are joint bills/statements really that important for an interview? Also, question about travel history document

[aapl 1]

Hi everyone. My question is mainly about showing joint bills/statements for the interview. We simply don't have many. We have joint health insurance, she's under my name on the gas/electricity bill, she has a credit card under my account-- but that's pretty much it. 

 

My wife has hardly been working because she's in school, so she's not really contributing to payments in any way at the moment. 

 

Also, the interview paper stated that we need to provide history of travel in/out in accordance to her I-94. We tried accessing this information on the I-94 platform and it said it couldn't demonstrate travel history-- I'm guessing because the I-94 is now invalid because she has an advance parole card. Is this a big deal?

 

Thanks.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

10 minutes ago, aapl said:

Hi everyone. My question is mainly about showing joint bills/statements for the interview. We simply don't have many. We have joint health insurance, she's under my name on the gas/electricity bill, she has a credit card under my account-- but that's pretty much it. 

 

My wife has hardly been working because she's in school, so she's not really contributing to payments in any way at the moment. 

 

Also, the interview paper stated that we need to provide history of travel in/out in accordance to her I-94. We tried accessing this information on the I-94 platform and it said it couldn't demonstrate travel history-- I'm guessing because the I-94 is now invalid because she has an advance parole card. Is this a big deal?

 

Thanks.

Um my standard list and i been having to throw this together every 3-4 years lol

 

Lease or mortgage/deed

Health insurance

Car insurance

Beneficiary - life and 401k

Bank - goes without saying

CC’s

Mobile phone plan

We did put both names on cars but we’re done with immigration for awhile so not bothering anymore

Her passports should at least have entry stamps, we use those for “in”, and use the other entry stamps for “out”.  My money’s on we may have missed a date or two over the years but we can sure show where our entry/exit dates come from

 

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by Nitas_man

[aapl 1]

2 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

Um my standard list and i been having to throw this together every 3-4 years lol

 

Lease or mortgage/deed

Health insurance

Car insurance

Beneficiary - life and 401k

Bank - goes without saying

CC’s

Mobile phone plan

We did put both names on cars but we’re done with immigration for awhile so not bothering anymore

Her passports should at least have entry stamps, we use those for “in”, and use the other entry stamps for “out”.  My money’s on we may have missed a date or two over the years but we can sure show where our entry/exit dates come from

 

 

Thanks. My wife has only been in the U.S. for a little over a year now. She only started working part-time three months ago due to focusing on studying. She works with me, so she's actually avoided driving (not on auto insurance). 

 

I made my apartment contract before we ever lived together/got married, so that's not under her name either.. her phone is international as well and since she can speak to all of her relatives back home with her plan, she hasn't wanted to change her phone, either (not under my plan). 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

3 minutes ago, aapl said:

Thanks. My wife has only been in the U.S. for a little over a year now. She only started working part-time three months ago due to focusing on studying. She works with me, so she's actually avoided driving (not on auto insurance). 

 

I made my apartment contract before we ever lived together/got married, so that's not under her name either.. her phone is international as well and since she can speak to all of her relatives back home with her plan, she hasn't wanted to change her phone, either (not under my plan). 

It’s rare that apartment management doesn’t require everyone living in the apartment to be on the lease.  

 

You’re pretty lean dude.  Proof of shared address is kind of a basic requirement.

 

 

[aapl 1]

32 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

It’s rare that apartment management doesn’t require everyone living in the apartment to be on the lease.  

 

You’re pretty lean dude.  Proof of shared address is kind of a basic requirement.

 

 

I don't know how much weight that carries in regards to having a bunch of pictures throughout 8 years/multiple plane + trip + vacation tickets/ licensures from the same college/ same profession etc.

 

I'd think our case is extremely straightforward.... except not having some of those joint statements. in hindsight, should've put her name on more things perhaps but just didn't think it was that important. 

[Scandi 4,168]

3 hours ago, aapl said:

Thanks. My wife has only been in the U.S. for a little over a year now. She only started working part-time three months ago due to focusing on studying. She works with me, so she's actually avoided driving (not on auto insurance). 

 

I made my apartment contract before we ever lived together/got married, so that's not under her name either.. her phone is international as well and since she can speak to all of her relatives back home with her plan, she hasn't wanted to change her phone, either (not under my plan). 

A year is still a long time, plenty of time to gather evidence. Doesn't matter if she works or not, you could still have added her to your bank account (or opened a new that you share jointly instead), same goes for savings accounts, money markets, etc. 

 

You obviously also have her added to the apartment lease/rental agreement unless there's an issue with that. Some don't want to add a person with no credit history, this too would've been solved by applying for a credit card to start building credit. She should also have been added to the utility bills early on (saw now that you already did that), that's one of the easiest evidence to fix. Some companies only allow one name on the bill, but another person can be added as an authorized user. 

 

You've had a whole year, there should be quite a lot of evidence by now. 

 

She should still be able to access her i-94, AP or not.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Scandi

[Lemonslice 4,885]

Doesn't she have a bank account?  What about a will? Living will?  You should be on each other's accounts (bank, pension, etc.) as beneficiaries.  Please put her on your car insurance also - even if she does not drive often, she should be covered.  

[Nitas_man 3,100]

6 hours ago, aapl said:

I don't know how much weight that carries in regards to having a bunch of pictures throughout 8 years/multiple plane + trip + vacation tickets/ licensures from the same college/ same profession etc.

 

I'd think our case is extremely straightforward.... except not having some of those joint statements. in hindsight, should've put her name on more things perhaps but just didn't think it was that important. 

Never seen an RFE for pictures and trips, never filed a picture for anything, never sent plane / vacation trips for anything and gave you a list for straightforward.  

Based on what you are telling us here you won’t make it to interview.  This looks like an RFE nightmare.  Advising you to fix that soonest.  Dont know what you’re filing but they take that list (the one I shared) and grill you at an interview anyway.

 

So what are you filing?  Married/AOS?
 

Edited May 24, 2021 by Nitas_man

[SusnOwen 160]

My husband is on my bank account as an authorized user, as well as on one of my credit cards.  At the time we opened the account, he couldn't be a joint account holder due to not having his GC.  We have joint health / car insurance, he's my beneficiary on life insurance, 401K, etc.... We brought evidence of all of that to the interview.  He is not on the utility bills, the mortgage, anything that people say you must have.  We are getting ready to sell the house, it would have been a logistical nightmare to try to add him - when we buy the next house his name will be on them.  We had a ton of pictures with friends and family - the interviewer asked him questions about who was who in all the pictures.  We were approved for AOS.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

17 minutes ago, SusnOwen said:

My husband is on my bank account as an authorized user, as well as on one of my credit cards.  At the time we opened the account, he couldn't be a joint account holder due to not having his GC.  We have joint health / car insurance, he's my beneficiary on life insurance, 401K, etc.... We brought evidence of all of that to the interview.  He is not on the utility bills, the mortgage, anything that people say you must have.  We are getting ready to sell the house, it would have been a logistical nightmare to try to add him - when we buy the next house his name will be on them.  We had a ton of pictures with friends and family - the interviewer asked him questions about who was who in all the pictures.  We were approved for AOS.

Didnt say mortgage said mortgage/deed but it’s easy to add a spouse to a deed.
 

Didnt say utility bills either, never did that.

 

They’ve had time to obtain EAD/SS and that is when the real “blending” starts.  Someone’s gonna ask why a spouse isn’t listed on a lease.  That’s pretty uncommon. 

 

 

 

[SuznAaron 121]

9 hours ago, aapl said:

Thanks. My wife has only been in the U.S. for a little over a year now. She only started working part-time three months ago due to focusing on studying. She works with me, so she's actually avoided driving (not on auto insurance). 

 

I made my apartment contract before we ever lived together/got married, so that's not under her name either.. her phone is international as well and since she can speak to all of her relatives back home with her plan, she hasn't wanted to change her phone, either (not under my plan). 

We were specifically asked for proof of living together (deed with both names) and shared bank account which they went through at the  interview with our debit cards to make sure we were both using the account. At our interview for AOS no one cared about pictures from travels. It was all about the paperwork including tax transcripts. Its very easy to add your spouses name. Id suggest you do it and save some hassle. 

[JeanneAdil 6,539]

1st thing to do is get her a state ID  that shows same address  as yours

and then encourage her to learn to drive / you could need her to know at some point as anything can happen meaning "u could not drive for some reason"

 

 

" should've put her name on more things perhaps but just didn't think it was that important.  should've put her name on more things perhaps but just didn't think it was that important. "   as you say

well ,  it is ,  seems you married her but have not included her in your life and assets

 

BTW saying she has to keep her foreign phone to talk to family doesn't fly

how did you talk to her when she was there? she had foreign phone and u had US phone

 

get a US number for her and she can talk on cam to family in whatsapp (or several others apps your choice) and its free

my husband talks on cam to family in France,  Spain and back in morooco at the same time or individually as he chooses 

 

Seems she is completely dependent on you and although she man like you as bread winner and all,   its good for a woman to know if she had to ,  she could do it on her own 

[SusnOwen 160]

5 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

Didnt say mortgage said mortgage/deed but it’s easy to add a spouse to a deed.
 

Didnt say utility bills either, never did that.

 

They’ve had time to obtain EAD/SS and that is when the real “blending” starts.  Someone’s gonna ask why a spouse isn’t listed on a lease.  That’s pretty uncommon. 

 

 

 

I don't think I quoted you - I made a statement based on my experience, and we were approved.

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

15 hours ago, aapl said:

Hi everyone. My question is mainly about showing joint bills/statements for the interview. We simply don't have many. We have joint health insurance, she's under my name on the gas/electricity bill, she has a credit card under my account-- but that's pretty much it. 

 

My wife has hardly been working because she's in school, so she's not really contributing to payments in any way at the moment. 

 

Also, the interview paper stated that we need to provide history of travel in/out in accordance to her I-94. We tried accessing this information on the I-94 platform and it said it couldn't demonstrate travel history-- I'm guessing because the I-94 is now invalid because she has an advance parole card. Is this a big deal?

 

Thanks.

I would err on the side of caution and try to be as prepared as you can. As others mentioned, showing that you live under the same roof is pretty important. You have many options here and it really is up to you.

 

Your experience at the interview will depend upon the Immigration officer who conducts your interview. I say this because there are officers who will not accept any evidence that you bring to the interview. They do not have to accept it. There are those officers who will want to adjudicate the case based on what you sent with the I-130. Is that everyone's experience? No, some people show up with 3 or bills and a lease agreement and get approved. But can you rely on anecdotal experience of others? Up to you. I personally would be as prepared as you can be. 

 

I think adding your spouse to the lease would be a first step. I would also have her get a state ID or a driver's license. I would focus on showing a continuum of evidence. For example, I would not just show the insurance cards. I would also show your paystubs and highlight the monthly deduction for health insurance. I would show all the paystubs that you may have available that show that. 

 

If you really want to add weight to your case, prepare a will and/or health care directive, and get them notarized. 

 

Pictures can show some continuity but they do not carry that much weight. Really, at this point, USCIS is looking for items that show that you two are building a life together. Remember that AOS is just the first step. If all goes well, and they approve you, and you have been married less than 2 years at that point, then you will have to file for removal of conditions in 2 years. So then, you will have to do all of this all over again and at that point, USCIS requires evidence since the date of the marriage until the date of the filing.

 

I can tell you that we just filed our I-751 Removal of conditions. It was really helpful to have filed a solid trail of evidence for AOS, because we just built our evidence from there. We probably sent them an excess of evidence just so that they could not say no. 

 

All the best.

 

[Verrou 1,962]

we just got married for 4 months when he filed petition for me ( im in the states ). a week after we got married we moved to other states. 2 weeks later after we slightly done with the moving, he put my name to his checking account ( it obviously become joint account), bought used car and put both our name on the registration, put my name on his credit card. that's the only thing that " jointly" that we submit 4-5 months ago. of course tons of pictures around 2 years we are dating.

 

its been 5 months now, and finally i got my driver license, so our address is the same now, we sold our car that we bought 5 months ago and get a new one ( my name its not on the registration because im working and really dont want to go to DMV together with him just for that....we need to be present to have joint car registration). my name still in the car insurance though since both of us drive the car.  i put him under my health insurance because his health insurance is more expensive, rental under both our name.  so the more we co-habitate the more documents we can collect. slowly but sure its getting more docs

Edited May 24, 2021 by Misscloud