Merp

Hello all

Today my husband and I received a request for more information to show communal living. We have received our NOA1 and my husband has had his biometrics appointment. We are racking our brains as to what else to send them. Hubby has been in the USA since 06' (we were married in April 06) – however I have owned the home we live in since 2002, and all bills were already in my name. We didn't add him to any of these things, which looking back at now obviously we should have. However, as you can see in the list of evidence that we sent in below we have joint bank, car insurance, health insurance etc.

It is just so frustrating, I guess they probably aren't to happy with the fact I didn't change my maiden name or that we don't have children!

Evidence we sent with our original packet:

I-751 application

Cover letter

Copy of green card

Joint Car Insurance 2006 – 2008

Joint Tax forms 2006 – 2008

Joint ING Statement (investments) 2006 – 2008

Joint Bank Accounts 2006 – 2008

Health Insurance 2006 – 2008 (also included enrollment and change of info after marriage)

Life Insurance showing hubby as beneficiary 2006 -2008 and hubby's showing me as beneficiary as for 2008 which was the first year he was offered life insurance

YMCA gym family membership (joint)

Evidence of 3 month RV trip (receipts, invoices etc with both our names)

Mail both personal and business in both our names and separately spanning 2006 to 2008 (post marks shown)

3 Sworn Affidavits

Photos

What else can we send them????

We did some home renovations right away and we are thinking of receipts that show he spent money on the home.

We shipped our pets from Australia to here in the USA maybe we could send those invoices?

A letter explaining in more detail that I owned our home prior to our marriage, I stated this in the cover letter with items we already sent.

Any other suggestions?? Thanks.

It is very interesting that a few of us are in the same boat. My local field office is in Cincinnati, I assume the field office is where you would go for this. Since I have a receipt number I tried to check his status, but it said it wasn’t available… as I understand on the NOA1 a status will not be available until the bio appointment is made? I agree calling will do little, maybe I’ll try email.

Hi all!

My husband got his NOA1 around Sept 20th and we haven't received anything else. Seems to me the biometrics letter should have come by now. Should we call or email or just see what happens?

Thanks!

MERP

Hi - I sent mine 1st class mail with delivery confirmation and it got to Cali in 3 business days from Ohio.

Hi kath

We are down in Cincinnati.

hiya all

welcome to the new aussies in the thread..

merp where abouts are you two in ohio..im in toledo been here for 2years now..not many aussies up here..i always hear i got a boss thats aussie and met the husband of crickey pies and thats about it...ohh and an old lady that came over here as a war bride..

mates up over has a map with all its members on it...even as a guest you can look at your state and find other aussies near you ...

no news here ... completed my biometrics at detroit now just waiting for approval which will probably be around november i reckon..

take care

kath

Thanks Ant! It does feel good to have it out of the way - I must have looked over the paperwork a million times before I sealed the packet and handed over to the post office!

Hi Merp,

Good to hear that you got your I-751 mailed off today (lucky you, sending it off to the CSC instead of the VSC). Aren't you glad you got that out of the way? You should get your unconditional green card soon since you sent it to the CSC.

Now the real waiting begins! In the meantime, yes, do keep us updated here on VJ. Likewise, I'm glad too, that I stumbled upon VJ (lol..heck, I'm addicted to it now), as there are so many helpful and nice people around here who are going through the same/similar immigration experiences and we can all chat/post about it here on VJ.

Good luck on your immigration situation too

Ant (Still waiting at the VSC...)

Thats right - when my husband was moving here he brough two of the extra big jars over for fear that he wouldn't be able to get it again! He was worried about being caught smuggling it in. Thats one Aussie food I still just can't get a taste for!

You are welcome for the link, we have ordered a few times from SimplyOz and have always had good luck. Only once did we have a couple of chip packets that we out of date - but that isn't a big deal at all - they were on sale.

Is it necessary to send pictures with the packet? because we didn't send any.

Thanks

I don't think it is necessary, we sent them as extra evidence. Some people think the photos are very important others think that in a day and age where photos can be digitaly changed, how much evidence are they really.. and it's not like the person going through the packet will know who we are anyway! I think it is just up to you what you include in the packet as evidence of your continued marriage.

My husband thought he would be a lone Aussie in Ohio, but he as been surprised by meeting a number of them through his work in the area. Mates up Over is a great site to find some fellow Aussies in the area as well. And well, sometimes he still finds thick american accents annoying, I don’t think he will ever get over that. And then there is having to explain where you are from every time you go out…

The biggest thing my hubby has had to adjust to is the food - he misses (and I confess I do too) a good meat pie, Bundy, and even little things like his favorite bbq sauce. I have found some sites on line that carry Aussie groceries http://www.simplyoz.com/ is a good one and we find that more and more grocery stores are starting to carry a few English/Aussie brands, though they can be expensive – we think it’s worth the cost the be happy.

We joke that we speak “Aussie” at home, and he is always happy to switch into “Aussie” when he meets one around. I know when I was over there it was sometimes just nice to hear your native tongue. To bad you are in Texas, you sound like just the kind of Aussie we wish we could find around here.

Email and Skpe help tons also!

Best of luck and Congrats!

MERP

My fiance and I just got the NOA2 so we are both pretty excited! Was wondering what you Aussies (or Kiwis for that matter) do to try and stay in touch with fellow Australians. I love the US and am looking forward to eventually living there but having spent months at a time there before I have to admit that the accents kind of drive me a little nuts and I long to hear some 'normal' sounding people. I am going to be in Waco TX if that helps. How do you Aussies cope with the similar but different feeling that the US evokes? (in me at least)

I mean I love basketball and MMA (sports wise) and I am going to a similar climate in east Texas so it isn't exactly a shock to the system... but I wouldn't mind keeping in touch with some Aussies if just for the laid back attitude, the lack of religiousness and the general irreverence.

We mailed off our 1-751 packet today to CSC. My hubby’s green card expires Nov 3rd so we are giving them plenty of time, and I hear that CSC is pretty good right now (lucky us ).

I just wanted to say I’m so glad this site is around; it helped us out as we did our I-130 and prepared for our interview at the Sydney consulate and again 2 years later as we prepared our I-751. Don't know how we would have bummbled through without it.

Thanks to all – and good luck to all

I felt the same way, but every couple will be different. We are sending (By the end of the week) plenty of info and I think we only have about 30 pages of stuff. I personally think 100 pages of evidence is a lot! Just make sure your evidence covers the 2 years, if they want more they will ask.

good luck!

I'm just going print them on reg 8.5 x 11 paper and include them where it makes sense. that shouldn't cause a problem. We are sending it off by the end of the week!

Thanks again everyone!

We just started the I-751 ourselves. I didn't think my husband and I would have many photos, we aren't big picture takers. I started asking family to look for photos that included us at family events, and we have found plenty of photos.

I found the lists here on the site helpful for gathering evidence, but also felt a little overwhelmed by people who had 100s of pages! Our packet is pretty much finished and contains:

- Application

- Copy of Green Card

- Copy of my ID’s (passport and DL)

- Joint car insurance (2006-2008)

- Joint Tax forms (2006-2007)

- Bank and other joint money related info between (2006-2008)

- Joint Health insurance and Life insurance forms (2006-2008)

- Last Will and Living Will

- Receipts and evidence of 2 trips together

- Mail that was addressed to both of us

- 3 Sworn Affidavits

- Photos

It is not near even 50 pages, but we think it is pleanty to prove we are a real, live, married couple!

Good Luck!

Could one get away with the bare minimum of photos (just the set of 2x2 passport-style ones asked for)?

You only need Passport style photos if you reside overseas with the military or government orders - look at part 5 of the I-751 form, it will explain who needs to send them.

IMO you will probably need more photos than just passport style photos you show you have been doing "married" things for the last 2 years.

I included pictures that I organized on a page using Microsoft Publisher and typed little captions with names and dates.

--from our three trips to Canada

--from our wedding

--family portraits

Like Kathryn, I put them in amongst other relevant evidence.

I think a few pictures spanning the length of your marriage is a good idea, IMHO.

Cassie - I have done the same thing, seems to be an organized way. I will tuck them in with other evidence as it matches and then have some extra family photos.

Thanks everyone for the guidence!

Hello all -

We are sending in our paperwork soon and I was wondering how people have sent in photos. All of my photos are digital and I was planning on printing them out 4 to a page. I was planning on sending in 3 sheets (about 12 photos). My question is have people just sent the photos in without descriptions or dates, or do you need to date them... I have them "titled and dated" now and was just wondering what the norm might be.

Thanks!

Merp

they like to see pictures with the two of you. For our interview i had a scrap book like thing with all our trips and times together but the man doing the interview only wanted to see pictures with both of us in it... not every thing we saw. Ticket stubs from flights are always good, and email records we didn't have phone records either since we also use internet phones... but with daily email evidence that wasn't a problem.

good luck...

Hello,

hubby and i have been informed that he needs a police record from canada, he was there for just a little over 6 months on a holiday visa, and its our fault we thought he might not need one. He has no criminal record, and since the police cert via fingerprinting takes up to 5 months (insane!!!) does anyone know if you can use the backgroud check way since it can be done much faster and if that will be ok for sydney? we were notified of this and our interview in the same day and now we aren't sure how to proceed.

also posted on the Aussie form...

thanks for any help

MERP

Hello,

We have recived our interview date, yet on the same day we also recived a letter that my hubby needed a police cert from canada... he was there on a working holiday for just over 6 months. So we looked into getting one and it can take between 3 to 5 months!! our interview is for July 7th... so what do we do now? Do we take our chances and go to the interview telling them we have applied for the police cert, but it will take extra time. Or email them and explain the situation? I can't stay here past Aug since i need to get back to university and my visa runs out...

just wondering if anyone eles has been in these shoes, or had to wait for a candaian police report... and has any advice.

Thanks

MERP

Hello all,

Its been awhile since i've been on the site. I'm now in OZ with my Hubby, we are about to DCF, have all the forms, medical, police cert. everything that we need. Since we are in Brisbane, we mailed the first part off to Sydney: DS230 1 and 2, DS2001, and my 1-864 and support. We have all the info we need for our interview but my question is for all you out there who have done the interview whats the best way to organize everything. Other than the check list of course... loose leaf, or in a binder? We have photo evidence of relationship and the wedding in an album... but all the other stuff, cert. and forms, how should we present them? I'm sure this has been talked about a million time... but i couldn't find it.

Thanks

MERP

Thanks Yodrak

Merp,

You can submit a photocopy of what your tax professional prepares for you.

Yodrak

Must you request the copies from the IRS? My taxes are prepared by a professional and she gives me a bound copy of what is sent to the tax man. Can I use them or do I need to have them sent from the IRS?

Must you request the copies from the IRS? My taxes are prepared by a professional and she gives me a bound copy of what is sent to the tax man. Can I use them or do I need to have them sent from the IRS?

yep i read over that last night... and thought well i should back this up with some info off the sydney website... and then it just got all messy in my head! I'm thinking had i known i was going to get into all this i would have taken a law degree not and english lit degree!!!

I guess you just get to the point where you read so much you start to second guess the info...

Hello everyone,

We are just starting this long and confusing paper trail, we are trying to decide which is the better way to go. We had thought our only choice was the K-1 visa, since we are not married yet, but have both been reading about the DCF. I am American, he is Australian. I was reading on the consulate website for Sydney today trying to get more info on the I-130 and trying to find if I can come to Australia, we get married and apply then. However the website is stating that for USCs that are not a resident of OZ that they need to apply the I-130 with the Immigration & Naturalization Service and the approval process may take up to 12 months. So does this mean that we can’t go to the Sydney office once married and do it all in one day anymore? Or are they saying we just need a case number and such before getting an interview… ? If anyone knows more or can explain this I’d be very thankful for the advice.