May 2013 ......I751 Filers

[kacy2013]

Location: Alexandria, VA
DAY 00:

SInce 2013 is just about here and May is the 90day mark for some of us with conditional status, I thought I should begin a thread that may help us prepare for the application process. I know this was really helpful when I applied for the GC initially and I can't believe the 2 years is almost up. If there is anyone willing to give advice on this process please reply . I would really appreciate it. Here are some questions I have about the process:

1. Is it okay for me to submit supporting documents to show the marriage is bonafide from January - May of 2013 if I am filing the I751 in May 2013?
2. What are some memberships that my husband and I could establish that would help us with this matter since his credit is not the best and I haven't mixed our finances to protect my credit?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[dhlunar]

Does your window to file your I-751 open in May or does your conditional status expires in May?

My wife and I recently went through the I-751 and it was a long waiting game. Her conditional status expired in early March 2012. We filed the I-751 in early January 2012, got the receipt/extension letter a week later, and the ASC appointment was in early Feb 2012. After that nothing until the end of September when we received a notice that her case was approved and then the card came in the mail the next day. The reasoning that it took a long time to process the form was the Vermont Service Center is back logged in processing I-751. However, the receipt/extension letter extends the Green Card for one year while the I-751 is processing. The letter with the expired Green Card is acceptable for work and travel during that year. My wife traveled outside the US twice during that time and had no issues with using both documents when she returned to the US. Also we never received a request for evidence.

In terms of evidence we supplied a copy of our car insurance card that shows we are both listed on the policy; a letter from the property manager that owns the building we lived in at the time to say that we currently lived there and have been since 2006; copies of both of our driver's licenses to show the same address; copy of a letter from my wife's health benefit administrator to show that I was a spouse on the policy; a bank statement from an account that we held together; a letter from our credit card company that we have a joint credit card; and some pictures of use with written information on the back of where it was from. Also, during the two year period I traveled to my wife's home country for the first time. I included a copy of my US passport info page and the page that had the entry and exit stamps, and the boarding passes from the way back.

One thing you can make sure of now is your address is correct with USCIS. If you have moved since you received your GC, you want to make sure you filed AR-11 (Alien Change of Address). We received a reminder letter from USCIS about 30 days before the 90 day window. I have also read in other places of people receiving notices after they filed the I-751 that the address on the form doesn't match the address in the master database.

 

[kacy2013]

dhlunar: First of all congrats on your permanent card. I heard the wait is typically a year becuase of the back log. Thanks so much for the response. This is very helpful. My conditional status expires August 2013 so I will file the I751 in May. Do you mine sharing how many bank statements you sent in and if they were recent ones? I am working on the bank stuff because my husband is finally getting his credit situation sorted out and I will add him to my account finally. Unfortunately, I ddin;t realize how his credit was such a mess until we attempted to purchase a house and of course we had to back out. Also did you send in copies of your tax forms and how many did you send in? We are only filing taxes this year for the first time together because a tax preparer said I could file injured spouse to avoid any problems with my refund being held becuase of any debt he may have. I look forward to your repsonse!

 

[dhlunar]

To clarify my wife is the PR. I am a USC.

I think we sent in the latest bank statement that we had for a checking and savings account that we had with a credit union. However, you might want to request a letter from your bank (I think it is called a verification letter). The letter usually shows the current balance, when it was opened and who the account holders are. We didn't send in credit card statements, but did send in verification letters from the credit card company. I can't recall if we also sent in a verification letter for the credit union accounts or not.

In terms of taxes, I can't recall if we sent in IRS tax information or not. We filed jointly in 2009, 2010, and 2011. However, we didn't file our 2011 taxes yet at the time we filed the I-751. For the naturalization application that we just filed for my wife it asked for tax transcripts which I requested at the local IRS office and was provided the transcripts on the spot. If you do decide to send in tax transcripts you might want to also include a letter from your tax person on why you did not file jointly in the past.

One thing I recall doing is a cover letter which we put behind the I-751 and before the evidence we submitted. We used the cover letter to explain what we sent in and the reasoning behind the piece of evidence.

One thing the I-751 instructions recommended if you believe your evidence might be lacking is affidavits from people that know you and can say that it is a legit marriage. We didn't include those since we included them in our I-485 application.

One last thing. I always recommend to people to include as much evidence that you think would be relevant to the application to prove your case.

 

[kacy2013]

To clarify my wife is the PR. I am a USC.

I think we sent in the latest bank statement that we had for a checking and savings account that we had with a credit union. However, you might want to request a letter from your bank (I think it is called a verification letter). The letter usually shows the current balance, when it was opened and who the account holders are. We didn't send in credit card statements, but did send in verification letters from the credit card company. I can't recall if we also sent in a verification letter for the credit union accounts or not.

In terms of taxes, I can't recall if we sent in IRS tax information or not. We filed jointly in 2009, 2010, and 2011. However, we didn't file our 2011 taxes yet at the time we filed the I-751. For the naturalization application that we just filed for my wife it asked for tax transcripts which I requested at the local IRS office and was provided the transcripts on the spot. If you do decide to send in tax transcripts you might want to also include a letter from your tax person on why you did not file jointly in the past.

One thing I recall doing is a cover letter which we put behind the I-751 and before the evidence we submitted. We used the cover letter to explain what we sent in and the reasoning behind the piece of evidence.

One thing the I-751 instructions recommended if you believe your evidence might be lacking is affidavits from people that know you and can say that it is a legit marriage. We didn't include those since we included them in our I-485 application.

One last thing. I always recommend to people to include as much evidence that you think would be relevant to the application to prove your case.

Well congrats to your wife! Thanks so much for the information because I would really prefer to have a hassle free process like your wife even though the waiting process was long. I like the idea of the letter from the tax preparer. Please keep me posted on the process for citizenship. That would be my task for 2014 if I am approved within the year. Thanks again!