Question about proof of Bona Fide marriage/relationship

[ES0603 9]

I have questions about 4 things:

 

1) to use our call logs on Skype and text messages on an app called Line Messenger as proof for on the I-130 form, would I have to show some sort of proof or explanation of our names/usernames on those apps?

 

2) I went to stay with my husband & his family in Japan for 3 months and his sister ended up coming to stay there for 2 months in the middle of my visit.

Would a screenshot of a text message I received from my sister-in-law serve as proof of my relationship with my husband and his family? The day I went home she sent something along the lines of “since I came to stay here 2 months ago I’ve had a lot of fun with you. Please come to Japan again, me & my daughter & my mom & (my husbands name), we all love you!”

 

3) Would screenshots of Facebook/Instagram posts from our friends and family congratulating us on our wedding and posting pictures of/with us be a good thing to include? 

 

4) would text messages between my mom and my husband be a good thing to include?

[geowrian 22,335]

1. Chat and call logs are evidence, not proof. No explanation is necessary. They can consider it, but it will be only 1 small part of the total picture.
2. It won't hurt to include it.
3. It's fine to include.
4. Optional.

The primary evidence would be time spent together. Showing that you lived together for 3 months would be the strongest evidence of a bona fide relationship...much more so than photos, text messages, etc. That stuff is fine to include as well, but don't miss the forest for the trees (aka "you're looking at the small things when the big things are right in front of you").

[Just Paul 4,591]

Best proof is face to face time.  Photos, boarding passes, passport stamps, hotel bills, etc.

 

Chats with relatives doesn't prove much.

 

There are tons of other things in the middle like co mingling of finances and being beneficiaries on each others life insurance.

[ES0603 9]

28 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

Best proof is face to face time.  Photos, boarding passes, passport stamps, hotel bills, etc.

 

Chats with relatives doesn't prove much.

 

There are tons of other things in the middle like co mingling of finances and being beneficiaries on each others life insurance.

 

We’ve been long distance from January 3rd 2016 (I was 17 and he was 19) so most of our relationship has been daily skype calls and video chat and text messages, but we weren’t able to meet until May 1st 2019 and got married on June 3rd 2019. I have a shipping label of a package he sent me for my birthday in 2016 (that has itemized list of contents, his name and address as sender and my name and address as recipient) and a picture of a card I sent him for his birthday in 2016 but besides that and pictures from the 3 months we spent together in 2019 we wouldn’t have much evidence aside from chats, video chat screenshots and call logs...

[Lil bear 3,831]

1 minute ago, ES0603 said:

 

We’ve been long distance from January 3rd 2016 (I was 17 and he was 19) so most of our relationship has been daily skype calls and video chat and text messages, but we weren’t able to meet until May 1st 2019 and got married on June 3rd 2019. I have a shipping label of a package he sent me for my birthday in 2016 (that has itemized list of contents, his name and address as sender and my name and address as recipient) and a picture of a card I sent him for his birthday in 2016 but besides that and pictures from the 3 months we spent together in 2019 we wouldn’t have much evidence aside from chats, video chat screenshots and call logs...

So you met for the first time in May and married on the same visit 1 month later .... I would suggest another visit at least before the interview stage would best strengthen your case. 

[Just Paul 4,591]

You need bonafides of your marriage.  Not you time before marriage.

 

You need more face to face time and other evidences.

[ES0603 9]

1 minute ago, Lil bear said:

So you met for the first time in May and married on the same visit 1 month later .... I would suggest another visit at least before the interview stage would best strengthen your case. 

 

If possible we would like to but it would be very difficult for us financially. 

[ES0603 9]

11 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

You need bonafides of your marriage.  Not you time before marriage.

 

You need more face to face time and other evidences.

 

If possible we would like to but it would put us in a very difficult situation financially.  We have tons of pictures from the 3 months we spent together, group pictures with me and him and his whole family and call logs, but is it even possible for us to have shared bank accounts/property and what not until we’re able to live together in the same country?

 Would him coming here on a tourist visa and us filing I-130 and I-485 together while he’s here possibly be a good option for us? I heard since there isn’t much marriage fraud from Japan it wouldn’t be too much of an issue...

[laylalex 7,247]

Not that you're looking for relationship advice, but you're really, really young. More time together -- physically together -- can only help. I met my now ex-husband when I was 20, and I had very little experience of the world or romantic relationships in general. I was so swept away by how romantic it all was. We were lucky that we got to have a lot of face time together before we got married when I was 25, but even then I didn't get to know him as well as I should have. Now, that's just me, but you have just made the greatest commitment of your life by getting married. When your husband comes over, it's going to be a BIG shock for him to be in America. That's hard enough on its own, but then he also has to get used to being a husband in a strange new country. More time together makes it not only easier for USCIS to see you are a genuine couple, but it gives you both the chance to grow together as a couple, to deepen your love. I know it can be tough financially, but you owe it to yourselves to spend the money on time together. Best of luck to you both and congrats on your marriage!

[ES0603 9]

1 minute ago, laylalex said:

Not that you're looking for relationship advice, but you're really, really young. More time together -- physically together -- can only help. I met my now ex-husband when I was 20, and I had very little experience of the world or romantic relationships in general. I was so swept away by how romantic it all was. We were lucky that we got to have a lot of face time together before we got married when I was 25, but even then I didn't get to know him as well as I should have. Now, that's just me, but you have just made the greatest commitment of your life by getting married. When your husband comes over, it's going to be a BIG shock for him to be in America. That's hard enough on its own, but then he also has to get used to being a husband in a strange new country. More time together makes it not only easier for USCIS to see you are a genuine couple, but it gives you both the chance to grow together as a couple, to deepen your love. I know it can be tough financially, but you owe it to yourselves to spend the money on time together. Best of luck to you both and congrats on your marriage!

 

Unfortunately one of us moving to the other country is the only way we’d be able to get much time together. I’m 21 now and I really don’t want to be apart for another 3 years. Both of us come from poor families and I was homeless at 16 and we’ve both made a lot of sacrifices just to come this far. I didn’t meet the financial requirements and am just starting a $27,000/yr salary job next week, but we spent thousands for me to go visit him and we’ll be spending thousands more on the visa process, plus I have to move before he can even come here because I live with my disabled mother whose on section 8 housing. 

[LilyJ 1,258]

3 minutes ago, ES0603 said:

 

If possible we would like to but it would put us in a very difficult situation financially.  We have tons of pictures from the 3 months we spent together, group pictures with me and him and his whole family and call logs, but is it even possible for us to have shared bank accounts/property and what not until we’re able to live together in the same country?

 Would him coming here on a tourist visa and us filing I-130 and I-485 together while he’s here possibly be a good option for us? I heard since there isn’t much marriage fraud from Japan it wouldn’t be too much of an issue...

No you cannot have him come and adjust status, since it is still classified as visa fraud to come to the US on a tourist visa with intent to adjust status regardless of whether the origin country is low fraud or not. It will be an issue regardless of origin country to come and adjust status with preconceived intent

[ES0603 9]

6 minutes ago, LilyJ said:

No you cannot have him come and adjust status, since it is still classified as visa fraud to come to the US on a tourist visa with intent to adjust status regardless of whether the origin country is low fraud or not. It will be an issue regardless of origin country to come and adjust status with preconceived intent

 

Ok, I didn’t do too much research on that process because I didn’t plan on going that route but I read another post where someone asked if they could do that and they were told that was an option. That’s the only reason I asked.

And my comment about Japan being a low fraud country wasn’t intended to be related to entering on a visitor visa and then filing for I-130 and I-485. What I meant was since we have 3 and a half years of daily call logs, tons of phone calls that are 2 to 8 hours long, chat logs and the 3 months of living together and tons of photos together, would it really be that likely we would get denied when filing I-130 form while he’s in Japan? Obviously we want to spend more time together but I really don’t want to have to be away from him for another 3 years while we’re trying to work this out

[ES0603 9]

I’m getting a lot of mixed information on here because I already asked specifically about this on another post and was told it wouldn’t decrease the chances we would get approved and that there are a lot stranger cases out there.

 

 

[LilyJ 1,258]

6 minutes ago, ES0603 said:

 

Ok, I didn’t do too much research on that process because I didn’t plan on going that route but I read another post where someone asked if they could do that and they were told that was an option. That’s the only reason I asked.

And my comment about Japan being a low fraud country wasn’t intended to be related to entering on a visitor visa and then filing for I-130 and I-485. What I meant was since we have 3 and a half years of daily call logs, tons of phone calls that are 2 to 8 hours long, chat logs and the 3 months of living together and tons of photos together, would it really be that likely we would get denied when filing I-130 form while he’s in Japan? Obviously we want to spend more time together but I really don’t want to have to be away from him for another 3 years while we’re trying to work this out

Illegal immigration advice is not allowed on this site so I would report the post giving that advice so that others aren't misled by it as well. But yes you cannot have him come over on a tourist visa with the intent to adjust status, he would probably need to show proof that he is planning to return to Japan to even enter the US on a tourist visa and if he were to tell CBP he were coming to adjust status...he would be instantly turned away, and to lie to get in would be no better. Your only option really is to just wait out the visa process and visit each other as much as often should you save up the means to do so (I would recommend saving up for at least a visit or two..depending on what service center you get you will need it).

 

Yes Japan is a low fraud country so having loads upon loads of evidence isn't required but more evidence of face time certainly does help. Though there are others who have gotten approved with only having had one visit before. You were there for 3 months so that helps but the more face time the better. It's more likely that you would receive an RFE (request for evidence) than an outright denial should USCIS feel like you didn't have enough evidence, to which you'd just send in whatever they ask for

Edited August 11, 2019 by LilyJ

[geowrian 22,335]

16 minutes ago, ES0603 said:

I’m getting a lot of mixed information on here because I already asked specifically about this on another post and was told it wouldn’t decrease the chances we would get approved and that there are a lot stranger cases out there.

 

 

Nothing in this post covered the topic of coming to the US with intent to adjust status. It covered other aspects of the case.

The coming to the US as a tourist to file the I-130 + I-485 is the fraudulent part, not the relationship.

Edited August 11, 2019 by geowrian