How to finalize CR-1 petition before sending in?

[christine55 5]

Hi all,

 

I am finalizing all the paperwork for the petition to get my spouse a green card in the U.S. I was just hoping someone could help me figure out the best way to organize all my paperwork.

I have the I-130, I-130a, G-1145, a copy of my U.S. birth certificate, a copy of our marriage license, 2 passport photos of me and 2 of my husband, something that shows proof of our joint bank account, a copy of our daughter's U.S. birth certificate and a cover later stating our intention and the contents of the packet. 

 

I know not to use staples and only paperclips to keep the papers together, but should I use a post it at the bottom of each new section and say what the section Is? Should I put everything into a folder? I just want to make sure it's all done correctly.

 

We will be sending the packet off to my mom back in the states and she will get the money order for us and send it to Phoenix. Are we missing anything else?

 

Thanks so much!

[ASMS 86]

You should send more evidence of bona fide marriage besides the joint bank account.

 

I can't see the country where you are, but remember a translation of your marriage certificate if is needed.

 

I put post sticks on every group of document, in that way they would show what was that group and I won't cause any damage on the paperwork when they removing it.

Edited May 9, 2017 by ASMS

[christine55 5]

6 minutes ago, ASMS said:

You should send more evidence of bona fide marriage besides the joint bank account.

 

I can't see the country where you are, but remember a translation of your marriage certificate if is needed.

 

I put post sticks on every group of document, in that way they would show what was that group and I won't cause any damage on the paperwork when they removing it.

I'm also sending a copy of our daughter's birth certificate, it has both our names on it. Is that enough?

 

We were married in the U.S. so it's all in English, luckily.

 

Should they be different color post sticks? Or does it matter?

[ASMS 86]

7 minutes ago, christine55 said:

I'm also sending a copy of our daughter's birth certificate, it has both our names on it. Is that enough?

 

We were married in the U.S. so it's all in English, luckily.

 

Should they be different color post sticks? Or does it matter?

 

 It doesn't matter the color ^^  I used the same one, many people don't put anything, is your choice.

 

I don't think the birth certificate of your daughter is considered evidence of bona fide marriage, you must include it yes, but I don't think is evidence (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

But even if it is, you should include other type of evidence, for example, if you are currently living together or already did, include proof of that, like a lease contract showing both names.

Chat logs, call logs, and any kind of proof of communication is good too, pictures of boyh together, pictures of the wedding...All those are good and important to include.

Edited May 9, 2017 by ASMS

[christine55 5]

11 minutes ago, ASMS said:

 

 It doesn't matter the color ^^  I used the same one, many people don't put anything, is your choice.

 

I don't think the birth certificate of your daughter is considered evidence of bona fide marriage, you must include it yes, but I don't think is evidence (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

But even if it is, you should include other type of evidence, for example, if you are currently living together or already did, include proof of that, like a lease contract showing both names.

Chat logs, call logs, and any kind of proof of communication is good too, pictures of boyh together, pictures of the wedding...All those are good and important to include.

Okay, that's no problem. I'm not on the lease, only my husband, but we have a lot of pictures together I can send. Some professional, some that we took ourselves. Should I date each picture and write where it was taken?

[ASMS 86]

21 minutes ago, christine55 said:

Okay, that's no problem. I'm not on the lease, only my husband, but we have a lot of pictures together I can send. Some professional, some that we took ourselves. Should I date each picture and write where it was taken?

You could include the payment of a service with both names too if you have it.

 

Yes, if you will include original impressions, write behind of every picture the date, place, the names of the people on the picture, if you want a short description.

 

I decided to not send original impressions, and created 2 album's, so I took like 14 pictures of our wedding, scanned them and organized them in a PDF document, leaving 2 per page with the information under each picture, did the same with the rest of our pictures together, during trips and other occasions, in a different PDF document.

after I just printed them with nice quality.

Edited May 9, 2017 by ASMS

[Thesmiths2016 117]

Agree with the others above.  Your evidence you're providing is great, but you need more "relationship" evidence.  Trips to visit each other (flight itinerary, photos etc), wedding photos, any trips taken together (photos, itinerary), photos of each other with friends of each other (shows you as part of each others lives), chat logs or emails, etc.  They want to see your relationship "progress" so we made sure all our photos showed our relationship over time... different haircuts and hair lengths, and so on. And a few emails that were too soppy to have been between friends. 

 

For trips together, or to each other, we did flight itinerary, hotels if applicable, and a collage page done on the computer and printed of 6-8 photos on the one page.  We also had a table of contents showing the date and location of these trips, and also noted this on top of the pages. 

[Mido&Emi 33]

3 hours ago, christine55 said:

Hi all,

 

I am finalizing all the paperwork for the petition to get my spouse a green card in the U.S. I was just hoping someone could help me figure out the best way to organize all my paperwork.

I have the I-130, I-130a, G-1145, a copy of my U.S. birth certificate, a copy of our marriage license, 2 passport photos of me and 2 of my husband, something that shows proof of our joint bank account, a copy of our daughter's U.S. birth certificate and a cover later stating our intention and the contents of the packet. 

 

I know not to use staples and only paperclips to keep the papers together, but should I use a post it at the bottom of each new section and say what the section Is? Should I put everything into a folder? I just want to make sure it's all done correctly.

 

We will be sending the packet off to my mom back in the states and she will get the money order for us and send it to Phoenix. Are we missing anything else?

 

Thanks so much!

I agree with the rest above the evidence of bonafide marriage. The way I organized mine per my lawyer's advice is as follows:

 

-The check/money order

-A letter stating they can send me emails with my signature

-The cover letter

-Passport sized photos paperclipped to back of the cover letter

-The I130

-G325a for myself 

-G325a for my husband (depending when you gathered your paperwork you may not need g325a form. It was needed when I filed 2016 but now I believe it has changed)

-I864 forms.

-3 years w2, 1040s and paystubs from my sponsor 

-copy of sponsor's  passport.

-copy of my passport & birth certificate 

-copy of my husband's passport

-copy of husbands birth certificate with translation

-3 witness affidavits  

Then I added evidence:

-20 or so pictures of us, some with friends/family 

-boarding passes from the times i visited

-movie tickets, lol. Chat logs and so on.

 

All my forms were paperclipped.

The money order, cover letter, passport photos together.

The i130 and addendum together.

The g325a and addendum for myself together. 

The g325a and addendum for my husband together.

My I864 together.

My sponsor's 1864, paystubs, w2, 1040, his passport copy together

My passport photo alone.

My husbands passport alone.

The 3 witness affidavits together. 

The pictures in a ziploc bag together

The copies of boarding passes together. 

I hope this is clear. 

 

Yes, add a description to the back of the pictures. Name, location, date and what is happening. 

Hehe Goodluck! 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2017 by Mido&Emi

[christine55 5]

Okay, wow, thanks all! I'm glad I asked, I had no idea.

 

So what I have now is the I-130, I-130a and G-1145 forms. 2 passport pictures of me, 2 of him. My U.S. birth certificate. Our marriage license. A copy of our bank information. A copy of our daughters burth certificate. Pictures of us together in the U.S., our wedding, pictures of us in Oslo (where we live now), pictures of us while I was pregnant including one of him and my mother, picture of us right after having the baby and family portraits that were taken of us 5 months later. Pictures of us together in Cardiff, pictures of us in Canda together including one of us with my mom who also went with is to Canada. A copy of the booking confirmation we had when we went to Spain together (we don't have any pictures together from that trip), and an email exchange that we had during the last trip I took to the U.S. with my daughter just because it was recent. What do you guys think? 

[christine55 5]

I also have pictures taken of every one of our anniversaries and of course the cover letter.

[Mido&Emi 33]

2 minutes ago, christine55 said:

Okay, wow, thanks all! I'm glad I asked, I had no idea.

 

So what I have now is the I-130, I-130a and G-1145 forms. 2 passport pictures of me, 2 of him. My U.S. birth certificate. Our marriage license. A copy of our bank information. A copy of our daughters burth certificate. Pictures of us together in the U.S., our wedding, pictures of us in Oslo (where we live now), pictures of us while I was pregnant including one of him and my mother, picture of us right after having the baby and family portraits that were taken of us 5 months later. Pictures of us together in Cardiff, pictures of us in Canda together including one of us with my mom who also went with is to Canada. A copy of the booking confirmation we had when we went to Spain together (we don't have any pictures together from that trip), and an email exchange that we had during the last trip I took to the U.S. with my daughter just because it was recent. What do you guys think? 

That is good dear now to just organize them. Once organized you can still double check. Best of luck

[JFH 12,189]

If you are living together you must have a ton of evidence. Joint bank account, joint utility bills, car insurance, mail sent to both of you at the same address, the hospital records from the birth of your child, invitations sent to you as a couple, Christmas or other holiday cards sent to both of you as a couple, it really shouldn't be difficult. I wouldn't get too focused on photos - they are secondary evidence and are good for couples who live apart but you should have much more solid evidence than photos. Sure, include some photos but don't rely on them as the backbone of your evidence. Your child's birth certificate is not considered evidence of a bona fide marriage. To be blunt, it proves nothing more than your reproductive organs work. Just the same as a couple whose reproductive organs don't work (or have stopped working due to age) are not assumed to be in a non-bona fide relationship. And couples who have consciously chosen not to have children. 

Edited May 9, 2017 by JFH

[christine55 5]

16 minutes ago, JFH said:

If you are living together you must have a ton of evidence. Joint bank account, joint utility bills, car insurance, mail sent to both of you at the same address, the hospital records from the birth of your child, invitations sent to you as a couple, Christmas or other holiday cards sent to both of you as a couple, it really shouldn't be difficult. I wouldn't get too focused on photos - they are secondary evidence and are good for couples who live apart but you should have much more solid evidence than photos. Sure, include some photos but don't rely on them as the backbone of your evidence. Your child's birth certificate is not considered evidence of a bona fide marriage. To be blunt, it proves nothing more than your reproductive organs work. Just the same as a couple whose reproductive organs don't work (or have stopped working due to age) are not assumed to be in a non-bona fide relationship. And couples who have consciously chosen not to have children. 

Okay, I can go through my documents at home and see what I have. If the bills in our names are in Norwegian, do I need to have them translated?

[christine55 5]

Okay, so I've actually found several documents that show proof of living together. One is our electricity bill, the others are documents that were sent to us when our daughter was born, a certification documenting when we moved into our apartment etc. Do I need to get everything that is in Norwegian translated? I think everything, including the electric bill is in Norwegian.

[Mido&Emi 33]

46 minutes ago, christine55 said:

Okay, so I've actually found several documents that show proof of living together. One is our electricity bill, the others are documents that were sent to us when our daughter was born, a certification documenting when we moved into our apartment etc. Do I need to get everything that is in Norwegian translated? I think everything, including the electric bill is in Norwegian.

Yeah send a copy of original and translation. You don't have to send ALL of them but a few