Pmenon

8 hours ago, Sukie said:

The important thing about answering an RFE is to give them what they want.

1)  The fact that your two affidavits used a template and (must have?) looked exactly the same didn't help you.  They can resubmit, but they need to write things in their own words.  When did they meet you (or your spouse)?  Where did they meet him/her?  What did they think about having a foreign spouse in the family?  Are they happy?  Were they a little surprised at first and now they love the spouse?  Boilerplate can be good sometimes, but USCIS wants to know the how, when, where and why of the sister-in-law and husbands' relationship with you.

2)  Submit a letter explaining how you handle your financial life.  Explain what the joint account is used for, why you maintain separate accounts and show how you both pay for things.  Many couples have separate finances.  But what you submitted didn't tell the story of how the two of you live together and do life together.

3)  Get 2014, 2015 and 2016 tax transcripts from the IRS.  Go to www.irs.gov and request them online.  If you can't get them online (I couldn't - some mess-up with my cellphone), they will be mailed to you and you will get them within a week or so).

4)  Your benefit election sheet (what did you redact?) didn't prove that your wife was named as your spouse and beneficiary.  Can you get another document to prove that the "Employee + spouse" is actually your spouse's name?

5)  As others have said - itineraries are not proof.  Boarding passes are proof.  Hotel reservations/invoices that list both names are proof.

6)  Write a note explaining where you have lived for the past three years.  Anything that does not have a lease to support it (like your current living arrangement) should have an affidavit from the landlord/relative.  That affidavit should have the dates of habitation, the amount of money you pay for rent, how the utilities are handled, and, if a relative, the fact that the relative expects you to stay <for how long> or <until some action> or <indefinitely>.

7) photos are good, as long as they really explain things (like wedding photos, family photos, etc.)

 

If you have ultrasound pictures of your pregnancy, enclose those.  If you go ahead and draw up a will (you will need one when that baby comes!), then enclose it - even if you have just done it.  It's an important legal document.

 

Good luck.  You really need to address the SPECIFIC needs identified by USCIS.  You'll be fine - and congrats on the baby!

 

Sukie in NY

Dear Sukie, thank you so much for your response - it helped put me and my mind at ease as right now I'm a bit of a mess. I had a few follow up questions:

1) Yes, the two letters they submitted had basically the same content that I suppose was not specific enough. I am going to get some of my friends that have known my spouse and I to submit more specific affidavits of support - I am thinking three in total. Any leads on what an example of a good affidavit letter?

2) I earn much more than my wife on an annual basis. We started a joint account with the intent of using it a lot more than we actually have - I end up paying for most vacations and monthly TV/internet bills, and we split the monthly cell phone bill. We pick up groceries on a revolving basis - she'll do one trip, and I'll get the next one. How do we explain and demonstrate all of this?

3) Done. I will order the transcripts for all three years and submit them.

4) i think i only redacted the actual contribution amounts and the cost of plans that were listed on the benefit sheet - didn't think USCIS needed to see that. I believe the summary sheet showed the name of my wife who was covered under my plan, so I don't know what more i could have done...

5) We tend to shred our boarding passes immediately after we return from our trips. I'll have to see if I can get them from the airline, but am not optimistic. Will check about hotels as well. In the event that I can't get either of these, what proof can I show about the numerous trips we've taken over the last 3 years?

6) For the first year after we got married, we lived together in Seoul, South Korea. I was living in a corporate paid apartment and so only my name was on the lease and they wouldn't allow a second name on there. After that, we moved to NYC and lived in my wife's family's apartment for 6 months before moving out to Seattle in May 2015, where I had our names on a lease (submitted to USCIS) until February 2016. In February 2016 we moved back to NYC and have been living with family since. I think we can have an affidavit for the most recent move, but what else should I provide?

1 minute ago, Y3+E said:

 

 

I included a 401K beneficiary form.  Actually two, since my employer changed providers this year.  

When I initially changed my will to include my wife, my attorney included a statement in the will that my wife was pregnant with my child.  When I changed my will a second time to include my step-children, it cost each of us $500 for wills, trusts, and powers of attorney.  If you can afford do to this, I would go ahead and do this now.  

 

 

Thanks much. For the 401K beneficiary, did it cover the entire length of your marriage? For the first year of my marriage, I didn't have a 401K as my wife and I were living overseas and the foreign company I was working for didn't have this as an option.

For the will/power of attorney, is this something I can do now, or will USCIS expect this to be done when we initially got married?

Just now, Coco8 said:

I'm confused. Are you AOS while she is in the US? Or is she in Canada and are you doing an IR-1/CR-1 visa?

 

Some of the information you gave them seems sound. Maybe you have to make sure it looks official or stronger. For instance, the travel, it seems as if you sent a travel itinerary. Reinforce this with boarding passes, hotel bills, or credit card bills showing you purchase stuff together, or pictures. 

 

#4 maybe if this is an online printout that doesn't seem too official, try to get something more official. And if you changed jobs, try getting an older one, from around the time you got married and you first put her as beneficiary (if that makes sense). 

 

If you don't have a lease you can have the family write you a letter and saying you are staying with them (maybe you are saving money for a downpayment or something?). But if you have other bills sent to that address, like the joint account, or you insurance, you could add that to reinforce the fact that you are living there.

 

 

AOS in the US currently living with my wife, the USC, with her family in NYC. Sorry about that.

Re: #4, I will take a look. And yes, we were thinking of getting the family to supply a letter indicating the same. Gosh, this is frustrating.

1 minute ago, JFH said:

It is probably too late now but for the benefit of readers who are yet to file I-751, many people take out a low limit store credit card from somewhere such as Target together and have it in both names. Or a low limit credit card together and use it just for gas just so that you can show some bills in both names. 

 

Do you have a lease agreement with the family member that you live with? 

We don't have a lease agreement unfortunately - we never thought of doing that as we thought it would be a short-term setup.

1 minute ago, JFH said:

Are you insured to drive the save vehicle? Are you both on the finance agreement for a car or any other large purchase? A store credit card? 

Unfortunately we don't have a vehicle, and even if we did she doesn't drive. Outside of that, we aren't currently financing any large purchases ...

3 minutes ago, Diamond507 said:

 

Your and your spouse's State ID or Drivers License showing the same address?

Health, dental, vision insurance?

Life insurance?

Power of attorney or will?

Thanks for the reply!

1) We do have State ID showing the same address

2) I'm currently on my wife's insurance and she has me listed as being on the policy. Does this need to go back to the start of our marriage? It has changed a few times with employers over the last 3 years

3) No power of attorney or will - we can set one up, but I think it will come off as too suspicious to USCIS if we do it now, correct?

3 minutes ago, missileman said:

In place of #5- Do you have actual boarding passes, receipts showing dates of actual time together?  Itineraries can change, actual receipts are more reliable.

Hi there! Yes, for some of the trips we definitely do have boarding passes. I could also potentially go back and see old boarding passes on my airline apps if that helps...

Hi everyone,t

Just got my letter in the mail from USCIS indicating that they needed more evidence of our marriage. I thought all the diligence I put in while preparing the initial packet would have paid off, but alas it didn't. Here's what we submitted, in USCIS's words:

1) two affidavits that don't provide original, detailed, specific documentation about the marital relationship (my sister in-law and her husband submitted two identical affidavits on our behalf using a template I found on here - can they resubmit or should we seek out new people?)

2) Chase bank deposit account balance summary that does not indicate joint transaction activity nor the combination of financial resources (we set up a joint account but do not use it frequently as we manage our own finances, even after marriage - same thing goes for credit cards, etc.)

3) 2014 and 2015 tax documents (we have filed married jointly every year since getting married)

4) redacted documents that appear to be an online account printout of benefit elections (I had provided copies of my insurance benefits where I had listed my wife as the beneficiary)

5) copy of emailed travel itineraries

6) partial copy of lease agreement (for a short period of time, we lived together in a different city and therefore had this lease in our names. we currently live with family, so we don't have a lease with our names)

7) photos

So my question is ... what now? What else can I provide? I looked at the list of suggested documents that USCIS asks for, and we don't have many of those. The biggest thing we have going, I believe, is that we are expecting our first child together in September. What else can we really provide?

Thanks!

Hi everyone. So, I just tried to check my case status online and the receipt number I've been using for the last few months is now no longer working! I also tried calling in and entering it via phone, only to be told the same thing - receipt number is not valid. I managed to speak to someone at USCIS, who confirmed that he doesn't show anything either. He recommended that I speak to an immigration officer and I left my number for a callback.

Has this happened to anyone else ???

Hi everyone,

I filed an I751 to remove my conditional residence in June 2016 with the Vermont Service Center. On July 18, I went in for my biometrics appointment and haven't heard anything back since.

As far as I know, I haven't received any further correspondence asking for more evidence or requesting an interview. I've also used the Check Status tool, and it doesn't tell me anything other than the fact that they sent me my biometrics appointment. 

My question is: is it normal to go this long without hearing anything? I'm getting a little worried that I missed something !

Thanks!

My apologies for posting in the wrong forum! Mods, can this be moved?

Hi everyone,

I filed an I751 to remove my conditional residence in June 2016 with the Vermont Service Center. On July 18, I went in for my biometrics appointment and haven't heard anything back since.

As far as I know, I haven't received any further correspondence asking for more evidence or requesting an interview. I've also used the Check Status tool, and it doesn't tell me anything other than the fact that they sent me my biometrics appointment. 

My question is: is it normal to go this long without hearing anything? I'm getting a little worried that I missed something !

Thanks!