Double Checking!

[ACrum 0]

This is my checklist for my I-130 packet I will send....but honestly, I'm probably dense lol, but figuring out this entire deal has not been as clear as crystal.

I definitely would appreciate any general guidance and tips through this process. Does my little checklist below look accurate? Am I missing anything?

 

Cover Letter (Me)
Money Order (535$)
I-130 (Me)
I-130A (Her)
Copy of the full Birth certificate (front and back) (Me)
Copy of ALL pages of the passport (Me)
A copy of your marriage certificate (English)
Passport type Photos. White Background (Both)
Evidence of a bonafide marriage (Affidavits sworn) <<< We have no other way to prove it I believe
G-1145 (Notifications by text) (Me)

 

 

Edited May 19, 2017 by ACrum

[JessieABC 159]

32 minutes ago, ACrum said:

This is my checklist for my I-130 packet I will send....but honestly, I'm probably dense lol, but figuring out this entire deal has not been as clear as crystal.

I definitely would appreciate any general guidance and tips through this process. Does my little checklist below look accurate? Am I missing anything?

 

Cover Letter (Me)
Money Order (535$)
I-130 (Me)
I-130A (Her)
Copy of the full Birth certificate (front and back) (Me)
Copy of ALL pages of the passport (Me)
A copy of your marriage certificate (English)
Passport type Photos. White Background (Both)
Evidence of a bonafide marriage (Affidavits sworn) <<< We have no other way to prove it I believe
G-1145 (Notifications by text) (Me)

 

 

Affidavits are the least important in terms of evidence supporting a bona fide marriage. The information provided would not satisfy bona fide evidence as they are simply statements written by peers.

 

Evidence of a bona fide marriage must strongly support the expected behavior between two spouses, whether living together or apart.  The I-130 USCIS stage mainly focuses on whether the relationship is considered valid or not before even allowing you to proceed to the actual NVC visa application stage.

 

You should consider including:

• Financial ties:  Lease/mortgage in both your names, joint bank accounts, Married Filing Jointly for the first year you are married (legally required either ways but depends on when you got married)
• Financial ties which you can establish without your spouse having a SSN/TIN: Adding your spouse as an authorized user to your credit card, designating your spouse as your beneficiary on savings/checking account, 401K, savings plan, investment accounts, ROTH IRA, benefits
• Photos:  Photos of time spent together with each other and with friends/family throughout the course of your relationship and your marriage; USCIS would expect that they have met at least some of your family/friends after marriage
• Travel: Itineraries and bookings reflecting both your names, passport stamps, boarding passes, I-94 travel records for the intending immigrant proving they have visited you
• Correspondence: Chat / conversation / call logs, cards/email/letters sent to each other
• Correspondence from others:  Cards or conversations from/with friends and/or family about your relationship, your marriage, or their relationship with your spouse now that the two of you are married

There are plenty of ways to evidence a bona fide marriage, even if you don't live together.  You should read through the following guides:

• https://www.usavisanow.com/marriage-green-card/marriage-green-card-faq/proving-a-bona-fide-relationship/
• https://citizenpath.com/proving-a-bona-fide-marriage/
• http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/us-immigration/proving-bona-fide-marriage.html
• http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php?title=IR1_and_CR1_Immigrant_Visas

Not all of the suggestions would apply but you can pick and choose what does.

 

Hope that helps!

[ACrum 0]

Thanks a lot Jessie! That actually helps a ton! The rest looks good? Nothing major left out?

Edited May 20, 2017 by ACrum

[JessieABC 159]

3 hours ago, ACrum said:

Thanks a lot Jessie! That actually helps a ton! The rest looks good? Nothing major left out?

Final touches and you're good to go:

• G 1145 should be in the front of everything with the money order.
• Passport photos - 2 for you and 2 for your spouse = 4 photos total

After you file, use the following to track case status:

• Make an account on USCIS: https://myaccount.uscis.dhs.gov/ and update your notification preferences to receive addition text/emails
• Download Stephen Aldous' version of the "Case Tracker" on your iphone (if you have one) - this allows you to search by case number (500 result limit) so you can actually check case numbers before yours to get an idea of when approvals start happening

[Ryan H 3,790]

On 5/19/2017 at 3:45 PM, ACrum said:

Copy of the full Birth certificate (front and back) (Me)
Copy of ALL pages of the passport (Me)

 

 

 

Only need one or the other, not both; the purpose of furnishing one of these is to establish that you are a US Citizen and one of those is sufficient to do that.

[JessieABC 159]

7 hours ago, Ryan H said:

 

Only need one or the other, not both; the purpose of furnishing one of these is to establish that you are a US Citizen and one of those is sufficient to do that.

The passport stamps might be helpful in showing that there has been travel to visit her in-between but it's probably easier just to crop out the passport stamps and include it as part of supporting evidence.