roc evidence HELP!!! Is it enough?!?!?

[Thomas&Jing 0]

Long time visitor and reader, First time poster...

I'm just about done with collecting All our evidence for ROC and wondering if I have enough and could really use some input from this wonderful community. 

...but first, some background... I am the USC and my Wife is Filipina and is the one Applying for ROC. She arrived at the end of January of 2016 and we Married February 7th, 2016. One of the main issues that I am struggling with regarding Our Evidence is that My Wife did not receive here Green Card until the end of July in 2016 and thus I was unable to add her to my Checking and Saving Accounts because everywhere we went, they required 2 forms of ID with Picture which she didn't have.  So, for 8 months I couldn't add her to my Bank Accounts much less open a new one as a joint account.  Also, for MUCH of her first year here, she was unable to find any real job and with Me having SIGNIFICANT Debt prior to us even meeting, I just didn't feel right adding her to my current account. I Literally wanted to Protect her from much of my poor financial choices in previous years prior to even meeting Her. I took care of Her and All the Financial responsibilities for Her entire first year here and then once she found a good and stable job, We opened up a joint checking account and added her to the already established savings account. I still maintain my other bank account which has all my debt tied up in it. Once we formulated a plan for all my debt, I added her to that account as well in august of 2017. 

My First Question is... Will the fact that she was not named on my bank accounts for practically year and 3 months be harmful to Our ROC petition? I have printed out Every Bank statement since we have been Married, even the year where she does not appear on the statements. She had access to the accounts through my debit card the entire time and made many purchases with it but just not named on the accounts until over a year had passed.

My Second Question is.... How does my list of Evidence look?

 

i-751 Petition Signed and Dated

$680 for App Fee and Bio Fee

Cover Letter

Table of Contents

Green Card Photocopy front and back

social security card photocopy front and back

Photocopy of her state issued ID front and back

Photocopy of my drivers license

2 Notarized Affidavits, an Aunt and former coworker

Apartment Lease agreements for all three years along with corresponding Check Images drawn from my account Before and After she was added to the account

Photocopies of Bank Statements from Every Month for both Checking Accounts and both Saving Accounts with Rent Check and Rent Transaction Highlighted

Photocopies of T-Mobile Family Plan Statement Page, 4 for each year, with pertinent info highlighted

Photocopies of "Jointly Fiied" Filed Tax Returns AND Tax Transcripts for 2016 and 2017

Photocopies of W2's for 2016 and 2017

Photocopies of tax statements from several Charities We gave to in 2016 and 2017, showing both our names and same address

Photocopies of Employer Benefit Summaries for 2016, 2017 and 2018 showing my Wife as a 100% dependent and beneficiary of Health, Dental, Vision, "Basic" Life and Accidental Death

Photocopies of Cards, front and back, of Employer-provided Health and Dental Insurance cards

Photocopies of Benefits Summaries of 8 different visits to Dr's for My Wife, showing our address, Her as a Dependent and Me as the Primary

Photocopies of Quarterly Statements 401K Retirement Plan through my Employer

Photocopies of Beneficiary Statements showing My Wife as the Primary and Sole Beneficiary, 100%, for 2016, 2017 and 2018

Photocopies of Our Sam's Club Membership Cards, front and back, which shows our picture, names and same start date

Photocopies of email confirmations to 2 different Disney world trips and 1 Universal Studios trip

Photocopies of Universal Studios Tickets for that 1 trip, front and back, with our names on them

Photocopies of Our Plane Ticket and Itinerary confirmation email to the Philippines in January of 2018

Photocopies of Our Boarding Passes and Baggage Claim checks from the same flights to and from the Philippines

Photocopy of My email to the Ticketing agency regarding booking the ticket in My Wife's Married name when Her Passport still had Her Maiden Name on it and asking them to chang the tickets to Her Maiden Name

Photocopies of Our Passports showing the Bio Page and the corresponding stamps from our trip to the Philippines in January of 2018

Pictures, about 20 in all, of family gathering here and in the Philippines and our various adventures during 2016, 2017 and 2018

 

Does the fact that Her Passport still has Her Maiden Name on it instead of Her Married Name be a problem? Also, with this being the case, Her plane tickets and boarding passes and baggage claim stubbs all show Her Maiden Name. Will the time/date stamped email of my conversation of needing the name on My Wife's Plane tickets changed from Her Married Name to Her Maiden Name provide enough explanation to the name on the tickets, boarding passes and stubbs?

 

So, is that enough? Do I need to clarify the Joint Bank Account Name issue despite SIGNIFICANT Activity on the Checking Account Before My Wife was Added... and it's Grown SIGNIFICANTLY More since then  

 

Edited July 22, 2018 by Thomas&Jing
forgot one piece of evidence

[Sarah&Facundo 579]

That looks like a lot of evidence. I can't imagine you would have to worry about the name change. Many women, myself included, have not changed their last names. 

 

I'm curious about the responses from others about the bank account issue. I have two bank accounts. I was able to add my spouse to one of them, but not the other. The one I use is not the one my spouse's name is on, although he has access. 

[Thomas&Jing 0]

My Wife's Married Name is on Everything Except Her Passport, which We forgot to get changed after She arrived here in January of 2016. We had Completely Forgot that it still had Her Maiden Name on it.  We'll get it changed once She gets Her 10 Year Green Card but for right now, it's "an inconvenient truth".

As for the Bank Accounts, She's been using Both Accounts the whole time but Her name doesn't show up on the Accounts until about half-way through 2017.

Oh, and one other thing that I failed to list is that We did Photocopy each of Our Debit Cards, front and back, for each Bank Account, showing Our names for the respective Banks.

[geff44 30]

In my opinion you have plenty of evidence to show USCIS . Your evidence looks great.  I don't think  not having her name on your bank account in the first year of your marriage will be an issue since you have other important financial proof that shows you are a couple in a real relationship and co-mingling.

 

I dont think it is necessary to change her maiden name  on her passport but just for peace of mind  you can always go to the nearest Philippine embassy where it has a jurisdiction over the city you were married to change it to your last name.  Oh you need to have a register of marriage (ROM) required for this for the Philippine embassy to change the name. If you cannot change her passport name right now  get an official letter from the Philippine embassy to verify the AKA (also known as) of your wife's name she is using now and maiden name on her passport are same person.  We did the latter on my wife because we moved to a different state after marriage.  The current Phil. embassy of our state  cannot change my wife's maiden name to my last name.. only way is to fly to the state we got married, visit the Philippine embassy overseeing that state and do the passport name change as I had difficulty just doing the name change via mailing documents to the previous Phil. embassy.  

 

 

Edited July 22, 2018 by geff44

[Sukie 1,440]

Thomas, you will be fine.  Put a sheet of paper on the top of your banking evidence, and just explain the reason that she wasn't added at the very beginning.  You don't have to apologize for it - just state that while you married on xx/xx/xx, you were unable to add your wife's name to your accounts until xx/xx/xx when she was able to get the required ID for your bank.

 

You have a ton of evidence.  You'll be fine.  Some spouses NEVER combine financial accounts, and they get through.

 

Sukie in NY

[tamcloud 92]

I agree with the previous responders - what you have looks significant. You've provided a great deal showing joint and beneficiary information, so don't worry about a seeming lack in one particular area.   

[Thomas&Jing 0]

On 7/22/2018 at 9:54 AM, geff44 said:

In my opinion you have plenty of evidence to show USCIS . Your evidence looks great.  I don't think  not having her name on your bank account in the first year of your marriage will be an issue since you have other important financial proof that shows you are a couple in a real relationship and co-mingling.

 

I dont think it is necessary to change her maiden name  on her passport but just for peace of mind  you can always go to the nearest Philippine embassy where it has a jurisdiction over the city you were married to change it to your last name.  Oh you need to have a register of marriage (ROM) required for this for the Philippine embassy to change the name. If you cannot change her passport name right now  get an official letter from the Philippine embassy to verify the AKA (also known as) of your wife's name she is using now and maiden name on her passport are same person.  We did the latter on my wife because we moved to a different state after marriage.  The current Phil. embassy of our state  cannot change my wife's maiden name to my last name.. only way is to fly to the state we got married, visit the Philippine embassy overseeing that state and do the passport name change as I had difficulty just doing the name change via mailing documents to the previous Phil. embassy.  

 

 

Thanks for the insight on the name change 🙂 We just sent Our I-751 Petition on Wednesday, July 25th, 2018 via FedEx Priority Overnight and it Arrived And was Signed by K. Miya at the CSC the next day at 10:01am 🙂 We’ll work on the name change after She gets Her Conditions Removed on Her Green Card. 🙂

[Thomas&Jing 0]

On 7/22/2018 at 10:37 AM, Sukie said:

Thomas, you will be fine.  Put a sheet of paper on the top of your banking evidence, and just explain the reason that she wasn't added at the very beginning.  You don't have to apologize for it - just state that while you married on xx/xx/xx, you were unable to add your wife's name to your accounts until xx/xx/xx when she was able to get the required ID for your bank.

 

You have a ton of evidence.  You'll be fine.  Some spouses NEVER combine financial accounts, and they get through.

 

Sukie in NY

Thanks for the Encouragement and Advice 🙂 We did exactly that and sent Our 12 lb. Baby (Yes, it was 12 lbs. 🙂) on Wednesday, July 25th via FedEx Priority Overnight and Arrived the next morning and signed for by K. Moya at 10am. 🙂

 

Cool little info here.... I am a FedEx Courier who does a Pick Up Route in the Evenings. I help with what we call the “Reload” after I get back from my route. On the Reload we load all the packages into canisters that are then loaded on a truck to go to the Ramp for Flights to our Hub. I actually got to take “Our Baby” off the Couriers truck, who picked “Our Baby” up, and carried it to the cannister and scanned it into the cannister for early departure to the ramp. The whole thing made me tear up. 

[Thomas&Jing 0]

On 7/22/2018 at 11:30 AM, tamcloud said:

I agree with the previous responders - what you have looks significant. You've provided a great deal showing joint and beneficiary information, so don't worry about a seeming lack in one particular area.   

Thanks so much for the encouragement 🙂 Everyone here has been so helpful and allowed us to submit Our Petition with Confidence 🙂