I-751 Evidence Planning

[unexpectedmocha 0]

Hello everyone. Just want to start by saying thank you to the people here on this site! It's a wonderful resource.

 

We're still a year out from filling for Remove of Conditions. I can't believe it's been a year since we filed for Kirk's Greencard, and now I'm realizing that we did not do due diligence on getting things in order for the I-751. In particular, we're missing two key pieces of evidence: A joint lease from the first year and a joint bank account from the first year. Yes, I DO feel like an idiot, and I wish I'd been more adamant about the bank account now.

 

The reason we did not have a joint lease:

My building was taken over (quite suddenly) by a management firm right before Kirk arrived in the US. Before that the building was run by the little old man that owned it. Everything was pretty lax, people coming and going and the cheap rent was a fair trade off for the shoddy upkeep. At the time, I thought I'd have no problem getting permission for Kirk to stay and didn't sweat it. After the takeover, I had to work entirely with a real estate agent. The landlord literally stopped responding to me and the only person I could contact was the real estate agent. She demanded I sign a new year long lease after being in my easy going month to month for years. I inquired about adding Kirk to the lease, but was told that as he did not have a social security number or US credit history that I couldn't do it. I frantically looked for a new place, but there was nothing we could afford with just my shiny new postdoc fellowship income for the first six months (we didn't have a car at the time, which really limited our options). Plus, I have no family here. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, I reluctantly signed the new lease with just my name on it and he moved in with me semi-secretly. It's bad, I know. I'm not trying to get any sympathy. In retrospect,though, I actually still don't know what we could have done differently short of not having him come at all!

 

The reason we did not have a joint bank account:

Kirk. To be fair, he had just sold off all his worldly possessions, quit his job, and left his friends and family to come marry me. He's very independent, and was sensitive and upset that we were living on my income at first. He really wanted his own account. I still make significantly more than he does and for some reason it really bothers him to see our direct deposits side by side. We compromised by opening a joint credit card together a few months after we got married.  We can show that all of his transactions were either with me or our credit cards. I also finally persuaded him to open up a joint account with me a few days ago, but that year of damage is done.

 

We do have other forms of evidence:

I put his name on our electric bill right after we married. I have written confirmation from USAA around the same time he's on our renter's insurance. He's been on my health insurance since our marriage. We have a phone plan together. Our address appears on everything of his. Proof of trips together, filed taxes together, he was at my dad's funeral, gym membership, car insurance since he got his license in December. And finally, we're moving next week to a new apartment with both names on the lease!

 

So my question is this: Are we in trouble? While we still have time, is there anything else we can do to help bolster our case? If I could go back in time, I'd at least make him swallow his pride!

Edited February 24, 2017 by unexpectedmocha

[rjm_cmyk 75]

Some might disagree but there is no "perfect" set of documents. They're looking for evidence of co-mingling of life and use financial arrangements as one of the key indicators.  It's not always that easy and you can't always show the usual evidence they suggest.

• We don't have any joint loans.
• We don't have a joint mortgage (it's in my wife's name)
• We don't have any car leases as we own our cars.
• Most of our regular bills are in my wife's name because things like utilities are too brain dead to be able to add another name to a bill.
• We don't have any join credit cards 

We got approved (yesterday as it happens) without an interview or an RFE

 

Throughout this entire and lengthy immigration process I have not been a kitchen sink kinda guy and have always felt that quality obviates the need for quantity. You worry about bank statements. I was never going to send them (as some do) every bank statement we had (and we do have one joint account). I sent them quarterly statements with specific transactions highlighted e.g money out of my account into joint account and the mortgage payment out of the joint account. 

I explained why there were no joint loan agreements / car leases /mortgage. Explained the same for the utility bills. If you're missing stuff - explain why. Don't (IMHO) bomb them with low grade stuff like photos together and affidavits which both parties know can be whipped up on a whim the day before the application goes in. Focus on a getting good quality proof with a cogent story to go with it.

 

I did send medical insurance statements. Beneficiary statements from various accounts. I also sent them specific portions (not all of it) of our will / trust / enduring power of attorney details. If you put someone as beneficiary if you die must count as pretty good proof you're still together.

 

You've got a year - plenty of time to get this stuff together but don't wait too long :-)