Green Card Marriage Interview help?

[Sukie 1,440]

we are in no rush to get this done...we just want to know what to prepare over the course of the year or two. I just need some tips, so now we will consider co mingling our accounts and bills. We are still newly weds and want to experience the world together before we settle to start a family. I appreciate all comments a suggestions and all will be accounted for. Thanks for all of your time =)

It's great that you are thinking ahead!

Here's another suggestion: get a plastic folder of some sort (like an expanding file folder). Put a BIG label on it "I-130" or, in my case, "I-751". Keep it in a place in your house/apartment that is easy to see.

Every time you do something together with your spouse that has "evidence" (hotel receipts, wedding invitations with both your names, boarding passes, movie tickets, jointly addressed mail (like Christmas cards or bills), joint statements, car stuff), put it in the folder! Don't worry about organizing it - just collect the stuff!

You will not believe how much easier it will make your submission. And...it is really good to have evidence from the date you married - so start building your file!

Good luck!

Sukie in NY

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

I can't see the lack of a ceremony being much of an issue as long as you have the proper documentation that you were in deed married, but you should definitely start thinking about mingling finances though and applying for things such as joint insurance and joint memberships to stuff such as a gym memberships and such.

Not really sure what to say about the COD and Facebook stuff since it's all really irrelevelt and the immigration authorities are not going to care or take your personalities into account in their decision.

[Jenvds 15]

You said you know that you want a family together. If you know you want a kid with this person then a bank account and a lease together shouldn't be a real problem. Right?

Not because that's how I want you to live, but because it's kinda what you have to do to fulfill immigration requirements for bona fide relationship. We all have to change our lives and get uncomfortable in this process. It's just the way this system work. It's rough, but it could be so much rougher. So many of us are forced to be separated for the entire process. You're fortune to be together so... Just BE TOGETHER.

[deleted this acco 44]

Its all good now until the IO ask about wedding pictures and who was there?

[Boiler 43,791]

What country are you from?

[mallafri76 1,012]

The first paragraph of your response will not help OP because of the latter 2 paragraphs. OP cannot just go by your example since they don't have any commingled finances.

If OP gets through without any problem I would wonder how some of us are denied on the bases of "sham" marriage when this right here looks more suspicious than most stories I have read here.

I am not in any way inferring this to be illegitimate but I am just saying that OP has got to go more than this..

That's the point with my post though, they don't need to worry about their lack of a big white wedding, it's the lack of co-mingling of finances that they should worry about and do something about.

Since they're doing AOS, OP needs to do it the American way and there, joint accounts and co-mingling of finances are very common. Different countries have different cultures and setups though, so just because someone isn't co-mingling finances it doesn't mean they're not in a real relationship. In Sweden, for example, co-mingling of finances is very uncommon, usually one person is on the electric bill and the other on the water bill. You won't usually have both people on the same utility bill. And joint bank accounts!!! I don't know anyone in Sweden who has a joint bank account. That's why a city hall wedding with no family attending is not even a blip on the radar at the US embassy in e.g. Germany but anything short of a big traditional wedding in India will have the US Embassy in India launching a full on investigation whether this is a real marriage or not (yes it's a little dramatic exaggeration ) ... Tradition and culture of the country where the interview will take place do play a huge role in what kind of evidence to present, how much evidence and how the interview unfolds, whether you're doing a CR/IR-1, a K-1 or AOS.

[awaywego 28]

I think you meant to say "green card from marriage," not "green card marriage." Prepositions are perhaps the worst part of any language.

Not everyone has a giant wedding, and not everyone hires a professional photographer; these aren't required for a marriage to be bona fide. Include what you have. If a small wedding greatly differs from the norm in your country, you may be asked why you chose to have one. If asked any questions about anything, answer truthfully.

Similarly, Facebook and Instagram posts aren't required for a bona fide marriage. There are other ways to inform people of your marriage, like telling them in person.

For evidence, I find it useful to think of things that married couples "do." You live together, so gather evidence (e.g., joint lease, joint bills, joint address). You do things together, so gather evidence (e.g., travels, attending events, joint passes). You are treated as a married couple by others, so gather evidence (e.g., joint invitations/cards, family gatherings, joint health insurance when no longer on the student plan, joint income taxes). You are planning for the future, so gather evidence (e.g., wills, beneficiaries on insurance/retirement, the joint savings account someone suggested). There are a few lists of example evidences floating around the site, if you'd like to search.

Sukie's suggestion to gather evidence as you go is excellent.

A note on the car insurance: You might actually need to combine this, whether or not you change the car's title. It's quite possible that your state/company requires that a spouse (or household member) be listed on the policy in order for that person to receive coverage.

[Anh map 2,098]

What you want to show is a bona fide relationship from beginning to present (when you file paperwork/have the interview). Gather up what evidence you can about your lives together up to this point and begin to document your lives together more thoroughly. You don't have to shout it to the world, but it shouldn't be a complete secret as well. Having driver licenses showing the same address. Listed as drivers on each other's car insurance if you don't want a joint policy. And so on. You don't need a big ceremony, you don't need kids, you don't need a house.

This (obtaining the green card) is a serious undertaking and ought to be done right. Being iconoclastic will just frustrate you more. It sounds like you've got plenty of time to assemble the evidence of a bona fide relationship. Just keep immigration in mind as the opportunities come along to add something to the evidence folder.

[Ortolan 381]

Look at it like a silent court case: you're the lawyer and USCIS is the judge. You aren't just talking to some person about how you 'just want to be together.'

You have to prove, with documents, that you and your husband are in a real marriage, in order to get your green card.

Therefore, start building paper trail evidence for your case.

Buy things together. Get receipts. Get a joint credit card. Save important materials to you both at the same address. Open a savings account together. Make a living will for each, and have it notarized. That kind of stuff. Takes time to do these things, but that's what it takes.

[AlluringSoul 185]

Get joint health insurance, renter's insurance, car insurance, get on the lease together. Open a joint savings account if you want to maintain your own separate accounts. Joint gym membership. Joint utilities. I see you're in MA. We are too, and my husband (the immigrant) is definitely a hipster. He has the man bun to prove it. But you still have to play the game and follow the rules!

My husband and I were married in the hallway of a jail (no, neither of us were in jail) by a civil magistrate. We wore clothes we already owned, and we bothered to take a few photos because we knew we'd need them. Then we went out to a bar with a few friends after. Very low key. Ok, maybe you didn't know to take pictures at your wedding, but still...now you know. Take steps to prepare. Read the instructions for the I-130, and follow them.

Start opening some joint accounts, file taxes together if you can, like Harmonia said. Even though my IO didn't even bother to look at my documents (took taxes and bank statements), you need to be fully prepared. And if you have the ability to get things done, yes, you should put your belief aside.

[madtownguy 164]

To use a phrase that you used... don't get me wrong, but the immigration authorities don't really care about your personal philosophies on relationships. There's a "book" on how to successfully navigate the various immigration processes as defined in the VisaJourney Guides (see link at the top of the page). Follow these guides to a tee and you will have a high chance of success. Co-mingling finances and providing ample photographic proof at your wedding ceremony are defined as no-brainers. To try to get a green card without these things makes success a lot more difficult to achieve. But in the end, it's your call. Good luck.

That's not fair, wedding photos and co mingling accounts is not going to make or break an interview. They should do whatever they think proves they are married, but the more hard evidence is better. The government can't legalize gay marriage and then tell everyone they need to have a wedding, that would be crazy. Interviews are a little rare, that would be a bigger concern in my opinion. I had an interview on a bit of a grey area once, it went smooth no wedding photos or anything. Just provide everything you can, you should be fine if it is a legit marriage.

[jjbandero 39]

Based on my personal experience, the interviewer did not care about our "story", he only wanted documentation, specifically, financial co-mingling documents, our interview lasted about 10 minutes.

If you do not plan to initiate AOS until about 2 years from now, you can take the suggestions offered here and implement them. You will find some of the pieces very easy to do, and are one-off annoyances e.g. adding each other to insurance is easy, and as long as you pay your premiums, there's nothing else to be done.

Just curious, have you considered that if you become a LPR, your tuition at uni could be reduced? My understanding is that international student tuition is generally much higher.

Cheers

[Harmonia 211]

For MA, you are required to have any licensed drivers listed on the policy. There is the assumption that all drivers with a license will have access to the car. This doesn't include roommates. What that means is spouses MUST have joint car insurance. My husband and I have 2 cars. He's listed as primary and me secondary on car #1. I'm primary and he is secondary on car #2. But its a joint policy. We got joint renter's insurance through the same car (Liberty Mutual) because it was only $30/mo extra and worth it.

FYI, in our experience, Liberty Mutual was the cheapest for him. He got his US license at 28 and the other companies we contacted wouldn't give him credit for his license in his home country. His driving record in the US is what matters, so my car insurance tripled when I added him. Sigh. It is what it is.