Evidence of Bonafide Marriage (PICTURES)

[Tracie 1]

Please do we have to date and write a brief note explaining each picture evidence we are adding to our petition package to prove bonafide marriage.

[debbiedoo 2,339]

You can put the date and where it was. anything more is unnecessary.

 

 

[Tracie 1]

Thank you

 

[afrocraft 313]

On 8/26/2019 at 6:24 PM, debbiedoo said:

You can put the date and where it was. anything more is unnecessary.

Yeah, I would only add a brief note for clarity. Pictures in general are weak evidence on their own, but they could corroborate other evidence of shared life experiences. For instance, if you both went on a trip together, you can submit boarding passes + hotel reservation + 1-2 pics at the travel destination. A brief note saying where it is is helpful.

 

For example: "Spouse 1 and Spouse 2 at World of CocaCola, Atlanta GA, July 2, 2019." 

 

For more on ROC evidence, see my previous post below (click the arrow to go directly to the post).

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by afrocraft

[RCable 75]

I added the location, month & year of the photo. It doesn't really add much in the way of evidence as you can literally write down any date you want, but it helps form a timeline. Adding the details doesn't hurt. For me it helped layout a timeline of our relationship and it showed us in front of a lot of iconic places which helps show that we spend time together in person and correlates back to the plan ticket stubs. 

I think it's one of those things where providing more details doesn't hurt you, but providing the bare minimum might lead to more questions. 

I once got a visa for England years ago. When I showed up for my interview, the couple in front of me was very unorganized. They didn't have much evidence and it was all scattered. They were called into a little room. When I went up there with my ridiculous binder which was categorized with labeled tabs, they quickly went through it, checked off a few things, then told me to sit down and wait for my visa.

So now I always try to organize everything, label it, and make sure it's easy to sort through (without going overboard).

[Tracie 1]

18 hours ago, afrocraft said:

Yeah, I would only add a brief note for clarity. Pictures in general are weak evidence on their own, but they could corroborate other evidence of shared life experiences. For instance, if you both went on a trip together, you can submit boarding passes + hotel reservation + 1-2 pics at the travel destination. A brief note saying where it is is helpful.

 

For example: "Spouse 1 and Spouse 2 at World of CocaCola, Atlanta GA, July 2, 2019." 

 

For more on ROC evidence, see my previous post below (click the arrow to go directly to the post).

 

Thank you so much afrocart for this detailed write up. Another issue I have is that I have had about 6 travel visits/ itineraries to see my spouse during the course of our 6yr relationship but the issue is we hardly took pictures, intact we started taking pictures in the last couple of years. So what should we do in terms of evidence compilation. Any response will be highly appreciated. Thank you.

[afrocraft 313]

5 hours ago, Tracie said:

Thank you so much afrocart for this detailed write up. Another issue I have is that I have had about 6 travel visits/ itineraries to see my spouse during the course of our 6yr relationship but the issue is we hardly took pictures, intact we started taking pictures in the last couple of years. So what should we do in terms of evidence compilation. Any response will be highly appreciated. Thank you.

Stop fussing about pictures! Instead, please spend more time compiling stronger evidence that shows a well-rounded view of your marriage. The reason for that is that USCIS' standard of review for ROC is a preponderance of the evidence, meaning that the overall message you send through your evidence is more important than any one piece of evidence. I can't stress this enough: It is better to have 3 well-chosen pictures and strong evidence in other areas than 3000 pictures and poor evidence in other areas. Trust me.

 

In the link in my previous post (click on the arrow), I lay out four areas that you should provide evidence on:

• Cohabitation (evidence showing that you and your spouse live together);
• Co-mingling of finances (showing that you share financial responsibilities or jointly own property, businesses, etc.);
• Shared life experiences (such as joint travel, raising a family together, etc); and
• Planning for the future together (such as retirement, death, etc.).

As you can see, pictures only fall under one area (shared life experiences). You should aim to provide 2-3 types of evidence in each of the four areas above, but do your best to submit documents from marriage to the month you apply. For example: for cohabitation, submit apartment lease agreements for the year of marriage, the 2nd year, and the 3rd year) AND both of your driver's licenses showing your residential address.

 

But stop obsessing about pictures. I submitted only 6 pics and got approved without an interview, but I had strong evidence across those four areas from marriage to application date.

Edited September 4, 2019 by afrocraft

[Tracie 1]

Thanks for your response, but we are still in the I-130 stage. I live in Nigeria and my Husband is in US, we don't live together and we only got married barely a month ago. That's our issue, we have a lot of trip evidence, joint account, chat/log history but not enough pictures evidence to support all our trips, we never taught to take any pictures  the first few years of our relationship for we were just having fun not really thinking that far ahead. I read how detailed your cover story was at that stage and realized we don't have enough exhibit pictures to defend the first 3yrs of our relationship. That's where we are now I'm afraid. 

Edited September 4, 2019 by Tracie
Typo errors and omissions

[afrocraft 313]

On 9/4/2019 at 2:01 AM, Tracie said:

Thanks for your response, but we are still in the I-130 stage. I live in Nigeria and my Husband is in US, we don't live together and we only got married barely a month ago. That's our issue, we have a lot of trip evidence, joint account, chat/log history but not enough pictures evidence to support all our trips, we never taught to take any pictures  the first few years of our relationship for we were just having fun not really thinking that far ahead. I read how detailed your cover story was at that stage and realized we don't have enough exhibit pictures to defend the first 3yrs of our relationship. That's where we are now I'm afraid. 

My bad. I thought I was in the ROC forum.

 

You read about my I-130 cover story? Wow, it's been a few years... Yeah, even for that, I wouldn't worry too much about pics. I remember arguing with someone back then who claimed you need like 200 pics to be successful. Rubbish! I submitted only about 12 pics!

 

Your story matters much more:

 

- How you met: Describe it briefly in the cover letter, then look for evidence to support the claims in your story. Emails exchanged around that time, 2-3 pics with both of you and friends, if possible etc.

 

- How you stayed in touch: Carefully selected emails, chat logs that show planning for the wedding, for instance, or phone bills that show constant communication (about once a quarter), trip bookings (these are much, more important than pics that can be faked)...

 

- Your wedding. You should have certificate + tons of pics, but only pick 2-4 pics that 1) show both sides' family members & friends, and 2) wedding venue, attire, etc. Don't pick pics just because you like them; use them to corroborate your story! Your story could be that you had a very public wedding, witnessed by so many family & friends, so how can they say it's not bona fide?

 

- Your plans for the future. 1-3 email exchanges describing your plans to move to the US, employment when you get there, having kids, etc.

Edited September 9, 2019 by afrocraft

[Tracie 1]

Thank you so much for this. It's very helpful.