my_gf_wants_cr1

April 26 sent I-751 package.

April 29 received in IL.

May 10 got online extension and biometrics appt for end of May, which we rescheduled to a closer date.

How long does it typically take them to take money with a check?

It has been a week, we got a "we took action on your case" but they didn't use the check yet

April 26 - package sent to IL lockbox.

April 29 - USPS said it arrived and someone signed it.

Nothing else so far

13 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Glad you waited for it and it wasn't long!

 

Thank you for the update and good luck! Hopefully you won't be using credit card to pay?

 

Thanks!

No, we send a check

14 hours ago, sandiegodan2020 said:

Our 2023 taxes were not ready yet so we only sent 2021 and 2022. And yes I sent both transcripts and full 1040s.

 

We just got our 2023 transcript! 

It was fast!

Now we can send everything calmly

1 hour ago, sandiegodan2020 said:

Submit what you have. For us it was more important to get a package in. And get the 48 month extension. We will be filing for citizenship anyhow before we get to an interview or decision on this so we just needed to get something in to get the extension.

Submit what you have. For us it was more important to get a package in. And get the 48 month extension. We will be filing for citizenship anyhow before we get to an interview or decision on this so we just needed to get something in to get the extension.

By that you mean
(A) Send the full 1040s, all 70 pages, or
(B) Don't send the full 1040s, and just send the petition without 2023's returns?

A or B?

April 2024 submitters, what did you do about 2023 Federal tax returns transcript?

Ours is not available yet, we submitted ASAP.

Not sure if we should send the full 1040s :\ 

Our 90days window started April 20.

2 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Agreed, but submitting one page of a bill may trigger RFE. I wouldn't submit this evidence unless there was no other evidence.

we have other evidence with the same address.

Luckily, we never changed address since we move here together, so ALL documents show the same address except for the original lease which shows our previous residence.

The electric utility bill only shows spouse's name because that's what they allow, and I thought it'd help to add the mobile bill which only shows my name, so they kinda "cancel out each other".

1 minute ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

 

You are fine, don't send the 60 pages.

 

Unfortunately, the process will very likely take over a year so they will probably require you to send newer evidence, such as next year's transcripts. So, send what you have and hopefully they will approve without requesting further evidence.

 

Good luck!

 

 

That's what we also assume will happen anyway, and by then we will have more evidence.

The other part is that 1 year from now, spouse will be able to apply for naturalization anyway!

2 minutes ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

 

 

 

I agree with @OldUser, just wait.

 

If you can't or don't want, just include a letter stating you have not received the transcripts and will send them if they require them.

 

I personally don't see the point of sending all those 60 pages.

We noted that in the cover letter.

The cover letter states which appendices we added, and here is the relevant one:

Quote

Appendix 3 - Finances

• Statements of our joint checking account, with transaction history.

• Federal tax returns for 2022-2023, married filing jointly; 2023 transcript is missing because we submitted the return just last week.

• State tax returns for 2022-2023, married filing jointly.

• Etc...

There are more there, I omitted them here for clarity.

2 minutes ago, OldUser said:

In my case tax return transcript was available 3-4 weeks after filing taxes. Maybe worth waiting? 

I don't know, some places say 6-8 weeks...

We have all other evidence, seems "risky" to wait potentially 2 months just for a filing that we can add later (I saw it's even possible to add online).

Worst case it's not like we can't submit the 60 pages...no?

21 hours ago, Daphne . said:

No need to send those phone statements/bills, that is absolute overkill. And for the bank statements, just send in one for each quarter of the last couple of years, USCIS will get the idea. 

16 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Follow Daphne's advice.

 

In addition, 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.

 

What do you both think about 2023 Federal tax returns (this year's)?

We have submitted it to IRS but obviously, no transcript yet.

We are thinking of printing all of it (60 pages) and submitting those.

8 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Follow Daphne's advice.

 

In addition, 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.

 

I did not even think about wills and powers, I didn't see it a lot when I looked online for what evidence to submit.

Our -90 days clock is hitting today and we would like to submit the package ASAP rather than gather even more evidence.

Thanks for the advice! If we do get RFE (I doubt it?), that's another thing we can do later to help us.

We have a lot of pretty good documents, I think.

As per my post history, we are preparing our I-751 evidence.

We have a lot of solid evidence - basically everything except for kids (got non) and shared assets (no house of our own).

We printed out our mobile bills as one of the utilities which prove the address AND shows mine and spouse's mobile number under the same account.

The idea was also to show we called each other.

Now, it seems like it's kind of an overkill, we have around 150 pages of just the mobile bills.

Even our bank / credit card statements aren't that big.

Do we actually need to send all of that?

Gathering evidence, I have life insurance with spouse as beneficiary.

Sadly, TriNet (the payroll company) and MetLife (the insurance provider) being what they are, they don't have any official documents showing this other than TriNet's portal with the plan name and my spouse's name.

No official documents anywhere online.

I screenshot this but I am starting to fear this might not be enough.

I already contacted them.

What do you think?

49 minutes ago, OldUser said:

You call, there's no right or wrong answer. I bet if you include boarding passes, passport scans will make very little difference. It may give a slight indication that your spouse is trusting you with their very important document (passport) but that's a very very minor point and also just my opinion, not supported by evidence.

Thanks.

What about apartment rental lease - do we really need to print all 15 pages?

Our names are only on 4 pages, and the rest is a standard lease.

1 hour ago, OldUser said:

Photos should be annotated for two reasons:

 

1) Photos should span through months and years to show how life together evolved. If there are no dates in caption, how can one tell when where they taken? Maybe they were taken few days apart, which is not good enough evidence.

2) Photos should have captions of people on them. Photos of just two of you are worthless. Photos with family and friends can contain 3-10 people in each of them. Person reviewing the case may have never seen you or your spouse. If they cannot tell who's on photos and what's the relationship - those photos are worthless.

 

Summary: photos are the least important evidence. But if you do send them, make sure to include photos spanning months and years, only send photos including other people, and make sure to annotate them. Photos without descriptions are of no value.

 

Done that for my AOS, ROC as advised by lawyer. Both approved promptly without RFEs

 

P.S. I wouldn't personally send social media stuff. Some couples may benefit, but the gain is small.

Understood, we can do that.

1 hour ago, OldUser said:

If you have stamps of entering foreign countries together when travelling - it could be added. I submitted that as evidence (asked by lawyer). May be an overkill, but remember the instructions in I-751 ask to provide as much evidence as possible. I (and my lawyer) interpeted it this very conservatively and literally. 

We might have stamps, depending on country (not all countries stamp).

Otherwise, we have plenty of boarding passes etc.

2 hours ago, OldUser said:

Authorized users is good, as you're effectively sharing the card and debts.

 

What about joint lease and joint bank checking / savings accounts? Do you file taxes jointly too?

Joint lease - got it.

Joint checking - got it (even 2) - no savings.

Taxes - filing jointly.

We are putting together evidence, we have lots of other strong evidence like medicals and a lease and car insurance etc.

We don't have joint credit card account (= same number but different names on physical cards), we only have cards with authorized users on each (= same account but the physical cards have different names and numbers).

We were planning on sending copies of the physical cards with a copy of the main account page showing the numbers and the names, so they correlate.

We are not sure applying for a joint card now would make sense, and maybe if it would trigger any red flag?

Thanks.

55 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

I used a USPS Priority Mail flat rate package envelope. 

Seems like some petitioners are adding a copy of their passport to their I-751.

USCIS does not have any requirement on this.

I assume that's also kind of overdoing?

4 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

I used a USPS Priority Mail flat rate package envelope. 

Thanks again!

1 minute ago, SalishSea said:

Not needed.

Thanks, appreciate it.

I will piggyback on this comment to avoid opening a new post.

What is the typical envelope / package used to send the documents to USCIS?

Just any folder (like the one in the video) and then plop it in any envelope of the method of sending we chose?

Title - example in this video - https://youtu.be/_LJ5smaeFVU?t=343

Printing and sending images makes sense, but sending the images WITH annotations - seems a bit excessive?

Also the social media posts with comments, seem a bit too much as well.

Is this common?

1 minute ago, Crazy Cat said:

I wouldn't bother.  They are not required, and personal affidavits are weak evidence.  I would concentrate on quality over quantity. 

Is there any downside?

No kids and not planned.

We have pretty good evidence, the only things we may be missing are

- Spouse is not on the car payments (they are on the insurance).

- For some reason, spouse is not named in life insurance, not sure why, but they are named in all other insurances.

Title - for the I-751 Affidavit - does it need to be handwritten, or is printed and signed enough?