ROC Evidence - Any Advice?

[luckylady 6]

Helo there, I am the LPR, prepping the package for submission later this month. My husband bought the house before we were married  and I am not on the deed (and he is reluctant to add me to the deed which is fine by me, except when I think of the ROC). And the utilities are in his name as he has been living in the home for about 5 years before we got married- I tried to add my name to some of the utilities but the companies didn't allow it here in MA, except the water company which added me in mid 2018 😯 so there isn't really much evidence in terms of utilities or housing stuff.

 

I read on this site that he could add me to the home insurance then we could send that as evidence plus the settlement documents from when he purchased the house to show he bought it before our marriage. He called the insurance company recently and they said they can't add me to the insurance if I am not on the deed. Is there anything else I can do here to show that we live together? I have documents showing that we have the same address (my recently renewed foreign passport, my drivers license, W-2's, health insurance bills, etc).

 

Another thing is we have a joint checking account since just after the marriage began. The account has been active ever since we opened it but its only my direct deposit that's been going in there, and I have been using the account so there are plenty of transactions, but his income isn't going in there. He has a checking account which I am not on, and he uses that checking account to pay the mortgage, utility bills, etc. Is this a big issue? If I were to press for him to add me on this, I don't know if it would look good if he just added me the same month we are sending the ROC package?! I am thinking best not to do it. However, I am an authorized user on his credit card account and we both have cards to this account and we will be sending the account statements with the ROC package.

 

Other evidence we have: health insurance from the start of the marriage; joint tax return transcripts for 2017, 2018 and 2019; he recently added me to his 401k as beneficiary, I signed a spousal consent on a 401k loan he took last summer for home renovations- I am not sure if this is worthy as evidence; and he is listed as an emergency contact at my job-i will have a copy of this notarized. We haven't really traveled in the past 2 years because he's been renovating the house after work and on weekends, and I have been studying for some certification exams in the evenings after work and most weekends, we do have photos of us on various dinner and brunch dates but no air tickets/ boarding passes/ hotel stays.

 

I am not on his car insurance as he said it would really raise his rates since I am a fairly new driver (I usually take public transport/the train to and from work since its very efficient here in MA so I dont drive routinely).

 

I am looking into creating Power of Attorneys, I have downloaded some forms online. I am concerned that they may not look good for the case if they've been created/dated as April 2019, the same month that we are filing ROC. And who is the executor in the PoA? I understand the part of witnesses signing but how about the part of executor? And once we make the PoA, must we take them to the doctor's office/ primary care provider to make it official? Or should we notarize?

 

We will also be looking to have some friends/family write affidavits.

 

Any advise on what more to add to beef the package up some more please? Thanks.

[Cryssiekins 976]

In terms of your banking - that’s a similar situation to my husband and I.  We have a joint checking and savings account.  Only my pay is deposited in there.  His pay (which is significantly less than mine), goes into his separate account and is used to pay the rent, since our shared account does not have paper cheques.  I didn’t mention our separate accounts in my RoC package and only included banking statements from the shared accounts.  (A statement from every month since marriage).  I honestly don’t believe they go line by line.  They just want to see shared finances.  My husband is awful with money, which is why I handle all of our finances.  His check basically covers our rent, phone bill, and his basic spending needs (gas and discretionary).  That’s what works for us.  

 

We sent end the statements for our credit card, as well as car titles.

 

We had some “recent” evidence such as health and car insurance as my new (and wickedly awesome) job offered good rates.  Prior to that we kept those things separate bc it was financially efficient to do that.  

 

Honestly, I would recommend your husband add you to the deed.  Not sure why he’s reluctant to do that.  Shared ownership of an asset is great evidence.  If he doesn’t want to, the rest of your plan sounds good.  Make sure to use the cover letter to give context to the evidence and to explain any deficiencies.  (Ie I explained why some of our stuff was separate). 

[usmsbow 795]

So, if I'm understanding correctly, you have the following to submit as evidence:

 

1. Bank statements for 1 joint checking account that you only use.

Suggestion: Add your name to his account. It won't hurt to do it now, and if you get a RFE requesting more evidence, it will be (at a minimum) a few months from now when there is a longer history of it being a joint account. 

 

2. Credit card statements for CC that you're an authorized user.

 

3. Health insurance info

 

4. 3 years of tax returns

 

5. 401K beneficiary info.

Suggestion: Do you have your own 401K? if so, I assume he also is the beneficiary? That would be an additional piece of evidence. 

 

That sounds like a decent amount of evidence. Do either of you have life insurance? Perhaps your husband does via his work? That could be more evidence. 

 

I wouldn't get the affidavits unless you receive a RFE. Maybe ask friends/family if they're willing to do it, so you're prepared, but that's all I'd do at this point.

 

Good luck! 

 

 

[luckylady 6]

12 minutes ago, Cryssiekins said:

In terms of your banking - that’s a similar situation to my husband and I.  We have a joint checking and savings account.  Only my pay is deposited in there.  His pay (which is significantly less than mine), goes into his separate account and is used to pay the rent, since our shared account does not have paper cheques.  I didn’t mention our separate accounts in my RoC package and only included banking statements from the shared accounts.  (A statement from every month since marriage).  I honestly don’t believe they go line by line.  They just want to see shared finances.  My husband is awful with money, which is why I handle all of our finances.  His check basically covers our rent, phone bill, and his basic spending needs (gas and discretionary).  That’s what works for us.  

 

We sent end the statements for our credit card, as well as car titles.

 

We had some “recent” evidence such as health and car insurance as my new (and wickedly awesome) job offered good rates.  Prior to that we kept those things separate bc it was financially efficient to do that.  

 

Honestly, I would recommend your husband add you to the deed.  Not sure why he’s reluctant to do that.  Shared ownership of an asset is great evidence.  If he doesn’t want to, the rest of your plan sounds good.  Make sure to use the cover letter to give context to the evidence and to explain any deficiencies.  (Ie I explained why some of our stuff was separate). 

Thank you for your advice. My pay is much less than the husbands- I work part time at a nonprofit so I can focus on my certification exams, and my pay goes into the joint account which am also the only one who has been using. I use the money from there mostly for groceries and for my certification stuff- books, paying for the exams, and practice tests. His checking account (which I am not on) is where his pay goes, and which pays for the mortgage and utilities. Perhaps I will press to be added to it. 

[LionessDeon 2,060]

The key is always to focus on what you do have over what you don’t have. I didn’t add my husband to my property deed, insurance, or utilities not do I plan to.   I don’t think it’s an absolute necessity. You can provide other proof that you live together. 

Send copies of anything that shows your shared address, drivers license, other bills, mail, Christmas cards, thank you cards, etc. 

If your a female adult over the age of 25 it should not increase your car insurance rates because your a new driver. Adding my husband didn’t raise my rates, especially if you drove in your home country. I’d double check that. 

Definitely add in affidavits from friends and family. 

What about memberships,  pictures with family and friends, living wills?  Any of that. 

[Crazy Cat 39,187]

4 minutes ago, LionessDeon said:

Adding my husband didn’t raise my rates, especially if you drove in your home country. I’d double check that. 

Our car insurance rates actually went down by $10.00 a month when I added my wife (no other changes).....LOL.

[luckylady 6]

17 minutes ago, usmsbow said:

So, if I'm understanding correctly, you have the following to submit as evidence:

 

1. Bank statements for 1 joint checking account that you only use.

Suggestion: Add your name to his account. It won't hurt to do it now, and if you get a RFE requesting more evidence, it will be (at a minimum) a few months from now when there is a longer history of it being a joint account. 

 

2. Credit card statements for CC that you're an authorized user.

 

3. Health insurance info

 

4. 3 years of tax returns

 

5. 401K beneficiary info.

Suggestion: Do you have your own 401K? if so, I assume he also is the beneficiary? That would be an additional piece of evidence. 

 

That sounds like a decent amount of evidence. Do either of you have life insurance? Perhaps your husband does via his work? That could be more evidence. 

 

I wouldn't get the affidavits unless you receive a RFE. Maybe ask friends/family if they're willing to do it, so you're prepared, but that's all I'd do at this point.

 

Good luck! 

 

 

Thank you for responding. Yes, thats what we have so far. I guess I will press to be added to his checking account. If he does add me to his checking account this month and we were to send this as part of the ROC package, what statements would we send from this checking account? From when we were married or just this month's statement?

 

I do not have a 401k as I work part time while I focus on completing my certification exams so I can transition to working in my profession. And none of us have life insurance at the moment 😯

[usmsbow 795]

Just now, missileman said:

Our car insurance rates actually went down by $10.00 a month when I added my wife (no other changes).....LOL.

 Conversely mine went up when I added my wife. She didn't have a DL before coming to the US though. 

[usmsbow 795]

2 minutes ago, luckylady said:

Thank you for responding. Yes, thats what we have so far. I guess I will press to be added to his checking account. If he does add me to his checking account this month and we were to send this as part of the ROC package, what statements would we send from this checking account? From when we were married or just this month's statement?

 

Well it couldn't hurt to send them from when you were married since it will show a joint/shared address. Don't send EVERY one though. A few per year should be plenty. 

[luckylady 6]

7 minutes ago, LionessDeon said:

The key is always to focus on what you do have over what you don’t have. I didn’t add my husband to my property deed, insurance, or utilities not do I plan to.   I don’t think it’s an absolute necessity. You can provide other proof that you live together. 

Send copies of anything that shows your shared address, drivers license, other bills, mail, Christmas cards, thank you cards, etc. 

If your a female adult over the age of 25 it should not increase your car insurance rates because your a new driver. Adding my husband didn’t raise my rates, especially if you drove in your home country. I’d double check that. 

Definitely add in affidavits from friends and family. 

What about memberships,  pictures with family and friends, living wills?  Any of that. 

You are right. I will focus on what I do have. I will ask him again about adding me to car insurance, I am over 25. We have triple A, and membership to BJs. I just felt that these are minor compared to financial comingling/ utilities/ home ownership. Will add the affidavits. We don't really have pictures with other people to be honest, most of our family is back home in Africa. He has two brothers here, I was thinking they might write us the affidavits. Thanks for your advice.

[Crazy Cat 39,187]

Just now, usmsbow said:

Well it couldn't hurt to send them from when you were married since it will show a joint/shared address. Don't send EVERY one though. A few per year should be plenty. 

There were some posts regarding this very question a couple weeks ago.  Someone reported that they received an RFE for not including all their bank statements........I opted to include all ours (21 total)...about 60 pages.

[Crazy Cat 39,187]

For what it's worth, this is what I sent with my wife's ROC last week:

• Copy of wife's I-551 (Front & Back sides)

• Key pages from signed Apartment lease for previous address 2017-2018 with both our names & signatures

• Complete 2018 Joint Tax Return as filed by our accountant

• 2018 Joint IRS Return Transcript

• Complete  joint checking acct statements since my wife's arrival in June 2017 showing co-mingled finances and household expenditures

• Copy of registered Deed for current home with both our names and signatures

• Mortgage Lender Letter for our current home address with both our names

• Copy of our Citibank Credit Cards showing both on account with same card number

• Copy of Citibank credit statement with activity showing us both as trip passengers

• Amazon delivery label showing both names and our current address

• Copy of wife's Military Dependent ID card showing me as the sponsor for spouse (SP)

• Tricare Health Care Coverage Eligibility Letter showing both of us together

• My most recent Retired Military pay statement showing wife as my beneficiary

• Valid Texas Health Care Directives appointing each other as sole health care proxy(Advanced Directives)

• Copies of our Texas driver's licenses with common current address for both of us

• Current GeicoCar Insurance Cards showing both of us as insured drivers for our car

• City Utility application showing both our names for our current address

• Copies of Boarding Passes for Las Vegas Valentine Day Trip February 2019

• Pictures of us on special occasions here in the US

[LionessDeon 2,060]

2 minutes ago, luckylady said:

You are right. I will focus on what I do have. I will ask him again about adding me to car insurance, I am over 25. We have triple A, and membership to BJs. I just felt that these are minor compared to financial comingling/ utilities/ home ownership. Will add the affidavits. We don't really have pictures with other people to be honest, most of our family is back home in Africa. He has two brothers here, I was thinking they might write us the affidavits. Thanks for your advice.

Yes send the membership cards!  You being on the home deed isn’t the be all end all. Other evidences will suffice, especially if there is enough of them. They understand not everything is exactly perfect. 

I would get added to the car insurance. That’s an easy fix and can’t be that costly.   It’s worth it in the long run anyway. 

I didn’t send one utility bill because they will only list one person. What about the cell phone bill?  Can you show both numbers on the same bill even if it’s not in both names? Mine lists all the cell phone numbers.  The I-751 asks for cell numbers so that correlates that together. 

[millefleur 5,035]

The recent word on the street is: send in all bank statements from every month if you want to avoid an RFE. Bank statements are endemically faked in the immigration process and it could be that USCIS is catching on...hence issuing RFE's to double check that the statements are not faked.

 

I sent in all bank statements from every month, but only quarterly statements for credit cards.

[luckylady 6]

3 minutes ago, LionessDeon said:

Yes send the membership cards!  You being on the home deed isn’t the be all end all. Other evidences will suffice, especially if there is enough of them. They understand not everything is exactly perfect. 

I would get added to the car insurance. That’s an easy fix and can’t be that costly.   It’s worth it in the long run anyway. 

I didn’t send one utility bill because they will only list one person. What about the cell phone bill?  Can you show both numbers on the same bill even if it’s not in both names? Mine lists all the cell phone numbers.  The I-751 asks for cell numbers so that correlates that together. 

We do not have the same phone bill. I have the same super-cheap mobile network that I got when I came here as a student, the ones you just get the sim card and have your own phone, not the plans. I never bothered to change to anything fancier, so we still have separate phone bills.