RFE - How to explain partially combined finances?

[babyduck 3]

Hi all,

My husband and I lived together for several years prior to getting married and since then (2012) we have had a joint account with 50% of each of our incomes being deposited into it. We used that account for all of our joint expenses (rent, groceries and other bills). We got married and didn't bother officially combining our incomes fully because we got lazy and our set up was working out fine for us. Anyway, late last year (after applying for ROC) we decided to buy a house and re-structured our finances - we combined our incomes 100% together, opened a new savings account where we put our down payment money, made a will and got pre-approved for our house.

We got an RFE last month asking for more evidence - how do we explain our financial situation? Should we write an explanation letter? We are going to be sending in the new account statements, but I am worried that USCIS will think we were being shady by not combining our account fully until recently.

[NikLR 13,227]

Please tell us exactly what you sent the first time and then exactly what you think you could send now.

[babyduck 3]

Please tell us exactly what you sent the first time and then exactly what you think you could send now.

We sent the following:

1. 8 joint checking account statements spanning from 2012 to 2015 (this account was the 50-50 joint account)

2. Joint insurance cards - health/vision/dental, auto and renters.

3. Beneficiary information for life insurance and 401k (each for the other).

4. Assorted joint cards - Costco, gym, family ski pass etc

5. Vacation pics and booking details with just the 2 of us, as well as with friends and family

6. Joint tax returns for 2 years

7. Current lease (Aug 2015- now when we moved across the country)

What we now want to send for RFE:

1. New finances - we have new banks, 3 different kinds of accounts (all joint) and 100% of our pay checks going into these accounts, so we will send a bunch of both new and old account statements

2. Wills

3. Pre-approval letter for mortgage (joint)

4. Copies of 6 offers we have made on homes (we live in Seattle with an insane housing market and we have been outbid on every offer so far)

5. New Driver's licenses from WA state

6. We opened up 2 new credit cards recently to get airline miles (joint)

7. Copy of home inspection report and Earnest money check (we won a bid for house offer last week, but bailed after inspection found mold- report is addressed jointly to both of us and EM check made out from joint account)

8. Lease from marriage date to Aug 2015 showing we have lived together throughout

9. Misc moving receipts - car shipping, moving company etc addressed to both of us

10. 2015 latest year joint tax returns

11. Copies of medical bills addressed to each of us - they are separate but show the same address and same insurance info.

.

What else can we send?

[SM & EF 41]

Yes, send a letter explaining how you set up your finances originally and how they work now.

As you know, we got RFE'd too and not surprisingly we had originally only sent sample statements. This time around we printed every bank and credit card statement back to when we got married (or at least back to when they were set up as joint). That equaled over 300 pages which show all our monthly expenses so we're hoping this will be enough.

I don't know if this will work, but I would recommend you not just send samples. Send every page you can find that connects you both financially. Knock it out of the park!

[quitepainful 56]

That looks good for a response, but consider including EVERY statement, etc. from that time to now... 8 over a 3 year period is not many statements... you should have at a minimum one each quarter so 4 per year and 12 for your ROC... keep in mind that is probably the minimum I would send.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

We sent the following:

1. 8 joint checking account statements spanning from 2012 to 2015 (this account was the 50-50 joint account)

2. Joint insurance cards - health/vision/dental, auto and renters.

3. Beneficiary information for life insurance and 401k (each for the other).

4. Assorted joint cards - Costco, gym, family ski pass etc

5. Vacation pics and booking details with just the 2 of us, as well as with friends and family

6. Joint tax returns for 2 years

7. Current lease (Aug 2015- now when we moved across the country)

What we now want to send for RFE:

1. New finances - we have new banks, 3 different kinds of accounts (all joint) and 100% of our pay checks going into these accounts, so we will send a bunch of both new and old account statements

2. Wills

3. Pre-approval letter for mortgage (joint)

4. Copies of 6 offers we have made on homes (we live in Seattle with an insane housing market and we have been outbid on every offer so far)

5. New Driver's licenses from WA state

6. We opened up 2 new credit cards recently to get airline miles (joint)

7. Copy of home inspection report and Earnest money check (we won a bid for house offer last week, but bailed after inspection found mold- report is addressed jointly to both of us and EM check made out from joint account)

8. Lease from marriage date to Aug 2015 showing we have lived together throughout

9. Misc moving receipts - car shipping, moving company etc addressed to both of us

10. 2015 latest year joint tax returns

11. Copies of medical bills addressed to each of us - they are separate but show the same address and same insurance info.

.

What else can we send?

I think only 8 of the bank statements triggered the RFE.

What you listed and are planning to submit now is good and in my opinion sufficient.

Attach a letter of explanation on how you have handled your finances.

What about cell phone bills and utilities being in both of your names, power of attorney.

Don't know what else they would be looking for except activity of joined co mingling on bank statements from inception

of marriage.

[babyduck 3]

I think only 8 of the bank statements triggered the RFE.

What you listed and are planning to submit now is good and in my opinion sufficient.

Attach a letter of explanation on how you have handled your finances.

What about cell phone bills and utilities being in both of your names, power of attorney.

Don't know what else they would be looking for except activity of joined co mingling on bank statements from inception

of marriage.

I'll print out more bank statements. Maybe every other month so 18-20 so far.

Our utilities are included in our rent, so we don't get any bills for it.

We pay for cable and internet, but the provider refused to add more than 1 person on the bill.

Cell phone bills won't work either - my husband's work pays for his cell phone and he is part of their corporate plan and I have my own plan

What do you mean by power of attorney? Like a general POA for everything?

I am not sure what else they want either! They did specifically ask for W-2's for the last 2 years, and we will obviously be sending those as well.

Yes, send a letter explaining how you set up your finances originally and how they work now.

As you know, we got RFE'd too and not surprisingly we had originally only sent sample statements. This time around we printed every bank and credit card statement back to when we got married (or at least back to when they were set up as joint). That equaled over 300 pages which show all our monthly expenses so we're hoping this will be enough.

I don't know if this will work, but I would recommend you not just send samples. Send every page you can find that connects you both financially. Knock it out of the park!

Yep, we sent full statement, but I guess we'll send more than 8, maybe 20 and include a letter explaining how our finances worked.

I just checked our credit card statements and there are no names on them!!! Only account numbers! Should we leave them out or send copies of the physical credit cards?

[NikLR 13,227]

We sent the following:

1. 8 joint checking account statements spanning from 2012 to 2015 (this account was the 50-50 joint account) - Should have been ALL of the statements, all the pages.

2. Joint insurance cards - health/vision/dental, auto and renters. good

3. Beneficiary information for life insurance and 401k (each for the other). good

4. Assorted joint cards - Costco, gym, family ski pass etc okay

5. Vacation pics and booking details with just the 2 of us, as well as with friends and family good

6. Joint tax returns for 2 years - good

7. Current lease (Aug 2015- now when we moved across the country) - What about prior to this?

What we now want to send for RFE:

1. New finances - we have new banks, 3 different kinds of accounts (all joint) and 100% of our pay checks going into these accounts, so we will send a bunch of both new and old account statements - Send all your statements

2. Wills - great

3. Pre-approval letter for mortgage (joint) -good

4. Copies of 6 offers we have made on homes (we live in Seattle with an insane housing market and we have been outbid on every offer so far) -good

5. New Driver's licenses from WA state -good - what about your old ones?

6. We opened up 2 new credit cards recently to get airline miles (joint) -good

7. Copy of home inspection report and Earnest money check (we won a bid for house offer last week, but bailed after inspection found mold- report is addressed jointly to both of us and EM check made out from joint account) -good

8. Lease from marriage date to Aug 2015 showing we have lived together throughout - answered point above.. good to include the entire time.

9. Misc moving receipts - car shipping, moving company etc addressed to both of us - okay

10. 2015 latest year joint tax returns - good!

11. Copies of medical bills addressed to each of us - they are separate but show the same address and same insurance info. - okay as well.

.

What else can we send?

To be honest it wasn't your type of evidence the first time, it was the lack of it from beginning to end. If you send all the new stuff I really don't think you'll get an interview.

answers in red.

Thank you for the detailed list.

[babyduck 3]

To be honest it wasn't your type of evidence the first time, it was the lack of it from beginning to end. If you send all the new stuff I really don't think you'll get an interview.

answers in red.

Thank you for the detailed list.

Thanks for the analysis.

About previous Driver's license - I have mine but my husband threw his out the minute he got the new one lol.

I guess I'll print out every statement for the bank accounts and write a letter explaining how our finances were set up before.

[NikLR 13,227]

Only bother with the joint account and as long as it shows decent activity in it, you don't have an issue to be honest.

[babyduck 3]

Only bother with the joint account and as long as it shows decent activity in it, you don't have an issue to be honest.

Another question - I just printed our joint credit card statements and noticed that there are no names on them, just the account numbers! Should we still include them? We also don't use them much, we are waiting to get my green card to travel more.

[mindthegap 2,590]

Just tell the truth.

You cant provide evidence you don't have

[NikLR 13,227]

Another question - I just printed our joint credit card statements and noticed that there are no names on them, just the account numbers! Should we still include them? We also don't use them much, we are waiting to get my green card to travel more.

Yup and include a copy of each of your cards to show you have the same account.

[bkghosh 121]

I just checked our credit card statements and there are no names on them!!! Only account numbers! Should we leave them out or send copies of the physical credit cards?

We sent copies of our actual credit cards showing our names and the same account numbers. We also sent copies of the CC statements (pdf) going back to when the joint CC account was opened. Our CC statements did have both our names on the top of the first page and also on the payment slips.

Edited May 6, 2016 by bkghosh

[jpiz777 3]

Hi all,

My husband and I lived together for several years prior to getting married and since then (2012) we have had a joint account with 50% of each of our incomes being deposited into it. We used that account for all of our joint expenses (rent, groceries and other bills). We got married and didn't bother officially combining our incomes fully because we got lazy and our set up was working out fine for us. Anyway, late last year (after applying for ROC) we decided to buy a house and re-structured our finances - we combined our incomes 100% together, opened a new savings account where we put our down payment money, made a will and got pre-approved for our house.

We got an RFE last month asking for more evidence - how do we explain our financial situation? Should we write an explanation letter? We are going to be sending in the new account statements, but I am worried that USCIS will think we were being shady by not combining our account fully until recently.

Did you just combine your income 100% after applying for ROC? That's probably why you rec'd an RFE because they may be questioning why you're only putting 50% of your income in your joint account.