RFE as students living at home

[mnb2015 0]

Hello All,

 

My Danish husband and I filed our I-751 in December 2017, and were concerned to get an RFE late last month. We are living in an a-typical situation in which we are married but also still students living with my parents. We don't really have many bills because my parents are very gracious and generous (I know we are blessed and I don't take this for granted even one day!) They chose to help us out financially for now while we finish school ( my husband and I are both studying accounting).  I should also mention we are currently not working because we are close to finishing school and want to expedite the process so we can get out and work a good benefits/decent salary job right after the degrees are completed.

 

In our I-751 we submitted:

 

notorized powers of attorney

living wills

landlord agreement (contract with parents)

life insurance policy

explanation page (discussing our situation as students with limited income and bills)

joint investment trading profile with Ameritrade

evidence of university education

joint bank statements

foreign spouse state ID

affidavits from multiple people

joint amazon prime membership

honeymoon pictures in europe and flight tickets

evidence of a small business venture we are working on as a couple

 

I am aware that we are lacking in things like leases, having a child, and big bills like mortgages etc, but we are simply not in the position to do that at the moment.  We are living a very simple life right now until school is complete.

 

In the RFE letter USCIS sent us, they only  commented that we didn't send enough bank statements and thus are not proving that we still share a life together or have a marriage in good faith.  We only sent USCIS a few bank statements rather than all of them and I didn't realize that was a mistake. USCIS did not making any other specific comments, they just gave us the standard list of evidence they would accept, like having a child or getting a mortgage. But like I said, we are not in the position to do things like that just yet.  

 

Is it possible that USCIS is only concerned with the bank statement thing, or is there more to this letter that they simply did not disclose to us?
 

What are everyone's comments on how to strengthen our situation? We want to send a solid RFE reply. Thank you for the constructive feedback!

[Georgia16 2,858]

Definitely send all the bank statements in your situation. Do you have a joint credit card? Also, send in all your taxes showing you filed as married all these years. 

[tennnis123 14]

Hi, we are in a similar situation we sent the following as proof of residency:

1. Drivers License with the same address

2. Contract with my mother in law that we live there and a copy of the utility bill under her name

3. All of the bank statements since 2014

4. Copies of our share CC

5. Savings account

6. AAA membership you can use Costco too

7. Car insurance

We filed in April 2018 but have not heard anything but biometrics since then we hope we dont get an RFE. I see a lot of couples living with family in this blog and in the FB group I dont think that will be the issue.

 

[Cryssiekins 976]

You can’t send what you don’t have, so focus on what you can produce.

 

Send in ALL banking statements, if you share a credit card, send those in as well.  The IRS tax transcripts showing filing as married.  If there are any assets (car titles etc) that both names are on.  

 

Maybe the bills showing both cell phones. Health insurance if you’re both on the same plan.  

 

Then write an explanation as to why other items are missing. I know you already did that, but sometimes you have to do things twice (or more) with USCIS.  For my husband and I, I explained why we didn’t have joint car insurance for the whole time, etc. 

 

It’s not strong evidence, but perhaps some affidavits, especially from your parents explaining they help financially.  

[AstroCanada 206]

On 3/19/2019 at 10:37 AM, Cryssiekins said:

You can’t send what you don’t have, so focus on what you can produce.

 

Send in ALL banking statements, if you share a credit card, send those in as well.  The IRS tax transcripts showing filing as married.  If there are any assets (car titles etc) that both names are on.  

I'll second this.  Sounds like they want more bank statements, so send what you got.  It's a bit of luck of the draw with the reviewers from reading this forum.  Some people send the kitchen sink of good evidence and get an RFE...others seem to barely send anything with an unusual situation and get approved.