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Good luck - with that list of evidence, sounds like you'll be fine.

Agree! Trying to second guess or determine what the adjudicator is thinking is folly...... just do what we did.....send them every last little scrap of paper, 'cept the kitchen sink. For example, if you sent 2 of 12 pages of a statement before, send them ALL twelve pages, of ALL documents/statments since the inception of the marriage.

As mentioned in those previous threads, I sent in almost six (6) pounds of evidence initially, that resulted in an RFE "for more marriage bonafides since the inception of the marriage." So, we scraped everything together and sent in almost four (4) pounds of supplemental/additional RFE evidence (including wills, etc.), got our ROC approval within a week of ROC package acceptance.

Good luck on your immigration journey.

This was the tactic we took with our RFE. We sent everything we could possibly find - our initial package was about 5 lbs of paperwork.. .the additional evidence for the RFE was 10 POUNDS! 2 weeks after the RFE evidence was received, we got an approval letter for ROC. I have this mental picture of the agent opening that box, looking at all the paperwork (there was so much I had to put it into folders with tabs and a "directory" on top to cross reference each folder) and going "ok! ok! I surrender!" haha!

my husband brought the entire income tax return with him when he had his CR-1 interview in London (UK.) We took the view that 'the more info the better' was the way to go - to cover anything he might be asked for right then, and not risk having to provide it at a later date. He was never asked for it at the interview, but at least we were covered if he would have been!

thanks so much for your responses - this helps a lot with some direction to make our package more coherent. There were some other items the RFE covered, but those are no problem - they just wanted more bank statements, W-2's attached to the tax returns (which we didn't provide the first time) and copies of additional insurance policies, etc which aren't a problem.

In regards to the 15 month gap, I think the bulk of the evidence is going to be emails - not just between my husband and I, but also between me and travel agents, etc making travel plans to see him. There are hundreds! I will be certain to outline this in the cover letter (which I'm sure will be every bit as long as yours, Pitaya!)

I do have all my email exchanges with our lawyer, including the one in January 2013 where I take him to task for the delays, and his response. I'm uncertain if I should include these to support my story re: the 15 month gap. having dealt with an RFE, would you include these emails as part of the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach? It will have all of his information on them and I am just concerned about opening a whole other can of worms...

and I agree Pitaya - it's just so frustrating that they want so much "window dressing!" There's a part of me that wishes they'd just call us in for an interview so they could see that we're really married!

I'm a US / UK dual citizen by birth (born in the US, one parent UK citizen with US permanent residency) I have zero issues with holding dual citizenship. I travel a lot for work, and the only thing that really matters is you must use your US passport to exit & enter the US. I mostly travel to Europe for work, so I mainly use my UK passport outside of the US. The only times I've ever had to show both my passports at once are the couple of times I purchased a one-way ticket from the UK to the US (and vice-versa) The airline check-in desk asked to see both passports to prove I was legally able to enter each country without a return. That was it - they looked at the passports and on I went.

It really is a great thing to have EU citizenship as well as US citizenship. It opens so many doors for work & education, I would recommend it to anyone who is eligible, and I think it's a great thing to do for your son! I've been able to work and live in Europe easily (and legally!) I definitely think it's worth any expense entailed to file & get the passport.

Edited to add: in regards to traveling within Europe - I never even pull my US passport out when traveling between countries. If you enter Europe on a EU passport, that's what you use the whole time. Reason being, there will be no entry stamp in the US passport. There will be zero problems with this. You only need to show the US passport at US immigration & passport control when entering the US. You MAY have to show it when checking in for your flight back to the US but I always check in for flights on the Europe side using my UK passport and rarely get asked (unless as mentioned above, I have a one-way ticket)

The only time I ever enter Europe on my US passport is if I am there for a short while & need to rent a car! Since I don't have an EU drivers license, I need to use my US license, and that is only legal if you are there on a tourist visa.

Hi all -

I'm hoping for some insight - my husband and I were married in the UK Feb 2012. He was in the middle of doing his masters degree in the UK when we married, so he continued to live in the UK while we filed for his CR-1, he did his interview in London, and was able to arrive in the US with his masters degree & a green card, ready to work. I'm based in the US & travel for work, and was in the UK several times in 2012 so I was able to spend time with him there.

All was not smooth though - it took 15 MONTHS from our wedding day to his interview at the London Consulate. We filed the I-130 the day after our wedding and received our NOA2 on June 1, 2012. However, his interview date was not until April 2013. We had a very straight forward case, but knowing nothing about the immigration process at the time, it seemed the right thing to do to use an immigration lawyer. We hired a VERY reputable lawyer, but man, he seriously dropped the ball with us. I wish I'd discovered VJ sooner. Now I'm concerned the delays he caused are going to bite us in the butt.

After we received our NOA2, our lawyer told us he was waiting for the packet from the NVC with instructions, and would send us the DS-230 & I-864 to sign, after he received it. We still hadn't received anything by the end of September, and I kept asking for it, thinking surely it couldn't take that long to come. Finally in October 2012, we got the DS-230 & I-864 from him. We reviewed them, signed, overnighted back and was told they were sent to the NVC immediately upon reception. Five weeks later, we still had no receipt from the NVC or interview date. While I'd been chasing him for the forms, I discovered Visa Journey through a friend. From reading numerous posts here & looking at timelines and guides, I suspected something was not right & found out how to call the NVC to check our status using our case number. In January 2013 the NVC told me it had never received our DS-230 & I-864. At this point, I put my foot down with our lawyer - told him we were going to re-do the DS-230 & I-864 and he needed to "re-send" both. I also insisted he provide physical proof this time of both being sent, & their delivery. Lo and behold, 7 days after the package was truly sent, we got confirmation it was received, and 5 weeks after that, we received an interview date in April. Interview was quick & easy, CR-1 approved. My husband arrived in the US summer 2012 and got his green card & SS number no problem.

Fast forward to Feb of this year and we filed for ROC from his CR-1 with the California Service Center. As evidence I sent our 2013-2014 joint tax returns, joint lease on our apt, joint bank account statements, photos of family vacations (with both our families) boarding passes & items from vacations as well as a couple affidavits. We received our receipt notice a couple weeks later, then the extension letter & my husband had his biometrics appointment in April. In July we got an RFE saying we didn't provide enough info going all the way back to our wedding in 2012, and they wanted to see more co-mingling of assets & proof of a bona fide marriage. Part of this was our fault, we misunderstood what was needed and only sent evidence in going back to the date my husband was approved for his CR-1 in 2013.

Since the original ROC application, my husband got a new job with the state and has great benefits, so I have a whole new stack of paperwork that I'm named beneficiary on. (medical, dental, life ins) His employer uses an outside company for verification of spousal eligibility for coverage, so I have the verification paperwork from them that I'm indeed his legal spouse, which bodes well :-) We've added his name to one of our utility bills and mine is on the others so we can show we both live here, and I took out a life insurance policy and named him beneficiary. So I've got all that new evidence, but it's very recent.

The big problem is that 15 month gap between our wedding date and when he got the CR-1. We did file a joint US tax return for 2012, but because my husband was not actually in the US (due to him being a student for the first part, and then him being stuck in the UK waiting due to the stupid delay with our application) he had no income, so the only W-2 forms in 2012 were mine. Aside from the 2012 tax returns, I've got some wedding photos, photos with friends at our wedding dinner, email correspondence with my travel agent about needing to go the the UK for Christmas 2012 since he wasn't going to make it here..etc. I have a few photos of us during the rest of 2012, but not many. We don't really have any travel itineraries or hotel bills from that time, since usually he was coming to stay in my work hotel, and only my name was on the invoice because it was booked through work. I do have all my work itineraries from that time, along with an affidavit from a co-worker who has spent time with both of us before & after we were married, describing our work travel situation and confirming my husband & I spending time together as much as possible during the times I was working in the UK.

Other than that, until fall 2013 we have no co-mingling of assets, no joint lease, etc, since we couldn't open a joint account til he got here, couldn't get insurance, didn't have an apartment etc.

So... my questions:

1) with the new evidence I have (new benefits letters, new life insurance policy, bills, joint bank account statements since original AOS package sent etc) and the 2012 tax returns and few photos / emails from 2012, should that be enough?

2) in my cover letter, should I explain why there is such a big gap between our wedding date & date of CR-1 approval & entry into the US. I feel a little weird writing a letter more or less blaming our lawyer. It's true, but I don't know how good that will look to the USCIS?

3) I've got a bunch of christmas cards, invitations, thank you cards, etc. via snail mail addressed jointly to me & my husband at our current address. I was thinking it can't hurt to include those as well, since I'm trying to basically overwhelm the USCIS with any and all evidence I can find (!) - is it ok to make color copies of the envelopes & cards, or should I send the originals? I'm reluctant to let go of the originals since they are sentimental - but it's more important to me to make sure I provide as much stuff as possible, so if I have to part with the originals, I will.

I know this is a long post but wanted to explain our situation thoroughly - I appreciate any insight, advice or sharing of similar experiences. I'm preparing to send the RFE package on Monday so I'm having a bit of last minute stress at the moment, wanting to make sure there's nothing I'm missing, or should add..

Thanks all - this is really helpful!! What would I do without visa journey?!! This is the 2nd time info from this community has been invaluable. The first time it saved us was when we were doing our initial CR-1 filing, and didn't get confirmation from the NVC that they'd received our paperwork within what I knew from similar timelines should have been an reasonable timeframe. I was able to rectify things quickly, based on info here, as hopefully I will once more. thanks again!

Cheezees - just saw your response. I really did forget to change our address with the USCIS - mainly because we just hadn't been using our physical address for important mail since we moved here, knowing we would likely have a work-related move within a year or two. To be honest, it wasn't until I saw these posts that I realized we'd messed up. Not that the USCIS will know that we really did just forget.. I'm ok with an interview.. I'm sure they would see we're legit at that point

Thanks. I've gone onto the USCIS website and updated our address now. Hopefully this causes no issues. I'll change our I-751 and leave off the "mailing address." hopefully there will be no issues with us receiving the NOA-1 here. That sounds safer.

I"m wondering if I should mention in our cover letter that we forgot to change our address with the USCIS, since I'm submitting as evidence of a bona fide relationship, our lease that was signed in Oct 2013, as well as joint 2013 & 2014 tax returns showing our current address.

Hi - I'm wondering if anyone has had firsthand experience with this:

We will be sending the I-751 and packet of paperwork this Monday (3/16/15) Yay!

I travel for work and will be on the road 75% of the time for the next 6 months. My husband is in the middle of searching for a new job, and a couple of the positions he is interviewing for would require us to move to a different part of the state, or out of state completely in the next 2-3 months if he is offered the job(s). Obviously if this happens, our physical address will change from what we'll put on the I-751.

Because of our work situations, rather than using our Physical Address in CA, we have been using my parents' home address in CO as our mailing address for any important paperwork, just to be safe since they are always home and can easily scan or fedex important mail to us. (it's the address we used for the DS-230 and it's where my husband's I-751 reminder letter was sent.)

I'm wondering if it is OK to enter our current physical address on lines 16.b- 16.f, then use my parents' address in CO as "Mailing Address (if different than physical address)" lines 17.b- 17.f. On line 17.a "In Care of Name" is it ok to put one of my parents' names, since it is legitimately in care of them? (I did not change my last name, so my parents' last names are the same as mine.)

Using my parents' address as a mailing address would NOT change the service center, since both CA & CO fall under the CA service center.

If anyone has firsthand experience with this, your input is much appreciated. I just don't want to mess anything up - I don't see why there would be an issue, but it says nothing about physical vs mailing address on the I-751 instructions. I have been having a moment of panic that filling it out that way it might hang things up!

Definitely call the NVC and just ask them what the status of your case is. They'll ask for your case number, beneficiary name and petitioner (your) name, then they'll tell you what all they've received - or not. We had a similar thing happen. 2 1/2 months after the DS-230 was sent in, we still hadn't heard anything, so I called the NVC - the agent told me their records showed that they were still waiting for us to submit it. Even though I knew it had been delivered and signed for, somehow it never found it's way into the system. We ended up re-submitting, our case was complete within 14 days of them receiving it the second time around, and we got a notification of interview date about 4 weeks after that. It pays to follow up with a call to the NVC!

ETA: also make sure you give them your email addresses when you call. That way you don't have to worry about missing any important correspondence (like notification of completion, or interview letter) by snail mail.

its not really on how to do it. I know i could do it right with God's. This forum has been very informative. its the NOA2 am frustrated about. I cant help to get confused.

But i know better not to lose hope.

don't lose hope! it will be 14 months from the day we filed the I-130 until our interview. It took much longer than we ever thought it would, but we are nearly there!

long time lurker, first time poster. We used a lawyer, mainly because each of of our travel schedules for work, we wanted to make sure there was one place the paperwork was being sent to where it wouldn't be missed and someone was sure to act on it. If I had to do it over again, I probably wouldn't have used a lawyer. We hired a really reputable lawyer and he did an ok job, but the NVC lost one of our forms he'd submitted, and I was the one who caught it, because of the knowledge I'd gained here on VJ. From looking at the guides and reading the forums, I knew exactly how long it should have taken from the date the DS230 was sent until our case completed, and when 2 months had passed with no word, I got all over our lawyer to follow up. Lo and behold, the NVC didn't have a record of it being received. (and I know he'd sent it, he copied us on all tracking numbers, etc) He re-submitted it and within 14 days our case completed. So having a lawyer doesn't mean it's going to be any faster. They can't fast track things, they can only make sure it's done correctly and that someone is keeping on top of your stuff. And the NVC misplacing paperwork somewhere in the shuffle doesn't happen every day, but isn't completely unheard of. Doesn't matter who files it if that happens.

If you have a straight forward case, have clean police records, have a good co-sponsor (or make enough to do the I-864 yourself) and are a detail oriented person, it should be really easy to do it yourself following the guides here and asking questions of the people on the forums to make sure you're doing it correctly. I think you certainly will feel like you have more control over the process if you do it yourself.

It does seem to take forever and there is a lot of luck involved on how fast things get processed. I would look at some of the timelines on here with similar filing dates or NOA2 dates to ours and want to beat my head against the wall. But you just have to take it one day at a time and roll with it. it's a pain in the ####, but you can totally do it yourself. That's my .02 cents anyway.