet.

4. i believe that since we also attached a G-28 form with our lawyer, USCIS would look at our case differently as it's been prepared by an immigration attorney rather than regular people.

We sent all the evidence, photos, proof of travel together, affidavits etc with the application. We weren't asked for anything at the interview. It doesn't have to be evidence of foreign travel or flights. Just a day trip together or a weekend in a hotel would do. Anything to show you do stuff together on a regular basis.

I'll never understand why anyone wants to waste money on an immigration lawyer. The process is straightforward and there is an abundance of help from people on here that have been through it. A lawyer doesn't feel any urgency to complete a case in the way that you do. It also seems like they give bad information. Having a lawyer does not help you jump the queue!

Edited November 6, 2015 by scotinmass

[Hypnos 6,576]

I'll never understand why anyone wants to waste money on an immigration lawyer.

The very easy answer is that not every case is a straightforward one.