I-130 Checklist - Review

[Tempgchol 1]

Hi All,

 

I am petitioning for I-130 for my spouse who lives in Pakistan. We had an arranged marriage. Arranged marriages are pretty common in indo-pak sub continent. I was introduced to my wife through someone in Pakistan three months ago. My family then reached out to my wife's family and after talking to them and my wife for sometime, we decided to fly to Pakistan and get wedding done officially/legally. We stayed there for 10 days. The marriage is registered legally under Pakistani Matrimonial law.

 

I have prepared the list of documents to show bonafide marriage which are as follows;

 

a) Legal marriage certificate from Pakistan b) Pictures of the Wedding Function (Two Functions)

c) Proof of Tickets to Pakistan of myself and my family

d) Entry/Exit Stamps at immigration to Pakistan

e) Proof of Hotel Stay of me and my wife f) Chat log for the last three months

 

 

That's all I could gather for I-130 to prove that we travelled to Pakistan for wedding ceremony. I'd like to believe the above documentation is good enough proof to show that the marriage is bonafide.

 

I would really appreciate if VJ experts could share their thoughts on the documentation above.

 

Thanks

[Visitor User 229]

You mean the ‘Nikah Namah’?

[Tempgchol 1]

9 hours ago, Visitor User said:

You mean the ‘Nikah Namah’?

Yes Sir! I have the Nikkah Nama if you are referring to 'Point A'. Does the list look good to you?

 

Thanks

[arken 4,197]

You can add a few more evidences like:

1. Adding your wife as beneficiary in your banking accounts so her name shows up in statements and provide that.

2. Can add your wife as an authorized user in credit card( she may not necessarily use in pakistan). 

3. Add her as beneficiary to any life insurances or retirement funds you may have

4. Affidavit’s of bonafide relationship (may be one from your family and one from her family side)

[Madison S. 48]

Things like power of attorney, wills, and adding both names to bills can serve as evidence too. I used all of the things you listed when I filed my I-130, plus affidavits which arken mentioned. 

[Tempgchol 1]

1 hour ago, arken said:

You can add a few more evidences like:

1. Adding your wife as beneficiary in your banking accounts so her name shows up in statements and provide that.

2. Can add your wife as an authorized user in credit card( she may not necessarily use in pakistan). 

3. Add her as beneficiary to any life insurances or retirement funds you may have

4. Affidavit’s of bonafide relationship (may be one from your family and one from her family side)

Thank you sir! Those are all really good evidences but for that I would have to go back to Pakistan. That would take another 6 months to year. Can I add her to any of the above documents without her being present here in the US with me?

[Tempgchol 1]

1 hour ago, Madison S. said:

Things like power of attorney, wills, and adding both names to bills can serve as evidence too. I used all of the things you listed when I filed my I-130, plus affidavits which arken mentioned. 

Thank you sir! Those are all really good evidences but for that I would have to go back to Pakistan. That would take another 6 months to year. Can I add her to any of the above documents without her being present here in the US with me? I don't think I can add her to my bank statements unless she is present here in the US, correct?

[arken 4,197]

4 minutes ago, Tempgchol said:

Thank you sir! Those are all really good evidences but for that I would have to go back to Pakistan. That would take another 6 months to year. Can I add her to any of the above documents without her being present here in the US with me?

Why do you need to go to Pak for that? Those are for you to do in the US.

[Tempgchol 1]

1 minute ago, arken said:

Why do you need to go to Pak for that? Those are for you to do in the US.

Oh, so I can add her to all the documents you mentioned without her being present here in the US? Is that so? I did not know that :).

[Madison S. 48]

I'm pretty sure most of these things can be established with a phone call, though for banks some of them prefer you to sign in person (that's for the ones that even allow you to add someone). My bank, for example, will not allow me to add my husband as he has no SSN/ITIN; and my credit card companies state the same about making him an authorized user. Some banks/credit card companies will allow you to do this though via phone call. I'm young and still a student so I also have no life insurance/retirement policy yet to add my husband to.

 

I'm actually not familiar with the processes to establish power of attorney, etc. I know there are plenty of forums/discussions on it here on VJ as bona fide evidence. My husband's name is on my utility bills and car insurance (as a non-driver) now. This was accomplished via a phone call to each company.

 

Again, this is simply my experience so it's not a ~hard and fast rule~ to follow, but when I submitted my I-130 (which was approved) I only had the following:

- boarding passes from 10 years of visits 

- passport stamps from these visits

- photos with captions of us together/our families together/our wedding

- evidence of time spent together (like concert tickets that had both of names on it, or trips we took together)

- three third party affidavits (though I've been told on VJ that these really don't bear much weight)

- some chat logs (though I've been told these also don't bear much weight, as quality face-to-face time is most important)

- receipt for our wedding bands + my engagement ring (which was stated to have my mother's diamond in it) + appraisal of the ring with the diamond set in it 

- wedding invitation + bridal shower invitation 

- marriage certificate

Edited July 15, 2019 by Madison S.
forgot to add a piece of evidence

[Tempgchol 1]

8 hours ago, Madison S. said:

I'm pretty sure most of these things can be established with a phone call, though for banks some of them prefer you to sign in person (that's for the ones that even allow you to add someone). My bank, for example, will not allow me to add my husband as he has no SSN/ITIN; and my credit card companies state the same about making him an authorized user. Some banks/credit card companies will allow you to do this though via phone call. I'm young and still a student so I also have no life insurance/retirement policy yet to add my husband to.

 

I'm actually not familiar with the processes to establish power of attorney, etc. I know there are plenty of forums/discussions on it here on VJ as bona fide evidence. My husband's name is on my utility bills and car insurance (as a non-driver) now. This was accomplished via a phone call to each company.

 

Again, this is simply my experience so it's not a ~hard and fast rule~ to follow, but when I submitted my I-130 (which was approved) I only had the following:

- boarding passes from 10 years of visits 

- passport stamps from these visits

- photos with captions of us together/our families together/our wedding

- evidence of time spent together (like concert tickets that had both of names on it, or trips we took together)

- three third party affidavits (though I've been told on VJ that these really don't bear much weight)

- some chat logs (though I've been told these also don't bear much weight, as quality face-to-face time is most important)

- receipt for our wedding bands + my engagement ring (which was stated to have my mother's diamond in it) + appraisal of the ring with the diamond set in it 

- wedding invitation + bridal shower invitation 

- marriage certificate

Thank you so much! Really appreciate it  :).