How much evidence is needed? Help preparing I-751 & evidence

[yemathums 0]

Hi everyone, been a while since i visited the site but our 90 day window to file the I-751 for my wife has opened and we are trying to prepare all of our evidence. I had some questions that I would be really grateful if someone could help me with!

 

1. Currently we have leases from the first place we moved into together about 8 months after she had arrived in the US, since we lived in a place that I was already on a lease on until that time and the rental company didn't require us to get a new lease when she moved in. We also have bank statements, but they are not detailed and mostly just show that we have joint accounts together. My wife could not open her own bank account until about 9 months after arrival so the earliest date on the banking documents we have is around that time. We also have pictures from trips we've taken together, and a summary of our tax returns from an accountant for the last 3 years showing that we have filed jointly since 2017, she arrived in December of 2016. Is this enough evidence, or should we be getting more detailed bank statements, more official tax return documentation, or something from the place we lived together for the first 8 months?

 

2. Should we include the full tax returns for the last 2 years, or is just the summary page from our accountant enough? Are the W2s also helpful even if they each show our individual information? 

 

3. I also saw on the USCIS I-751 page something saying not to submit the checklist of evidence with the initial filing, but they do want us to send the form and the evidence all at once right?

 

4.  I did not see anywhere on the USCIS I-751 page about a cover letter, but I have read here in a few places that it is required. No problem to do that but was looking to clarify.

 

If anyone can help us out with these questions that would be amazing!

 

 

[Crazy Cat 39,218]

I would (did) include full tax TRANSCRIPTS, full bank account statements,.

I think the guide here is quite good: https://www.visajourney.com/content/751guide/  .  It's what we used to prepare my wif'es I-751.

[afrocraft 313]

2 hours ago, yemathums said:

1...Is this enough evidence, or should we be getting more detailed bank statements, more official tax return documentation, or something from the place we lived together for the first 8 months?

See my comments below on I-751 evidence.

 

2. Should we include the full tax returns for the last 2 years, or is just the summary page from our accountant enough? Are the W2s also helpful even if they each show our individual information? 

See my comments below on I-751 evidence.

 

3. I also saw on the USCIS I-751 page something saying not to submit the checklist of evidence with the initial filing, but they do want us to send the form and the evidence all at once right?

Yes. I think you misread the checklist thing.

 

4.  I did not see anywhere on the USCIS I-751 page about a cover letter, but I have read here in a few places that it is required. No problem to do that but was looking to clarify.

A cover letter is typically not required, but including one is good practice. I say typically because there is one instance I can think of when you need one: Explaining a late submission.

The thing with I-751 evidence is that, aside from a copy of your green card, no one document is required. You just have to show, through a preponderance of the evidence, that your marriage is a bona fide relationship. So rather than tell you what to submit, I'll tell you how to think about I-751 evidence regardless of your situation.

 

There are 2 basic rules with I-751 evidence:

• Provide documents that cover 4 main areas of a bona fide marriage: cohabitation, financial co-mingling, shared life experiences, and planning together for the future (first two being most important); and
• For each type of document provided, where possible, provide documents from marriage to the time of your application (e.g., evidence of cohabitation from Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3.)

That's it! Follow those 2 rules to the letter and you'll be fine. But if you want suggestions of specific evidence to submit, see my previous comment below (click on the arrow to go to the comment).

 

Edited October 9, 2019 by afrocraft

[yemathums 0]

Ok, thanks a lot to both of you! We will get some better bank statements and the full tax returns and check out the links you provided.

 

One more question I had was that our IDs show different addresses because I did not update the address that was on it from before, and since she got hers later on she had our newer address on it. We have leases from 9 months after she got here until now, is that sufficient, or will the IDs be a potential problem? She was not able to be on the lease for the first place we lived together since she did not have a social security number yet, so the first official record of cohabitation we have is from around 9 months after she arrived in the US. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to deal with that?

[Liam2021 551]

Look like you really lacking of evidence, but you only can submit what you have. Just go with anything you got right now and submit with a letter explain your current situation and why you don't have too much evidence.

[Ku Mưa 29]

13 hours ago, yemathums said:

Hi everyone, been a while since i visited the site but our 90 day window to file the I-751 for my wife has opened and we are trying to prepare all of our evidence. I had some questions that I would be really grateful if someone could help me with!

 

1. Currently we have leases from the first place we moved into together about 8 months after she had arrived in the US, since we lived in a place that I was already on a lease on until that time and the rental company didn't require us to get a new lease when she moved in. We also have bank statements, but they are not detailed and mostly just show that we have joint accounts together. My wife could not open her own bank account until about 9 months after arrival so the earliest date on the banking documents we have is around that time. We also have pictures from trips we've taken together, and a summary of our tax returns from an accountant for the last 3 years showing that we have filed jointly since 2017, she arrived in December of 2016. Is this enough evidence, or should we be getting more detailed bank statements, more official tax return documentation, or something from the place we lived together for the first 8 months?

 

2. Should we include the full tax returns for the last 2 years, or is just the summary page from our accountant enough? Are the W2s also helpful even if they each show our individual information? 

 

3. I also saw on the USCIS I-751 page something saying not to submit the checklist of evidence with the initial filing, but they do want us to send the form and the evidence all at once right?

 

4.  I did not see anywhere on the USCIS I-751 page about a cover letter, but I have read here in a few places that it is required. No problem to do that but was looking to clarify.

 

If anyone can help us out with these questions that would be amazing!

 

 

Top topic will show you everything, you can look at it for preparing paper for i-175 . If you don't know or confident to prepare your paper, i suggest finding lawyer or someone else who knew about this to avoid denial from USCIS

Edited October 9, 2019 by Ku Mưa

[afrocraft 313]

11 hours ago, yemathums said:

Ok, thanks a lot to both of you! We will get some better bank statements and the full tax returns and check out the links you provided.

 

One more question I had was that our IDs show different addresses because I did not update the address that was on it from before, and since she got hers later on she had our newer address on it. We have leases from 9 months after she got here until now, is that sufficient, or will the IDs be a potential problem? She was not able to be on the lease for the first place we lived together since she did not have a social security number yet, so the first official record of cohabitation we have is from around 9 months after she arrived in the US. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to deal with that?

Please reread my previous post and be creative. 

 

If your goal is to show cohabitation (i.e., living in the same place), it stands to reason that submitting government IDs with different addresses works against that. You can submit her ID (with the newer address) if the address matches your current one. But remember: There is no requirement to submit IDs (or any one document), so choose only documents that help your case.

 

Start with what you have on cohabitation: I assume it's a lease from 9 months + Year 2 lease + Year 3 lease. So there is a (small) gap in your evidence. Think creatively about how you can fill that gap. Do you have utilities in her name from earlier? Did she receive any official letters addressed to her at that address? Any other correspondence/packages -- anything that has her name and the address within a few months from marriage (not just since she got here). In the end, if you can't find any evidence, include an explanation in your cover letter for the gap. Then move on to other aspects (financial co-mingling, shared experience, etc.).

 

Remember that USCIS considers the total picture, not just one type of evidence.

Edited October 9, 2019 by afrocraft

[yemathums 0]

Ok, thanks for all the help everyone! We dug up some more documents and I am getting an address change on my license so at least we will have that. It was a big help!

[afrocraft 313]

9 hours ago, yemathums said:

Ok, thanks for all the help everyone! We dug up some more documents and I am getting an address change on my license so at least we will have that. It was a big help!

One last tip: It's not required, but I recommend you include an "Evidence Guide" with your application right after the cover letter. Trust me: USCIS officers are as lazy as the rest of us, and don't want to wade through pages upon pages of evidence. Having a summary of your evidence helps, and it's easy to create one. The post below (click on the arrow!) describes one way to do this.