I-130 Checklist/Questions

[Ellxtdan 95]

Hi! I am in the process of completing the I-130 packet for my husband and wanted to get some feedback on it.

 

Some background info: Husband is from Sweden and is currently still living there. We've been dating for 3 years and just got married two weeks ago.

 

Here is what I have so far:

 

• Personal check for $535
• Form G-1145
• Form I-130
• Form I-130A
• Copy of petitioner's U.S. birth certificate
• Print-out of beneficiary's personbevis (equivalent of birth certificate in Sweden, I know it's not needed, but we wanted to front-load)
• 2 passport-style pictures (Petitioner)
• 2 passport-style pictures (Beneficiary, again front-loading since I already have the pictures)
• Copy of marriage certificate
• Evidence of bonafide marriage:
  • -Timeline/explanation of our relationship and marriage (a couple of short paragraphs explaining how we met, how the relationship developed, and future plans)
  • -Pictures spanning the entirety of our time together, included pictures with family and friends, and wedding day pictures (roughly 11 pages, 30 pictures total)
  • -Dates of our visits, and the accompanying stamps from both passports
  • -Itineraries/boarding passes from trips we've taken together (I printed these out from emails, and only included pages with relevant info on them. I can remove the extra pages with ads, right?)
  • -Receipts from two gifts he's purchased for me (they show that the billing address is his, shipping is mine)
  • -Scan of two cards we got from his relatives on our wedding day
  • -Scan of an envelope I sent him (it shows the postmark. Do I need to scan the letter that was inside of it?) and postcard I sent him when I was traveling in Asia

 

Is this enough evidence? I also have two affidavits. One is written by my mother-in-law and the other is a friend of my husband who attended the wedding. I had also asked a friend of mine to write one (because he traveled to Sweden to visit us while I was there last winter), but I keep reading on here that it's not needed, and letters become more of a nuisance than anything. Should I just omit them?

 

Last, regarding the I-130A form: I sent it to my husband and he filled it out. I know he does not need to sign it because he is overseas, but I have read other responses where it was recommended to list myself as the preparer. Is that necessary, or can I leave that part blank?

 

Thank you so much for your time!

Edited August 10, 2019 by Ellxtdan

[LilyJ 1,258]

Looks good but I do recommend to leave out the personbevis. It doesn’t help to “front load” with it since you will just need to resubmit it at NVC anyways, so it won’t do any good to send it now, since you will just need to resubmit it later. You don’t need the affidavits either, they carry 0 weight, you have plenty enough evidence of face to face time together especially coming from Sweden. I don’t think you need the envelope you sent him since it doesn’t prove anything other than that you sent something to him in the envelope but it wouldn’t hurt to send. You do not need to put yourself down as a preparer, that’s more for if you used a service to fill out the forms for you. The 2 passport photos of your husband aren’t required but they are nonetheless fine to have in there, but again it won’t front load anything as he’ll still need to take 2 passport photos with him to the interview I’m fairly sure, but leave them in anyways since you have them. make sure you photocopied both the front and back of your US birth certificate 

[Ellxtdan 95]

8 hours ago, LilyJ said:

Looks good but I do recommend to leave out the personbevis. It doesn’t help to “front load” with it since you will just need to resubmit it at NVC anyways, so it won’t do any good to send it now, since you will just need to resubmit it later. You don’t need the affidavits either, they carry 0 weight, you have plenty enough evidence of face to face time together especially coming from Sweden. I don’t think you need the envelope you sent him since it doesn’t prove anything other than that you sent something to him in the envelope but it wouldn’t hurt to send. You do not need to put yourself down as a preparer, that’s more for if you used a service to fill out the forms for you. The 2 passport photos of your husband aren’t required but they are nonetheless fine to have in there, but again it won’t front load anything as he’ll still need to take 2 passport photos with him to the interview I’m fairly sure, but leave them in anyways since you have them. make sure you photocopied both the front and back of your US birth certificate 

Thank you for your response! It's nice to see someone else with a spouse from Scandinavia. My husband lives in Skane, and we are always traveling out of CPH!

 

Will note everything you said. Another question though, do you think it's necessary to include a few screenshots of chat history? Or any receipts from the wedding? We had a small reception at my mother-in-law's house, and don't have receipts for many expenses since we cooked and served ourselves.

[LilyJ 1,258]

25 minutes ago, Ellxtdan said:

Thank you for your response! It's nice to see someone else with a spouse from Scandinavia. My husband lives in Skane, and we are always traveling out of CPH!

 

Will note everything you said. Another question though, do you think it's necessary to include a few screenshots of chat history? Or any receipts from the wedding? We had a small reception at my mother-in-law's house, and don't have receipts for many expenses since we cooked and served ourselves.

Agreed! There’s a Scandinavia thread and while it’s nice there as well there aren’t many CR1s on that thread so I like seeing Scandinavian CR1s lol

We didn’t include any chat logs, we did include a couple copies of wedding receipts, but they’re not necessary. The evidence we sent is actually very similar to what you are sending, I think that we would have been fine without the wedding receipts but we included them anyways, I think you’ll be fine too but you can also include them if you like, just one or two would be enough

[NikLR 13,220]

12 hours ago, Ellxtdan said:

Hi! I am in the process of completing the I-130 packet for my husband and wanted to get some feedback on it.

 

Some background info: Husband is from Sweden and is currently still living there. We've been dating for 3 years and just got married two weeks ago.

 

Here is what I have so far:

 

• Personal check for $535
• Form G-1145
• Form I-130
• Form I-130A
• Copy of petitioner's U.S. birth certificate
• Print-out of beneficiary's personbevis (equivalent of birth certificate in Sweden, I know it's not needed, but we wanted to front-load) [this is not front loading.  This is adding extraneous information that's not required.]
• 2 passport-style pictures (Petitioner)
• 2 passport-style pictures (Beneficiary, again front-loading since I already have the pictures) [this is not front loading.  This is adding extraneous information that's not required.]
• Copy of marriage certificate
• Evidence of bonafide marriage: [this is front loading.. adding information to strengthen a petition]
  • -Timeline/explanation of our relationship and marriage (a couple of short paragraphs explaining how we met, how the relationship developed, and future plans) [not really needed but you can include]
  • -Pictures spanning the entirety of our time together, included pictures with family and friends, and wedding day pictures (roughly 11 pages, 30 pictures total)
  • -Dates of our visits, and the accompanying stamps from both passports
  • -Itineraries/boarding passes from trips we've taken together (I printed these out from emails, and only included pages with relevant info on them. I can remove the extra pages with ads, right?)
  • -Receipts from two gifts he's purchased for me (they show that the billing address is his, shipping is mine)
  • -Scan of two cards we got from his relatives on our wedding day
  • -Scan of an envelope I sent him (it shows the postmark. Do I need to scan the letter that was inside of it?) and postcard I sent him when I was traveling in Asia

 

Is this enough evidence? I also have two affidavits. One is written by my mother-in-law and the other is a friend of my husband who attended the wedding. I had also asked a friend of mine to write one (because he traveled to Sweden to visit us while I was there last winter), but I keep reading on here that it's not needed, and letters become more of a nuisance than anything. Should I just omit them? [you have them, you can send them, they may not help but they don't hurt either]

 

Last, regarding the I-130A form: I sent it to my husband and he filled it out. I know he does not need to sign it because he is overseas, but I have read other responses where it was recommended to list myself as the preparer. Is that necessary, or can I leave that part blank? [leave blank - this is for if a lawyer or service is helping you with the petition]

 

Thank you so much for your time!

Do you have any other evidence you are in a genuine marriage?  Emails/messages to each other? Joint financials? Joint insurance? Wills? Power of attorney? etc...  Granted this is Sweden so it is low fraud but you didn't say if he was a natural born Swedish citizen or not. 

[Ellxtdan 95]

5 hours ago, NikLR said:

Do you have any other evidence you are in a genuine marriage?  Emails/messages to each other? Joint financials? Joint insurance? Wills? Power of attorney? etc...  Granted this is Sweden so it is low fraud but you didn't say if he was a natural born Swedish citizen or not. 

Yes, we've talked a lot on Facebook Messenger. I have screenshot and printed out four snippets, each from a different year. Should I screenshot call logs too? As for the other evidence you listed, we have none of those because we have always lived separately. He is a full-blooded Swede, born and raised there. I met him while I was studying abroad in Sweden; he was my hallmate.

[NikLR 13,220]

7 hours ago, Ellxtdan said:

Yes, we've talked a lot on Facebook Messenger. I have screenshot and printed out four snippets, each from a different year. Should I screenshot call logs too? As for the other evidence you listed, we have none of those because we have always lived separately. He is a full-blooded Swede, born and raised there. I met him while I was studying abroad in Sweden; he was my hallmate.

Somethings you can do without living together.  My husband added me to his car insurance and the bank account for example

[RCable 75]

9 hours ago, NikLR said:

Somethings you can do without living together.  My husband added me to his car insurance and the bank account for example

Most places require them to have SSN to be added. I can’t add my husband to anything like that. And this is the case with most couples who live separately. They don’t expect you to force evidence, they want the legitimate proof you have. They know and understand that.

 

I think the evidence you have is good. Did you include any wedding photos or receipts from the wedding expenses? Photos of the two of you with family or other people to show that people know about your relationship?

 

I included stuff like that as well as examples of contact for every month that we’ve been together. (Just screenshots with date stamps from Facebook messenger).

 

Honestly, I think you’re good, I’ve seen people get approved with a lot less. 

[JFH 12,189]

On 8/10/2019 at 6:40 AM, Ellxtdan said:

Thank you for your response! It's nice to see someone else with a spouse from Scandinavia. My husband lives in Skane, and we are always traveling out of CPH!

 

Will note everything you said. Another question though, do you think it's necessary to include a few screenshots of chat history? Or any receipts from the wedding? We had a small reception at my mother-in-law's house, and don't have receipts for many expenses since we cooked and served ourselves.

Receipts from the wedding add 0 to your case. You already have a legal marriage certificate. USCIS can see that you are married and that’s all they care about - a legal marriage. They are not interested in the slightest how much you paid for table decorations or your dress. 

Edited August 11, 2019 by JFH

[NikLR 13,220]

3 hours ago, RCable said:

Most places require them to have SSN to be added. I can’t add my husband to anything like that. And this is the case with most couples who live separately. They don’t expect you to force evidence, they want the legitimate proof you have. They know and understand that.

 

I think the evidence you have is good. Did you include any wedding photos or receipts from the wedding expenses? Photos of the two of you with family or other people to show that people know about your relationship?

 

I included stuff like that as well as examples of contact for every month that we’ve been together. (Just screenshots with date stamps from Facebook messenger).

 

Honestly, I think you’re good, I’ve seen people get approved with a lot less. 

Car insurance doesnt require an SSN.  There is a form called a w8ben that allows a foreigner to have a US bank account too. Wills and power of attorney do not require an SSN either.  

But you are correct that it's not required.  But it would strengthen a case far more than a wedding receipt.  I wouldn't send those unless you're really grasping at straws. 

[Ellxtdan 95]

4 hours ago, RCable said:

Most places require them to have SSN to be added. I can’t add my husband to anything like that. And this is the case with most couples who live separately. They don’t expect you to force evidence, they want the legitimate proof you have. They know and understand that.

 

I think the evidence you have is good. Did you include any wedding photos or receipts from the wedding expenses? Photos of the two of you with family or other people to show that people know about your relationship?

 

I included stuff like that as well as examples of contact for every month that we’ve been together. (Just screenshots with date stamps from Facebook messenger).

 

Honestly, I think you’re good, I’ve seen people get approved with a lot less. 

Yes, I included wedding photos of us with his family and friends. I also included multiple pictures of us with friends and family throughout the years. I printed out a large selection of pictures of us, so I’m not really worried about that.

 

Thanks for your response!

[K.Claw 0]

@Ellxtdan

 

I was just looking for some checklist on what to include, especially filing from Sweden. We are in the process of filing our i-130 (I'm Swedish, husband American). Regarding your marriage certificate: Were you married in the US and thus have an american marriage certificate? 

 

The reason I am asking is because we got married in Sweden and here our "Personbevis" serves as both marriage certificate, birth certificate and proof of common address. So I assume we have to provide both me and my husbands "personbevis" in order to have a complete marriage certificate, however I haven't found a clear answer to this.
 

[Ellxtdan 95]

2 hours ago, K.Claw said:

@Ellxtdan

 

I was just looking for some checklist on what to include, especially filing from Sweden. We are in the process of filing our i-130 (I'm Swedish, husband American). Regarding your marriage certificate: Were you married in the US and thus have an american marriage certificate? 

 

The reason I am asking is because we got married in Sweden and here our "Personbevis" serves as both marriage certificate, birth certificate and proof of common address. So I assume we have to provide both me and my husbands "personbevis" in order to have a complete marriage certificate, however I haven't found a clear answer to this.
 

Hi! We got married in Sweden. Unfortunately when I sent in the original form, we were unaware that USCIS required the personbevis as proof of marriage. I had asked my husband to check with the courthouse and they told us the vigselbevis would be sufficient. 

 

So to answer your question, yes, provide your personbevis. I’m not sure if you’ll need both yours and your husband’s (I feel like just yours would be sufficient because it’ll clearly state your marital status and your husband’s name already). But, it doesn’t hurt to include both.
 

Good luck with starting the process!

[K.Claw 0]

2 hours ago, Ellxtdan said:

Hi! We got married in Sweden. Unfortunately when I sent in the original form, we were unaware that USCIS required the personbevis as proof of marriage. I had asked my husband to check with the courthouse and they told us the vigselbevis would be sufficient. 

 

So to answer your question, yes, provide your personbevis. I’m not sure if you’ll need both yours and your husband’s (I feel like just yours would be sufficient because it’ll clearly state your marital status and your husband’s name already). But, it doesn’t hurt to include both.
 

Good luck with starting the process!

Thank you for replying so fast! Feels good to know that someone else is in the same boat as us. I think we will go with submitting both our Personbevis. Within this upcoming week I will also see if I need to get it certified and apostille stamped by a notary public. I'll keep you posted.

And best of luck to you guys!

[Ellxtdan 95]

1 hour ago, K.Claw said:

Thank you for replying so fast! Feels good to know that someone else is in the same boat as us. I think we will go with submitting both our Personbevis. Within this upcoming week I will also see if I need to get it certified and apostille stamped by a notary public. I'll keep you posted.

And best of luck to you guys!

I know, it’s always nice to see other US/Sweden couples!

 

I’m not sure if you need to get it notarized. But in case you weren’t aware, you can order it online from skatteverket and they’ll mail a copy to you signed and stamped. We got two copies (one in English and one in Swedish) just to be sure.