What Supporting Doc's Should Be Originals.

[madj22 7]

I have everything written up and in it's correct order and am about to go send my application off. But at the last minute I am wondering if any of my documents I am sending in should be hard copy originals. In their instructions they say to include photocopies unless otherwise stated but I've seen lots of folks in here mentioning ways to make sure you get your originals back for supporting doc's and just want to run it by you guys to see if I am missing something. I am so nervous to send it off! My questions is that I have no "original"  docs, other than a notarized landlord affidavit (which I also have a photocopy of for personal records in case I don't get it back). I have photocopies/print outs of my 2 year greencard, (hard copy original of landlord affidavit of residence), marriage certificate, joint 1095-B health coverage forms, full and complete married filing jointly tax returns, joint business licenses, joint bank accounts, joint health insurance, joint car insurance, joint bills, etc. Basically anything with both of our names on it. Should any of these be hard copy originals? 

 

Also is it worth including any photos?

[HRQX 4,145]

19 minutes ago, madj22 said:

Should any of these be hard copy originals?

No

[madj22 7]

Just now, HRQX said:

No

Perfect. Thanks!

[Crazy Cat 41,981]

1 hour ago, madj22 said:

Should any of these be hard copy originals? 

 

Also is it worth including any photos?

No originals should be sent.  I think a few pictures is a good idea.  Affidavits....not so much.

[madj22 7]

7 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

No originals should be sent.  I think a few pictures is a good idea.  Affidavits....not so much.

Why not an affidavit? My husband and I rent from his grandmother and it's a pretty lax situation where the rent fluxuates all the times. Drawing up a rental agreement didn't make sense, so we were advised an affidavit from the grandfather saying something to the effect of that my grandson ___________ and his wife ______________ live at this residence here _______________ that I own and are mroe than welcome to stay as long as they wish. 

 

Or do you mean I shouldnt send the original?

Edited December 9, 2020 by madj22

[HRQX 4,145]

24 minutes ago, madj22 said:

Or do you mean I shouldnt send the original?

Her affidavit would be the original submitted: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-751instr.pdf "The original affidavit must be submitted and also contain the following information regarding the person making the affidavit"

[mushroomspore 3,044]

19 hours ago, madj22 said:

I have everything written up and in it's correct order and am about to go send my application off. But at the last minute I am wondering if any of my documents I am sending in should be hard copy originals. In their instructions they say to include photocopies unless otherwise stated but I've seen lots of folks in here mentioning ways to make sure you get your originals back for supporting doc's and just want to run it by you guys to see if I am missing something. I am so nervous to send it off! My questions is that I have no "original"  docs, other than a notarized landlord affidavit (which I also have a photocopy of for personal records in case I don't get it back). I have photocopies/print outs of my 2 year greencard, (hard copy original of landlord affidavit of residence), marriage certificate, joint 1095-B health coverage forms, full and complete married filing jointly tax returns, joint business licenses, joint bank accounts, joint health insurance, joint car insurance, joint bills, etc. Basically anything with both of our names on it. Should any of these be hard copy originals? 

 

Also is it worth including any photos?

Do NOT send originals of ANYTHING. I guess affidavits are the only "original" thing you should send since they should be signed and notarized, but affidavits hold very little weight as evidence, tbh. I didn't bother with them for ROC. Pretty sure the instruction packets say that you will NOT get originals back if you send them.

Edited December 10, 2020 by mushroomspore

[Orangesapples 1,954]

20 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

Do NOT send originals of ANYTHING. I guess affidavits are the only "original" thing you should send since they should be signed and notarized, but affidavits hold very little weight as evidence, tbh. I didn't bother with them for ROC. Pretty sure the instruction packets say that you will NOT get originals back if you send them.

Pretty sure that OP needs an affidavit because they live in a house owned by a relative (I think it was the grandma) and they don't have a lease or a mortgage to submit as evidence of living together. 

[madj22 7]

1 hour ago, Orangesapples said:

Pretty sure that OP needs an affidavit because they live in a house owned by a relative (I think it was the grandma) and they don't have a lease or a mortgage to submit as evidence of living together. 

I'm gonna send it off! YOu are correct, it's a pretty lax living situation with his grandparents so no rental agreement, but we just wanted something to show that we are living together. 

[Orangesapples 1,954]

16 minutes ago, madj22 said:

I'm gonna send it off! YOu are correct, it's a pretty lax living situation with his grandparents so no rental agreement, but we just wanted something to show that we are living together. 

Do you have state IDs or driver's licenses with the same address? Are any of the utilities in your name? Maybe W2s that have your address? 

 

Definitely send the affidavit (I don't think it will hurt to send the original, just make two original copies), but also if you have other evidence of living together, use that, too. 

[mc962 55]

It might be seen as secondary to things like bank statements or other official mail that has the same address for both of you on it, but I think in this case the affidavit could be good secondary/supporting evidence to help fill things in for the officer (you live there, but you couldn't submit a rental agreement because there isn't one, and here is the affidavit explaining that).

[madj22 7]

2 hours ago, Orangesapples said:

Do you have state IDs or driver's licenses with the same address? Are any of the utilities in your name? Maybe W2s that have your address? 

 

Definitely send the affidavit (I don't think it will hurt to send the original, just make two original copies), but also if you have other evidence of living together, use that, too. 

Hi, should we include more than what I listed in my original post above? A large number of those documents have our address on them and all of them have both our names. Is it necessary then to scan the drivers licenses and such? Should we include a page before the affidavit explaining why we don’t currently have a lease? Or just have the affidavit? His grandpa also just gave us a piece of paper showing he is the owner so we will include a scan of that as well.

[madj22 7]

1 hour ago, mc962 said:

It might be seen as secondary to things like bank statements or other official mail that has the same address for both of you on it, but I think in this case the affidavit could be good secondary/supporting evidence to help fill things in for the officer (you live there, but you couldn't submit a rental agreement because there isn't one, and here is the affidavit explaining that).

Do you think the things I listed above in the original post would be considered sufficient evidence? All of them have both our names and a large number also have our address. Or should I add more? I don’t know what else I would add but as someone else mentioned I could scan our drivers licenses and things like that to beef it up a bit more? His grandpa also just gave us a piece of paper showing he is the owner of the condo that we can copy and use to add weight to the affidavit.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

7 minutes ago, madj22 said:

Hi, should we include more than what I listed in my original post above? A large number of those documents have our address on them and all of them have both our names. Is it necessary then to scan the drivers licenses and such? Should we include a page before the affidavit explaining why we don’t currently have a lease? Or just have the affidavit? His grandpa also just gave us a piece of paper showing he is the owner so we will include a scan of that as well.

I'd suggest having a cover letter explaining why you don't have a lease. Make it easy for an officer to understand your situation. If it turns out it wasn't necessary, you'd have lost one sheet of paper and the few minutes it takes to write the letter. Driver's licenses are good pieces of evidence and it's extremely easy to have them scanned and included in your application and they take up very little space, so there's no reason to not do it. Think of risk vs reward. 

[mc962 55]

It might be, I guess that's up to the officer 🤷‍♂️. 

When doing AOS I took the mindset/philosophy that I'm trying to get the officer to be able to understand our story/history, and support the fact that we are eligible for the benefit that we're applying for (marriage-based K1->AOS), which the documentation we supplied proved that we'd gotten married and started a life together, making it easier for immigration to feel comfortable approving the application.

As far as further documentation, some additional good ones could be records naming each other as beneficiaries for various accounts and insurances. 401k Retirement account(s) and Life Insurance(s) are ones that come to mind, since people generally only do that for people that they really have a relationship with.

Any official documents showing records of being together, like passport stamps for trips taken together, are also good (less likely during COVID maybe, but possible for some).

Joint cards (like credit cards, or cards with authorization for spouse), are also probably a good option.