I-751 Questions

[llcoolwil 101]

Hi all!

 

I'm getting my stuff together for my I-751 and I'm a bit concerned about bank statements. We never created a joint bank account but it looks like everyone else I've seen did so they could include it in their packets. I don't want to open one now because I'm too close to my time being open to sent the packet and I'm scared it will look fishy. I'm an authorized user on my husband's credit card but that's really the only banking we do together on paper. 

 

We have our house deed, car insurance, health insurance that we are both on. I'm nervous now. 

 

Hope someone can either ease my mind or give me additional guidance. 

Edited 21 hours ago by Crazy Cat

[mam521 2,507]

The house in both names is definitely a huge investment together!  

 

We don't have a joint bank account.  I was only ever an authorized user.  We listed each other on other important accounts like pension, 401k, life insurance, house insurance, vehicle insurance, health insurance.  

 

Are your other accounts listing one another as beneficiaries? 

 

I'm a citizen now, so it must have been enough .  I filed under the 3 year provision, too, and they still gave it to me. I wouldn't worry too much!  

[OldUser 9,854]

You have great evidence of bonafide marriage. Joint bank account is worth opening for reasons beyond immigration. In my family, it helped combining funds for paying off mortgage, car loans, utilities and other recurring expenses. It won't look fishy. Also, you can open free joint checking / HYSA accounts to keep emergency fund or save towards vacation or other goals.

 

I hope you filed taxes jointly? In overwhelming majority of cases, joint filings make better financial sense for the family as you get bigger tax break. If this is the case, include joint IRS tax return transcripts in your I-751 packet. These are downloadable for free from IRS website.

[llcoolwil 101]

1 minute ago, mam521 said:

The house in both names is definitely a huge investment together!  

 

We don't have a joint bank account.  I was only ever an authorized user.  We listed each other on other important accounts like pension, 401k, life insurance, house insurance, vehicle insurance, health insurance.  

 

Are your other accounts listing one another as beneficiaries? 

 

I'm a citizen now, so it must have been enough .  I filed under the 3 year provision, too, and they still gave it to me. I wouldn't worry too much!  

 

Oh gosh this makes me feel a TON better! Okay thank goodness. Yeah I'm on the deed of the house so phew. We are beneficiaries and what not on other accounts. Emergency contacts on things etc. 

[OldUser 9,854]

Just now, llcoolwil said:

 

Oh gosh this makes me feel a TON better! Okay thank goodness. Yeah I'm on the deed of the house so phew. We are beneficiaries and what not on other accounts. Emergency contacts on things etc. 

Yes, if you are beneficiaries on brokerage / bank / retirement accounts, make sure to include evidence of this

[TBoneTX 47,495]

In addition (actually, before proceeding further with the I-751), shop for a lawyer who can draft Wills, medical & financial powers of attorney, and similar estate documents.  These make superlative evidence for ROC, and they're even more crucial to have in "life."  Remember that if you move from one U.S. state to another, your Will may need to be redone.

[mam521 2,507]

16 hours ago, OldUser said:

Joint bank account is worth opening for reasons beyond immigration. In my family, it helped combining funds for paying off mortgage, car loans, utilities and other recurring expenses.

All a matter of opinion, my friend 😉.  Some couples get on well with shared bank accounts; others do not.  

 

16 hours ago, llcoolwil said:

 

Oh gosh this makes me feel a TON better! Okay thank goodness. Yeah I'm on the deed of the house so phew. We are beneficiaries and what not on other accounts. Emergency contacts on things etc. 

It's easy to forget you have all of these other things because you're like "duh...that's just what people do"...because, well, you're in a real relationship 🙂.  When it's legit, you take for granted the "obvious" things. 

 

Happy to hear you're feeling a bit of relief.  You'll be fine!  

[OldUser 9,854]

9 minutes ago, mam521 said:

All a matter of opinion, my friend 😉.  Some couples get on well with shared bank accounts; others do not.  

Not saying all the finances should be merged. It can be a middleground, combining the minimum to cover the necessary monthly bills. If partners have issue with that, are we saying there's 0 trust in relationship.

 

My spouse and I were cautious combining finances at first. We started at bare minimum, just enough to pay electrical bill. Over the time, we combined a sizable portions of our incomes to cover necessities and save for the future.

 

It's definitely a matter of opinion, not saying what's right or wrong. It just makes sense logistically to us.

 

For example, if there's no shared bank account, who's receiving tax refund from IRS? 😃

 

And who's paying for house renovation? Shifting funds using Venmo / Zelle all the time is very inconvenient IMO. 

 

Again, only my opinion.

OP has other good evidence. 

Edited Thursday at 04:29 PM by OldUser

[Fr8dog 393]

Here we go;

- No joint bank account

- No joint credit cards

- House was on the Misses name only

- All utilities bills in her name

- No photos

- I was added to her car insurance but we each had a car in our own name.

- My cellphone was on her plan.

- Family health insurance through her work

- INCLUDED THE DRIVERS LICENSE of the both of us (it has the same address of course) apparently that one gets overlooked.

- Tax returns filed jointly.

 

We had our reasons to not mix our finances, we explained why and the officer found it a solid reason.

The refusal rate is pretty low so I'm going on a limb here and say "you'll be fine".

 

 

[llcoolwil 101]

Hi all! 

 

Sorry for the dumb questions regarding the packet but I'm getting some conflicting information so I thought I'd ask for people's opinions:

 

1. Have you all included your marriage certificate in your packet? I'm trying to understand if it's necessary as that was included in our original packet for the I-130. 

2. Should I include photo evidence that I included in my I-130 in addition to new photos since I entered the US? 

3. How many affadavit letters of support from friends and family did you submit? I so far have 7 and have some more being written. 

 

Thank you so much! Sorry for my nervousness - I just really don't want to screw this up lol

[Crazy Cat 44,406]

Your questions are not dumb.

 

My opinion:

 

1.  I-751 instructions do not require a marriage certificate.  We didn't include it.

2.  You should include evidence from date of marriage to present.

3. None.  I submitted no personal affidavits as they carry little weight.  I would not collect more.  Actual documentation created during  a normal marriage is far better evidence.  Think quality......Good luck.  The next step (citizenship) is far easier, imo. 

Edited 21 hours ago by Crazy Cat

[OldUser 9,854]

1. I don't think my I-751 had copy of marriage certificate

2. From date of marriage until now

3. I had 2 affidavits. 7 is more than enough.

Edited 21 hours ago by OldUser

[OldUser 9,854]

10 hours ago, Fr8dog said:

Here we go;

- No joint bank account

- No joint credit cards

- House was on the Misses name only

- All utilities bills in her name

- No photos

- I was added to her car insurance but we each had a car in our own name.

- My cellphone was on her plan.

- Family health insurance through her work

- INCLUDED THE DRIVERS LICENSE of the both of us (it has the same address of course) apparently that one gets overlooked.

- Tax returns filed jointly.

 

We had our reasons to not mix our finances, we explained why and the officer found it a solid reason.

The refusal rate is pretty low so I'm going on a limb here and say "you'll be fine".

 

 

1) Which administration was in power when you naturalized? Current one pays a lot more attention to cases. There's no downside to providing as much relevant evidence as possible

 

2) The bar goes up over the time too. My friend shared some insight into his removal of conditions in 2010. He submitted form, 1 bank statement and 3 photos. This was enough back then. I almost teared up when I saw how low the bar was back then.

 

3) Denial rate may be low, but do we know how many RFEs and NOIDs were issued before the approval?

[Crazy Cat 44,406]

***Similar topics merged.  Please keep I-751 questions here for organization***

[Fr8dog 393]

47 minutes ago, OldUser said:

1) Which administration was in power when you naturalized? Current one pays a lot more attention to cases. There's no downside to providing as much relevant evidence as possible

 

2) The bar goes up over the time too. My friend shared some insight into his removal of conditions in 2010. He submitted form, 1 bank statement and 3 photos. This was enough back then. I almost teared up when I saw how low the bar was back then.

 

3) Denial rate may be low, but do we know how many RFEs and NOIDs were issued before the approval?

 

We clearly have a different view when it comes to sending info. I'm a firm believer in following the instructions and base it on that and keep it to a minimum. You like to cover everything possible and go with that. Neither option is wrong and both can be right. 

People read these forums and start panicking because they don't have one piece and completely overlook what they do have. I'm just trying to point out that you can follow the instructions and are not required to cover all bases. 

 

I would have been one of the last ones who would most likely have gotten the ROC with an interview waiver. Around my filing date there was a policy change (the first round of the current administration) that meant everybody got to go to an interview at least once. (Either AOS or ROC). As my AOS was done without an interview (also bare minimum filing) I knew my ROC would be an interview. I saw even less reason to front load. I did bring everything with me to the interview though.

 

The OP had a Canadian flag showing so I'm assuming we're dealing with a Canadian national. This is about as "low fraud country" as you can get and yes that does make a big difference.