What can i do now to prepare for ROC in 2 years?

[JNC09 5]

We got the green card over a month ago and this hadn't crossed my mind. Our electricity bills and utilities will only allow one name, i even went in person to try and work around it but they weren't helpful at all. These are the only bills we get as everything else is included.

We have;

Joint car insurance - but the only thing i can see is our plan which is one page? is there something which shows we will share this for a long time?

Joint health, dental and vision insurance - again i only have insurance cards for this

Joint lease

Joint mobile phone bill

Joint bank account and credit card but the cc doesn't show my name on statements for some reason

Obviously we will have photos and more flights to show

I am just worried about it not being enough and leaving it too late!

[kris&me 572]

So, as soon as the immigrar nt gets a job and is able to, have their name put on one of the bills

[JNC09 5]

I have had a job for six months.. the reason i can't get put on the bills is because they only allow one name on them!

[JRF 117]

We got the green card over a month ago and this hadn't crossed my mind. Our electricity bills and utilities will only allow one name, i even went in person to try and work around it but they weren't helpful at all. These are the only bills we get as everything else is included.

We have;

Joint car insurance - but the only thing i can see is our plan which is one page? is there something which shows we will share this for a long time?

Joint health, dental and vision insurance - again i only have insurance cards for this

Joint lease

Joint mobile phone bill

Joint bank account and credit card but the cc doesn't show my name on statements for some reason

Obviously we will have photos and more flights to show

I am just worried about it not being enough and leaving it too late!

Seems like a lot to me. Is your spouse a beneficiary on life insurance, 401K, IRA, etc.?

[NikLR 13,220]

Wills, medical powers of attorney are good to have. Is the credit card really a joint card or are you an authorized user?

[JNC09 5]

We don't have life insurance, and my husband has a 401k and i assume I'm beneficiary, how can i prove this?

Wills, medical powers of attorney are good to have. Is the credit card really a joint card or are you an authorized user?

We don't have wills or medical powers of attorney, we are only 25 is this necessary!? I am probably an authorised user but joint on the checking account

[NikLR 13,220]

We don't have life insurance, and my husband has a 401k and i assume I'm beneficiary, how can i prove this?

We don't have wills or medical powers of attorney, we are only 25 is this necessary!? I am probably an authorised user but joint on the checking account

Yes. If the USC owns anything and dies, without a will everything goes into probate until it can be sorted out. It's just needless stress and heartache when you are already hurting. With a will you can avoid things like that. Also you don't know what will happen in life. What if you're walking down the road or putting groceries in your trunk and some moron slams into you? What if you have certain medical wishes but can't express those because suddenly you're in a coma? Yes, wills and medical powers of attorney are things that are important to have once you're married. They're important to update once you have children as well.

Most of the time you can do these forms on your own for free or cheap without the need to involve a lawyer. You just need to look up the laws in your state.

[JNC09 5]

Yes. If the USC owns anything and dies, without a will everything goes into probate until it can be sorted out. It's just needless stress and heartache when you are already hurting. With a will you can avoid things like that. Also you don't know what will happen in life. What if you're walking down the road or putting groceries in your trunk and some moron slams into you? What if you have certain medical wishes but can't express those because suddenly you're in a coma? Yes, wills and medical powers of attorney are things that are important to have once you're married. They're important to update once you have children as well.

Most of the time you can do these forms on your own for free or cheap without the need to involve a lawyer. You just need to look up the laws in your state.

WOW - this is good to know, i will look into it right now - how do you provide proof you have a will though?

[NikLR 13,220]

WOW - this is good to know, i will look into it right now - how do you provide proof you have a will though?

You send a copy of it.

[cdneh 3,112]

I had a box, seriously, and anything that I might think of that would make 'good evidence' went into it. Anything, like copies of drivers licenses that showed the same address, mail sent to us, car insurance, bills, medical stuff showing I had power of attorney when he went in for transplant surgery, and all the paperwork as a support person. To this day, he kids me about my 'box 'O proof' as he calls it. Although, I don't keep one anymore he likes to kid me. You'll have plenty by the time you need it.

[Advanced Aardvark 82]

I have had a job for six months.. the reason i can't get put on the bills is because they only allow one name on them!

Ask them to put your first name, his first name as the middle name and then the last name.

File your taxes jointly. Do you have a cable or satellite bill? If so, have both names on the account.

Magazine subscriptions? Both names again.

Good luck.

[NickD 202]

in our experience, first thing the USCIS looks at is joint tax returns, didn't see that in your list. Can contact the IRS and get a summary sheet to save on paper. Followed by joint ownership of so-called legal items, like your home and vehicles, we even included our German Shepard dog, but sure could not prove joint ownership of a toaster.

Same problem with a completely worthless utility bill not even on the list, only our cable company would do this for us, we just submitted one bill with joint names on it. Utility companies couldn't care less whose names are on the bills, they go against the property owner for unpaid bills.

Surprised your credit card company did not issue you a card in your name if I understood this properly. Just copied hers and mine, and using a photo program blanked out the first 12 digits with both cards on the same sheet of paper.

Ha, my summation of a USCIS definition of a happy marriage is where a couple pays income taxes together. You have your joint lease that is important, I owned my home, a friend ahead of us had deep problems by not adding his wife to his deed. I didn't want to spend 500 bucks for an attorney to do this, but took awhile to find the form, the attorneys sure love to hide these. Filled it out myself and only cost me ten bucks, Vehicles cost me 75 bucks to add my wife's name to the titles.

In retrospective, if you live in a no-fault divorce law state, they don't give a good darn of whose name is on what, half of everything is hers.

You may also want to make extra copies of everything you submitted for the I-751, you can apply for US citizenship one year after, 90 days before your conditional card expires, And will need that same exact evidence again. The other evidence the N-400 requires is the same exact stuff you submitted for your AOS.

Wife saw her file for the first time at her US citizenship interview, said it was over 3 1/2" thick!

[QueenComley 295]

I just mailed my ROC this week which included the following:

• Copies of both our driving licenses, front and back (shows same address)
• Copy of front and back of residency card
• Tax returns (transcripts) for 2013 and 2014 plus W2's
• Every bank statement of our joint account
• Copies of all tenancy agreements
• Joint vet bills
• joint water and sewage bill
• Online printout of my husbands capital one credit card account showing im an authorized user plus photocopies of our capital one cards
• Joint car insurance
• Joint car ownership
• Life insurances polices on each other
• Letters from our place of employment confirming each other being listed as the other persons emergency contact
• 2 affidavits

I hope this gives you a few more ideas... Utility bills are a complete pain in the butt. Every utility company only required one name, except for our water company so that's all I could send.... I can see from previous responses many other people have experienced this also. Only thing I could not include is joint health insurance. To add me to my husbands life insurence policy he has through work would financially cripple us.... its beyond ridiculous, and I work for a small privately owned animal clinic so I have my own health insurance. The one thing I did pick up on with your list, which I think another VJ member also picked up on is you don't mention jointly filed tax returns. The 3 most important things they require is joint tax returns, joint bank account and joint lease/mortgage. At this point in time, all they are looking for is proof of an ongoing marriage and are looking for more financial ties than anything. I don't believe photos are required for ROC. But im sure any evidence you send is good evidence.

Edited December 13, 2015 by QueenComley

[Pinkrlion 2,610]

We have a box and I put monthly all our bills, Bank statements, insurance statements, pictures, etc. i clear it out and make copies every 6 months.

[bbadger2012 1]

Some of the biggest things to have (documentation wise) in order of importance (in my opinion) are:

1. Joint Lease or joint mortgage or home ownership documents - This shows you live together. Document's every year you live together.

2. Joint filed Tax returns - This shows you inter-mingle your finances and is an official government document so very important.

3. Joint car / health insurance cards showing both names and also showing when they were valid (true for car insurance - you have to request a document from your health insurance to show coverage dates). Since Obamacare, your employer will send you a Form 1095-B for tax purposes- this can be sent as well as proof of joint health insurance.

4. Joint loans (car, personal, etc)

4. Joint Utility Accounts (cell phones, water, cable, internet, electric, heat, etc)

5. Statements from joint bank accounts with detailed transaction history (shows you live like a couple, spending money of regular everyday things and shows the length of your relationship).

6. Joint Pet ownership documents, etc.

7. Affidavits and other family related items (christmas cards, etc)

8. Photos, etc.

9. Anything else you can produce with both names on it.

Edited December 14, 2015 by bbadger2012