RFE I-751

[klm324 0]

Hi Everyone,

In September of 2017, we submitted our I-751 Petition to Remove the Conditions of Residence for my husband. We sent in everything we could think of and in the end it was two huge stacks of paper. However, we just received an RFE for evidence of our "Good Faith Marriage" on the grounds of insufficient evidence. They specifically request evidence of

1) children (NA)

2) Evidence you and your spouse have resided together and shared responsibility for a common residence such as "leases in both names showing joint occupancy; or deeds and mortgages in both names showing joint ownership; or copies of your and your petitioning spouse's driver's licenses and/or identity cards from the appropriate state's motor vehicle department.

3) Evidence you and your spouse have combined financial resources or joint ownership of assets and responsibility for liabilities such as:  checking, savings or investment account statements showing the transaction pages; property, life or health insurance documents; federal and state tax returns including relevant schedules and attachments such as W-2 records preferably with evidence of filing with the IRS, or other tax documentation demonstrating actual filings submitted to the IRS; utility bills; or loan or credit card statements

4) Evidence you and your spouse made estate, health and financial arrangements with each other such as a will, trust or durable power of attorney for health or property or both. 

5) Affidavits (no problem, but we already submitted three...)

 

re2) we bought the house together before he moved here, but the mortgage is just in mine and my mom's names (he didn't yet have a SSN and we would have to re-close on the house to add him after the fact and that would cost thousands of dollars... we explained this in a letter to USCIS). We submitted a copy of Vegard's drivers license (which lists our address) but not mine because I'm a student and still registered in another state. I can easily run down to the DMV and get a local license, but I'm wondering if that would appear suspicious or if it's necessary. We rent out our basement and could submit a copy of our tenant's lease, which lists us both as landlords... Any thoughts on other creative ways to prove #2?

 

re3) We did all of this... I didn't include every single statement because it seemed unnecessary, but perhaps this is what they're looking for? I also have two accounts that he's technically not on because neither of them exist in our town. One I use regularly and pays our shared credit card bill. He transfers money to me occasionally. We could drive to another state and add him to that one, but again, it seems like that might seem suspicious to add him at this point?

 

re4) we submitted proof he is the beneficiary of my investments and also health care proxy forms. I guess we can go to a lawyer and draw up an official will?

 

re5) we submitted three already and they were all from local friends, although their addresses say their from different towns as it's the northeast... Anything extra we can ask other affiants to include?

 

I was so bummed when I got this notification, having spent two straight weeks compiling everything. Now I'm trying to finish my dissertation and am working around the clock so I want to do this as efficiently as possible while making extra sure we give them sufficient evidence. Thanks in advance for any advice!!

[LirikVJUser 28]

They basically want to make sure you lived together

Do you have any utility bills(gas, electric, water) with your name and your husband's? Having the same address on both driver's licenses would definitely help

Does the bank statement show both of your names with the same address? Have you filed tax returns jointly married?

[Scandi 3,970]

Definitely include FULL bank account statements from EVERY month (you should have a lot more now since you probably haven't sent anything new since the day you filed the i-751). I have seen quite a few others getting RFEa for only sending a few statements from each year and not all of them. They want to see that you're both using the account.

[Will_and_Tu 46]

22 minutes ago, Scandi said:

Definitely include FULL bank account statements from EVERY month (you should have a lot more now since you probably haven't sent anything new since the day you filed the i-751). I have seen quite a few others getting RFEa for only sending a few statements from each year and not all of them. They want to see that you're both using the account.

Both using the account? How would USCIS be able to determine that from a list of debits and credits in a bank statement? The only obvious one would be two distinctly different payroll sources depositing into the account each month,.

[Cryssiekins 976]

11 minutes ago, Will_and_Tu said:

Both using the account? How would USCIS be able to determine that from a list of debits and credits in a bank statement? The only obvious one would be two distinctly different payroll sources depositing into the account each month,.

They can’t tell who is making what transactions.  I think they just want to see regular usage.  My husband and I only have 1 payroll deposit going into that account, but most of our bills are paid from that, and then it is linked to our joint savings.  

 

Every marriage works their financials differently.  In our case, bc we also maintain separate accounts, I sent a statement from every month, so they can see there is regular use.  I wouldn’t think they are overly concerned with what the transactions are, but just that they are there and consistent, as opposed to two names on an account for show that has no regular usage. 

[Scandi 3,970]

14 hours ago, Will_and_Tu said:

Both using the account? How would USCIS be able to determine that from a list of debits and credits in a bank statement? The only obvious one would be two distinctly different payroll sources depositing into the account each month,.

On our statements you can see our names. For instance if I pay for something with PayPal it says my name, if my husband does the same it says his name. Obviously also when we get paid it says our names. It also says our names when we use our Target redcard etc. So yes, it shows a lot.

[implife 318]

17 hours ago, klm324 said:

I can easily run down to the DMV and get a local license, but I'm wondering if that would appear suspicious or if it's necessary.

It is mandatory. You must do this.

[klm324 0]

On 2/20/2019 at 11:47 AM, LirikBlaidd87 said:

They basically want to make sure you lived together

Do you have any utility bills(gas, electric, water) with your name and your husband's? Having the same address on both driver's licenses would definitely help

Does the bank statement show both of your names with the same address? Have you filed tax returns jointly married?

Everything is in my name. I can go get a new driver's license next week. One of our bank statements shows both of our names. He's not on my other account. We have a shared credit card, which is what we use for most of our daily expenses but his name isn't on the statement. We submitted photos of the actual card, which shows each of our names with the same account number as well as a letter from the CC company stating that he's been an authorized user since 2014. 

 

We have filed tax returns together since 2014, but we submitted some forms from these when we submitted our original evidence. Perhaps they want the full return?

On 2/20/2019 at 11:50 AM, Scandi said:

Definitely include FULL bank account statements from EVERY month (you should have a lot more now since you probably haven't sent anything new since the day you filed the i-751). I have seen quite a few others getting RFEa for only sending a few statements from each year and not all of them. They want to see that you're both using the account.

How far back do you think we need to go? Should I go all the way back to when he first moved over since I didn't include every statement initially? This will be ~5 years of statements from three accounts...  

 

Thanks so much everyone for your advice! 

[Will_and_Tu 46]

On 2/21/2019 at 2:38 AM, Scandi said:

On our statements you can see our names. For instance if I pay for something with PayPal it says my name, if my husband does the same it says his name. Obviously also when we get paid it says our names. It also says our names when we use our Target redcard etc. So yes, it shows a lot.

I think that's entirely dependent upon your bank, then. Our checking statements just show debits and credits, without designating which card is being used to make them. The officer could discern that the account is active and that we both have access to it, but there's no way to determine which transactions belong to which person.

[Ryan H 3,790]

Moved from K1 Process & Procedures to Removing Conditions on Residency Discussion.