Evidence Commonly Sent?

[kec523 256]

Hi all, 

 

We are going to be filing in December. I read the guide but am wondering if someone has a list of evidence that people actually commonly send and in what format? Ex I know affidavits are on the list from USCIS but do people commonly send those because I know for K1 they weren't actually commonly sent.  Here's a list of what I'm planning to send and would love feedback about it. 

 

-Our son's birth certificate

-Evidence from our symbolic marriage with family and friends (receipts, invites, program, photos) - not show how I'll package/format all of this

-Joint Tax Returns from the past 2 years 

-Insurance Policies that we are both on

-Documentation of trips we've taken the past 2 years 

-Photos from the past 2 years

-Cards/Mail we have received addressed to both of us as well as our Christmas cards the past 2 years

-Bills from the past couple of months in both of our name

-Affidavits from 2 people? 

(We cannot send in lease/mortgage info as I already owned my home prior to him coming and we have not bought a vehicle together)

[Mike E 11,740]

2 hours ago, kec523 said:

Ex I know affidavits are on the list from USCIS but do people commonly send those because I know for K1 they weren't actually commonly sent.

Our lawyer wanted affidavits.  Based on visajourney conventional wisdom I was skeptical, but we are paying for legal advice so we complied.  Surprisingly we find ourselves in a position I didn’t not expect 2 years ago: a pending N-400 with a 10 year gc in hand. So no dreaded combo interview 

 

I would get 2 affidavits from U.S. citizens who have known the married couple since the date of marriage and who can assert their believe that the couple is living together in a marital union and the basis for that belief.  
 

Your list is good. Some suggestions:
 

Quote

  we have not bought a vehicle together)

If one of you  owns a car, consider adding the other to title. We did before we filed.  Like your situation,  our home was solely in my name and I did not add my wife  to title for various reasons, one of which is there is annual limit of gifts to foreign spouses that is far less than half the value of our home at the time.  
 

Your list should have joint bank/brokerage  statements for the past 2 years, one statement per quarter. Same with bills of joint accounts such as utilities. 
 

If any of you have 401ks or IRAs, list the other as the primary beneficiary.  Depending on your state of residence, a marriage certificate trumps any primary beneficiary designation anyway, so might as well make it official. 
 

We have AAA and Costco and the annual renewals list both our names.  

Edited November 26, 2022 by Mike E

[Sukie 1,464]

Not all couples co-mingle finances, but joint bank statements seem to be one of the things they look for.  They want to see how you do and pay for your life together.  If your spouse is not on the deed or mortgage, then be SURE the spouse's name is on the homeowners insurance policy.  If you do not own a car together, and your spouse drives, be SURE your spouse is on the auto insurance.

 

If you do not have joint bank accounts, then write a short summary of how you pay for things (gas, groceries, utilities).  It doesn't REALLY matter if one partner pays everything, or if things are not divided evenly.  But if your situation is not half/half, all you have to do is explain how YOU do it.  Do explain that you already owned the house prior to your marriage.

 

Best of luck to you!

 

Sukie in NY

[da95826 387]

23 hours ago, kec523 said:

-Evidence from our symbolic marriage with family and friends (receipts, invites, program, photos) - not show how I'll package/format all of this

Scan or photograph with phone the photos, invites, wedding program, and so on. Then you can submit printed out letter sized pages with pictures plus captions and other documents you scaned. Only submit one sided pages of pictures and other documents letter sized pages, the lockbox will not accept anything in a photo album or are in folders. USCIS scans everything submitted  and they do not take things out of the folders or albums to run through their scanners. 

 

Submit shared bank account statements showing bills are being paid and wages are being deposited month to month if you have it.

Copies of State issue IDs with shared address for both of you (Driver's license)

W2/1099 tax documents for each of you as they have your shared address on them

Submit some letters address to each of you at your common home address

 

Affidavits are okay to submit but are not required, you have a lot of good evidence already. Affidavits are secondary evidence and are most helpful if you are lacking evidence in some way.

[kec523 256]

On 11/25/2022 at 6:05 PM, Mike E said:

Our lawyer wanted affidavits.  Based on visajourney conventional wisdom I was skeptical, but we are paying for legal advice so we complied.  Surprisingly we find ourselves in a position I didn’t not expect 2 years ago: a pending N-400 with a 10 year gc in hand. So no dreaded combo interview 

 

I would get 2 affidavits from U.S. citizens who have known the married couple since the date of marriage and who can assert their believe that the couple is living together in a marital union and the basis for that belief.  
 

Your list is good. Some suggestions:
 

If one of you  owns a car, consider adding the other to title. We did before we filed.  Like your situation,  our home was solely in my name and I did not add my wife  to title for various reasons, one of which is there is annual limit of gifts to foreign spouses that is far less than half the value of our home at the time.  
 

Your list should have joint bank/brokerage  statements for the past 2 years, one statement per quarter. Same with bills of joint accounts such as utilities. 
 

If any of you have 401ks or IRAs, list the other as the primary beneficiary.  Depending on your state of residence, a marriage certificate trumps any primary beneficiary designation anyway, so might as well make it official. 
 

We have AAA and Costco and the annual renewals list both our names.  

Thank you so much for all of this.  It was really helpful! I didn't think about my Roth IRA and was able to add him quite easily! 

[kec523 256]

On 11/26/2022 at 3:32 PM, da95826 said:

Scan or photograph with phone the photos, invites, wedding program, and so on. Then you can submit printed out letter sized pages with pictures plus captions and other documents you scaned. Only submit one sided pages of pictures and other documents letter sized pages, the lockbox will not accept anything in a photo album or are in folders. USCIS scans everything submitted  and they do not take things out of the folders or albums to run through their scanners. 

 

Submit shared bank account statements showing bills are being paid and wages are being deposited month to month if you have it.

Copies of State issue IDs with shared address for both of you (Driver's license)

W2/1099 tax documents for each of you as they have your shared address on them

Submit some letters address to each of you at your common home address

 

Affidavits are okay to submit but are not required, you have a lot of good evidence already. Affidavits are secondary evidence and are most helpful if you are lacking evidence in some way.

Thank you! That is a great way of doing it - I read this last week and started doing it that way (scanning wedding evidence) 

Also a great reminder about driver's licenses! 

[kec523 256]

Hi all, 

 

I have more specific questions now that I'm in the thick of evidence gathering: 

-For photos - did you print the photos with the timestamp or did you date them yourself? 

-Are the IRS Tax Return Transcripts for the past two years sufficient? Or do I need to send more regarding proof of filing taxes jointly? 

-How many monthly bills/bank statements is typical? 6 months is what I did before - I am seeing conflicting info on this as I read threads? 

 

Thanks all! 

[Mike E 11,740]

4 minutes ago, kec523 said:

For photos - did you print the photos with the timestamp or did you date them yourself? 

I added text to each photo: date, place, who. Several photos inserted into a 8.5x11 inch sheet electronically  and then printed. 

 

6 minutes ago, kec523 said:

Are the IRS Tax Return Transcripts for the past two years sufficient? Or do I need to send more regarding proof of

All tax return transcripts filed since becoming an LPR. 

 

8 minutes ago, kec523 said:

How many monthly bills/bank statements is typical

1 per quarter 

[kec523 256]

1 minute ago, Mike E said:

I added text to each photo: date, place, who. Several photos inserted into a 8.5x11 inch sheet electronically  and then printed. 

 

All tax return transcripts filed since becoming an LPR. 

 

1 per quarter 

Thank you Mike! 

Great news about the photos, its so much easier to add my own text than to print it with the "official" timestamp. 

 

What I meant regarding taxes was...do I need additional tax documents for each year other than the tax transcripts? It's only the two years for us since he became an LPR. Do I need to include state documents? Or is the federal transcript for each year enough? 

[kec523 256]

Something else just came up for me as well: 

 

I wasn't planning to include passport info for either of us or our son but then saw other people including it - but then saw someone say it wasn't actually needed.  Now I'm confused! Thoughts anyone? I don't see why it would be helpful beyond showing that we traveled together? 

[Mike E 11,740]

On 12/10/2022 at 6:31 PM, kec523 said:

 . Do I need to include state documents? Or is the federal transcript for each year enough? 

Federal is enough 

22 minutes ago, kec523 said:

Something else just came up for me as well: 

 

I wasn't planning to include passport info for either of us or our son but then saw other people including it - but then saw someone say it wasn't actually needed.  Now I'm confused! Thoughts anyone? I don't see why it would be helpful beyond showing that we traveled together? 

Passport stamps that correspond with international trips taken together are fine.  We didn’t bother.