No evidence of financial commingling until moving to the US?

[Dongbei 22]

Hey VJers,

 

I know that for ROC we're supposed to show evidence of joint finances from the time that we were married. For the first year of marriage we lived overseas (where we did DCF for my wife's green card) so I couldn't add her as an authorized user or joint owner of my accounts. As such, we have no evidence of financial commingling until we moved to America and she got her social security number.

 

Do you think that will be a problem when it comes time to file for ROC?

 

After moving back to the States we now have:

1) Two vehicles with both names on the titles and registration

2) Two car insurance policies with both names

3) Renter's insurance with both names

4) Driver's licenses with the same address

5) A notarized housing agreement (not a lease since it is a parsonage provided by a church) with both names

6) Jointly-owned brokerage and checking accounts with lots of activity, including direct deposits for wife's salary

7) Credit card with wife as authorized user (same account number with different names on cards), with letter from Discover showing wife as authorized user

 

Soon we should also have:

1) Joint state and federal tax filings (beginning next year)

2) Water bills with both names

3) Internet bills with both names

4) Health insurance through wife's work with both names

 

We can also easily get affidavits from my parents, a pastor at our church, friends, etc. 

 

Note: The Initial CR-1 phase went very smoothly even without much evidence of financial commingling, but I'm not sure if that should give us any confidence in the ROC stage. 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Dongbei

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

4 minutes ago, Dongbei said:

Hey VJers,

 

I know that for ROC we're supposed to show evidence of joint finances from the time that we were married. For the first year of marriage we lived overseas (where we did DCF for my wife's green card) so I couldn't add her as an authorized user or joint owner of my accounts. As such, we have no evidence of financial commingling until we moved to America and she got her social security number.

 

Do you think that will be a problem when it comes time to file for ROC?

 

After moving back to the States we now have:

1) Two vehicles with both names on the titles and registration

2) Two car insurance policies with both names

3) Renter's insurance with both names

4) Driver's licenses with the same address

5) A notarized housing agreement (not a lease since it is a parsonage provided by a church) with both names

6) Jointly-owned brokerage and checking accounts with lots of activity, including direct deposits for wife's salary

7) Credit card with wife as authorized user (same account number with different names on cards), with letter from Discover showing wife as authorized user

 

Soon we should also have:

1) Water bills with both names

2) Internet bills with both names

3) Health insurance through wife's work with both names

 

We can also easily get affidavits from my parents, a pastor at our church, friends, etc. 

 

Note: The Initial CR-1 phase went very smoothly even without much evidence of financial commingling, but I'm not sure if that should give us any confidence in the ROC stage. 

That is more than enough evidence of comingiling of finances. So you should be fine

[Liam2021 583]

No join tax filling? . This is the one you must have for I-751.

[Dongbei 22]

2 minutes ago, H&T said:

No join tax filling? . This is the one you must have for I-751.

Sorry we will definitely have that. I just edited my post.

[AstroCanada 206]

5 hours ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

That is more than enough evidence of comingiling of finances. So you should be fine

Yep, breathe   Your evidence is solid.

[Dongbei 22]

21 hours ago, AstroCanada said:

Yep, breathe   Your evidence is solid.

My only concern is that the evidence doesn't really start until we moved to the US (almost a year after being married). Would a cover letter that explains how we lived together overseas for the first 11 months or so of marriage suffice? After all, I did DCF so it should go without saying but I know nothing goes without saying with USCIS! 

[millefleur 5,047]

1 hour ago, Dongbei said:

My only concern is that the evidence doesn't really start until we moved to the US (almost a year after being married). Would a cover letter that explains how we lived together overseas for the first 11 months or so of marriage suffice? After all, I did DCF so it should go without saying but I know nothing goes without saying with USCIS! 

DCF filer here. We didn't submit any evidence of our life together before moving to the US (we lived abroad together for about 1 year before moving here). Our interview has already been scheduled, no RFE. You can explain it in the cover letter, that sounds good. 

Edited September 24, 2019 by millefleur

[RandyW 149]

You are required to file US tax returns while living overseas if your income BEFORE the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion exceeds the filing minimum. This is true even if your net tax is $0.

 

Just something to be aware of - I doubt that it would affect your I-751 application in any event. If need be, you can file a late return with no fee or penalty IF your tax owed is $0.

Edited September 25, 2019 by RandyW

[RandyW 149]

Evidence is what you HAVE, not what you DON'T have. Submit anything you have, don't submit anything you don't have.

 

The list is suggestive, not mandatory.

[Dongbei 22]

4 hours ago, RandyW said:

You are required to file US tax returns while living overseas if your income BEFORE the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion exceeds the filing minimum. This is true even if your net tax is $0.

 

Just something to be aware of - I doubt that it would affect your I-751 application in any event. If need be, you can file a late return with no fee or penalty IF your tax owed is $0.

Yes I filed for 2018 but just realized my return was filed as single even though we got married in August. Will this be a problem? My return was prepared by a family accountant who looked at a questionnaire I filled out.