Newlyweds Starting the Process

[TiffyBen86 0]

My husband and I just got married earlier this month when he was here for 3 weeks for Christmas break. He has 2 more years until he finishes his degree in Switzerland (he's Swiss and only holds Swiss citizenship) and he definitely wants to finish the degree in Switzerland. We read it could take anywhere from 9 to 15 months for his visa to be approved so we have some questions.... 

 

1. Do we need to apply ASAP and just hold onto his visa until he's ready to move? Or is there a reason that would be a bad idea?

 

2. We both agree that we want to keep our assets separate, but I read that looks bad to immigration. We've decided to get a joint account and put money into it for bills (we want to each pay in proportion to our individual income as that feels fair so we both have our own spending money). Should we get a joint account and combine assets until this is over? Or is this not as big of a deal as I'm thinking it is?

 

3. We are currently buying a home. He owns the land (here in Florida) and I'm financing the mobile home that will go on that land. My children from a previous marriage and I will be moving into it this summer but my husband will continue to live in Switzerland and make frequent trips. Would this make having a joint account with all assets combined less of a need?

 

4. My income is not high enough to sponsor him alone as I have 6 kids from a previous marriage, which is why we're not moving to Switzerland lol. My mom has agreed to be our joint sponsor for this and there's a possibility my husband's income could count as he works as a computer programmer and it's possible his employer will allow him to continue working from abroad after he moves, but not sure yet. As far as my mom's joint sponsorship goes, will she have to qualify for my kids, me, herself, and my husband? Or just for herself and my husband? She qualifies more than twice over if it's the latter but it'll be a close call if she must qualify for all of us. 

 

5. Will it hurt us in any way that we got married when he was here on holiday and not on the K1 visa? We had been discussing winter vs summer and winter won so we decided we didn't want to wait a full year to have it in the winter so went ahead and did it, even though it was just a small courthouse thing as we haven't really got much family on either side. It's basically just my mom and his dad left as far as family goes.

 

I think that is all of the questions I have so far. My anxiety is through the roof as I've been reading and watching too many declined visas on the internet and I am now a bit paranoid since our only shot at living together is him moving here since my kids' father lives here in Florida. lol

[Hypnos 6,579]

1) The actual immigrant visa itself is issued with a maximum validity of six months only. But  you could file the I-130 now and then stall at the NVC until you're ready to proceed. Provided you contact the NVC at least once a year they will not close your case.

 

2) USCIS and DoS will want to see joint assets and liabilities. You can demonstrate that however you wish... but a joint bank account is one of the simplest ways to obtain a good piece of evidence.

 

3) Probably, although given how simple a joint bank account is to get set up I would still do it. The property will be the cherry on top, though.

 

4) To act as joint sponsor your mother would need to include herself + her spouse + her dependents living with her + the intending immigrant. So if she's married but currently has no dependents living at home she would only need to qualify for three people (herself + her spouse + your husband).

 

5) No.

Edited January 16, 2018 by Hypnos

[TiffyBen86 0]

Awesome. Thanks so much. Perhaps we'll wait until summer when he's here for an extended period of time when school is out so we can piece together everything together and then stall until we're close to his graduation date. I had no idea that was possible so that's a huge help. It's hard when we're wanting to be together as soon as possible after graduation but also not having a concrete date for when this process ends so it's just fun to try and estimate as closely as possible. lol. 

 

Will definitely open a joint account to be safe then. We definitely don't want to have to go through this process more than once. haha. 

 

Oh, awesome. My father died years ago so it's just mom on her own and she makes over $40k per year so that's a huge weight lifted, not having to worry about that. 

 

Thanks again for the response. We definitely have so much to learn here. 

[bakphx1 801]

We waited six months to file after marrying due to my spouse needing to finish things.  We planned on it taking a year.  It took ten months and worked out okay with the six month window. 

 

You may also take into account that you get an IR1 visa if he comes in after two years, even though it's processed as a CR1 if you file at the one year mark.  A way to use that to your advantage if you are also delaying entry. 

[pushbrk 13,836]

2 hours ago, Hypnos said:

 

2) USCIS and DoS will want to see joint assets and liabilities. You can demonstrate that however you wish... but a joint bank account is one of the simplest ways to obtain a good piece of evidence.

 

 

Frankly, in the case of newlyweds, NEITHER USCIS or DOS cares about commingling of finances and they certainly don't care about joint "liabilities". Him owning the land and her financing the mobile home is actually the simplest way to show that, since they plan to do that anyway. 

Edited January 16, 2018 by pushbrk

[Hypnos 6,579]

The I-130 instructions do call for including proof of a bona fide marriage, such as :

 

"(1) Documentation showing joint ownership of property;
(2) A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence, meaning you both live at the same address together;
(3) Documentation showing that you and your spouse have combined your financial resources;
(4) Birth certificates of children born to you and your spouse together;
(5) Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital 
relationship. Each affidavit must contain the full name and address of the person making the affidavit; date 
and place of birth of the person making the affidavit; and complete information and details explaining how the 
person acquired his or her knowledge of your marriage; or
(6) Any other relevant documentation to establish that there is an ongoing marital union."

 

Though I will grant you that they're looking for barebones proof from newlyweds. 

Edited January 16, 2018 by Hypnos

[pushbrk 13,836]

6 minutes ago, Hypnos said:

The I-130 instructions do call for including proof of a bona fide marriage, such as :

 

"(1) Documentation showing joint ownership of property;
(2) A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence, meaning you both live at the same address together;
(3) Documentation showing that you and your spouse have combined your financial resources;
(4) Birth certificates of children born to you and your spouse together;
(5) Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital 
relationship. Each affidavit must contain the full name and address of the person making the affidavit; date 
and place of birth of the person making the affidavit; and complete information and details explaining how the 
person acquired his or her knowledge of your marriage; or
(6) Any other relevant documentation to establish that there is an ongoing marital union."

 

Though I will grant you that they're looking for barebones proof from newlyweds. 

This quoted words in bold are a misinterpretation.  The list you quote follows the words "In addition to the required..." and refers to "evidence" which is very different from "proof".  It is a list of possible evidence.  Newlyweds generally concentrate on the completely undefined (6) above.  The reason commingling of finances is NOT expected from newlyweds who have never lived in the same country is that it is highly unlikely they have done so and pretty difficult to do.  Note that sending money in one direction is not commingling of finances or "combining financial resources".  Evidence of money moving in only one direction can actually hurt the case.

 

For example, I actually MOVED to the Philippines November 1st and the soonest I could open a bank account here was December 18th.  That took some jumping through hoops and knowing the right people.  A Bureau of Immigration employee actually asked me WHERE I was expecting to open a bank account so soon and under my immigration circumstances.  She made a note, so she could pass that information on to others who had thus far been unsuccessful in opening a bank account here.

Edited January 16, 2018 by pushbrk

[Hypnos 6,579]

"In addition to the required documentation listed above, you should submit one or more of the 
following types of documentation that may prove you have a bona fide marriage:" 

 

Emphasis added. 

 

One is good; 2+ is better. 

Edited January 16, 2018 by Hypnos

[pushbrk 13,836]

2 minutes ago, Hypnos said:

"In addition to the required documentation listed above, you should submit one or more of the 
following types of documentation that may prove you have a bona fide marriage:" 

 

Emphasis added. 

 

One is good; 2+ is better. 

Correct, except most newlyweds still only provide items of evidence that fall under item 6, because affidavits tend to carry no weight and the other categories don't apply to them.

[NikLR 13,234]

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

Correct, except most newlyweds still only provide items of evidence that fall under item 6, because affidavits tend to carry no weight and the other categories don't apply to them.

No reason why newlyweds can't already have several children together due to an otherwise long relationship before marriage.  But I am being pedantic. 

[pushbrk 13,836]

2 hours ago, NikLR said:

  But I am being pedantic. 

And I wrote "most".