Proving Bona Fide marriage for CR1

[Merlofil 5]

Hey everyone, 

 

My girlfriend (US citizen) and I (Italian) want to get married in the US, have me fly home and apply for the CR1 visa. I will be living in Europe while she will be living in the US after we get married. We will visit each other but we won't have a joint bank account (unless we add one another on our respective ones in our countries) and obviously we will not be able to have a joint lease. 

 

How do we prove our marriage is real? We have been dating for 3 years (2 years when we were students at the same university) and have many pictures together and have flight itineraries together. Will that be enough? 

 

Thank you!

[jyaku 138]

If you want to get married in the US, you need a K-1 visa. For that the stuff you have is sufficient.

 

When you file for a green card, add the marriage certificate and it should be enough. A bank account and matching credit cards would help.

 

When you file for green card removal of conditions 2 years after you receive the green card, then you need bank accounts, life insurance, health insurance, proof that your marriage was legit.

[Merlofil 5]

Just now, jyaku said:

If you want to get married in the US, you need a K-1 visa. For that the stuff you have is sufficient.

 

When you file for a green card, add the marriage certificate and it should be enough. A bank account and matching credit cards would help.

 

When you file for green card removal of conditions 2 years after you receive the green card, then you need bank accounts, life insurance, health insurance, proof that your marriage was legit.

I dont need a K-1 to get married in the US. I can get married on an esta, fly home and apply for a CR1 and thats what we intend to do. I do not want to sit at home for six months while we wait for my status to be adjusted. 

[Ryan H 3,812]

1 minute ago, jyaku said:

If you want to get married in the US, you need a K-1 visa.

 

Incorrect, what the OP is proposing to do (marry in the US and return to his country afterward) is just fine.

 

OP, you should have plenty of evidence of time spent together in-person, that will be your strongest evidence so focus on that.  You will not be required or expected to have joint accounts.

[Merlofil 5]

Just now, Ryan H said:

 

Incorrect, what the OP is proposing to do (marry in the US and return to his country afterward) is just fine.

 

OP, you should have plenty of evidence of time spent together in-person, that will be your strongest evidence so focus on that.  You will not be required or expected to have joint accounts.

Thank you for your help, thats what I was hoping!

[ms_bobdog 501]

You can also put each other on your insurance as beneficiaries, to add on.

[Merlofil 5]

Just now, ms_bobdog said:

You can also put each other on your insurance as beneficiaries, to add on.

Thank you for the suggestion! She is on her parents insurance so I don't know if thats possible.

[bakphx1 789]

We got a CR1 visa, and the part about having a joint bank account, living together and things like that are not usually needed if you have been married for under 2 years and living apart. They understand that logistically this doesn't make sense. 

 

The main thrust of your petition will be photos, travel documents showing you head travel to see each other, trips taken together.

 

Secondarily, some prints of text or messaging helps show a flow of regular communication. You don't need to go overboard on this, just a page per week over a period of time is plenty. The content of the conversations are not reviewed as much as dates.

 

For the financial part, I had my husband on my credit card as an authorized signer, but that may or may not make sense for you. It can be thrown in but that's more of a strategy of including everything plus the kitchen sink.

[Merlofil 5]

33 minutes ago, bakphx1 said:

We got a CR1 visa, and the part about having a joint bank account, living together and things like that are not usually needed if you have been married for under 2 years and living apart. They understand that logistically this doesn't make sense. 

 

The main thrust of your petition will be photos, travel documents showing you head travel to see each other, trips taken together.

 

Secondarily, some prints of text or messaging helps show a flow of regular communication. You don't need to go overboard on this, just a page per week over a period of time is plenty. The content of the conversations are not reviewed as much as dates.

 

For the financial part, I had my husband on my credit card as an authorized signer, but that may or may not make sense for you. It can be thrown in but that's more of a strategy of including everything plus the kitchen sink.

Thank you for your answer, its very helpful!

[TNJ17 1,329]

14 hours ago, jyaku said:

If you want to get married in the US, you need a K-1 visa. For that the stuff you have is sufficient.

Not necessarily. They can get married in the US while he’s visiting then he gets back to his country and they can file CR1. You only need a K1 visa if you wanna get married and stay here to adjust status. 

 

Since they’re from a VWP country, CR1 is a much better choice. 

[StuBear65 68]

We had very little. We did have a joint US bank account, but that was all. I sent a copy of a statement from that account and two sworn affidavit's from friends of ours.

 

We didn't send any photo's or chat history and got approved without any problems, however every petition is different.