Amount and nature of evidence for 3 year filing

[Hawksquill 151]

My husband is going to apply for citizenship next month under the three year rule (we're very lucky that his 90 day window happens to open before the fee hike goes into effect!) and I've been reading lots of threads in this forum.  There seems to be conflicting opinions about the amount of relationship evidence needed at filing vs. at the interview.  We're planning to just submit a good deal of relationship evidence at filing because we already have it and it can't hurt.

 

But in terms of the nature and amount of evidence - it seems like a lot of people on the forum feel that the N-400 evidence is "simpler" and only hard financial evidence is needed compared to AOS and ROC.  So, things like bank statements and bills are good, but there's less need for things like photos or receipts from vacations.  I've also seen people say that the quantity of relationship evidence doesn't need to be as intense for N-400 as it is for AOS and ROC - for instance, a couple bank statements and utility bills per year rather than most of the statements for each year.

 

Is this generally the consensus?  It would be great to reduce the amount of stuff I need to hunt down, and also reduce the amount of printing we need to do for interview!

 

 

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

25 minutes ago, Hawksquill said:

My husband is going to apply for citizenship next month under the three year rule (we're very lucky that his 90 day window happens to open before the fee hike goes into effect!) and I've been reading lots of threads in this forum.  There seems to be conflicting opinions about the amount of relationship evidence needed at filing vs. at the interview.  We're planning to just submit a good deal of relationship evidence at filing because we already have it and it can't hurt.

 

But in terms of the nature and amount of evidence - it seems like a lot of people on the forum feel that the N-400 evidence is "simpler" and only hard financial evidence is needed compared to AOS and ROC.  So, things like bank statements and bills are good, but there's less need for things like photos or receipts from vacations.  I've also seen people say that the quantity of relationship evidence doesn't need to be as intense for N-400 as it is for AOS and ROC - for instance, a couple bank statements and utility bills per year rather than most of the statements for each year.

 

Is this generally the consensus?  It would be great to reduce the amount of stuff I need to hunt down, and also reduce the amount of printing we need to do for interview!

 

 

5 year is easier than 3 years just so you know. But you are correct That you don’t need photos/receipts/crazy documents for the N400 3 year and will submit way less info than AOS and ROC. We submitted a copy of both of our drivers licenses that shows we reside at the same address, 3 random monthly bank statements for each year we’ve had the account, document that shows we are on the same health insurance, document that showed husband is my beneficiary for my 403b account, our irs tax transcripts for the entirety of our marriage.. and I think that’s all. If I remember more I’ll update  I had paper copies of everything and scanned it in the computer to upload to the application.

[Dashinka 23,424]

The required evidence for filing the N400 is much less than the AOS or ROC.  That being said, they do request marital evidence be brought to the interview if filing under the 3 year rule (see below).  If filing online, many folks attach that information to the submission.  In our case, my wife only sent in the required evidence (she filed by mail), and we took everything else to the interview which the IO never looked at, but this may have been due to the fact that the IO also had our ROC file and she conducted a short joint ROC interview prior to my wife's N400 interview.

 

Good Luck!

 

A. Spouse of a U.S. Citizen. Bring the following items to your interview if you are applying for naturalization on the basis of your marriage to a U.S. citizen: (1) Evidence that your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for at least 3 years at the time you file your Form N-400. Such evidence may include: a birth certificate (if your spouse never lost U.S. citizenship since birth), Certificate of Naturalization, Certificate of Citizenship, or Form FS-240 Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America; (2) Evidence of the termination of all your prior marriages; and (3) Evidence that you and your spouse have lived in marital union for at least 3 years at the time you file your Form N-400. Such evidence may include: (a) Joint bank and credit card statements; (b) Leases or mortgages; (c) Birth certificates of children; (d) Insurance policies; and (e) Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-certified copies of the income tax forms that you and your spouse filed for the past 3 years (or an IRS tax return transcript for the last 3 years).

 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/n-400instr.pdf

Edited August 18, 2020 by Dashinka

[Wuozopo 4,290]

When I filed, we only continued on from what was newer than the extensive ROC relationship evidence...another tax return, the most recent bank statement for two accounts, the newest auto insurance showing both of us on it. It worked just fine and was not even discussed at our interview. They have all your immigration files at hand so could look at our already approved ROC.

 

I brought the originals requested like wife’s proof of citizenship (birth certificate) and proof her previous marriage ended (death certificate). I started to hand the officer the folder, saying “here are the originals I was asked to bring” and was told “I don’t need to see those, take a seat and we’ll start with the test.”  It was a painless interview. 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Wuozopo

[Fr8dog 312]

Uploaded 0 (nothing, zero) additional evidence. I only uploaded the bare minimum (required documents). Brought everything with me though (except for the wife, I left here at home), but wasn't asked for anything.

[sandra_skorpia 0]

I am going to apply for naturalization with 3yr rule.Do I have to upload join bank statements as proof of marriage? I have the birth certificates of our 2 kids, tax returns of last 3 yrs, tax transcripts from the last 3yrs, and join car insurances. Is this enough? Also should I upload utilities bills with both names on like electricity and water bills (and how many)? 

[Wuozopo 4,290]

5 hours ago, sandra_skorpia said:

I am going to apply for naturalization with 3yr rule.Do I have to upload join bank statements as proof of marriage? I have the birth certificates of our 2 kids, tax returns of last 3 yrs, tax transcripts from the last 3yrs, and join car insurances. Is this enough? Also should I upload utilities bills with both names on like electricity and water bills (and how many)? 

Evidence is your choice. What I did was build on the year since removing conditions evidence. They will have that ROC file in your folder. I only added the most recent bank statement for a couple of accounts and the newest tax return to show we were still joint. That’s about all that was new for us. It worked for me. 

[sandra_skorpia 0]

Thank you for your answer