Proving Marital Union

[ArizonaRocks]

My wife is Canadian and I'm a US Citizen. We've been married for five and a half years in Arizona, and have been living together for a bit longer than that. We're working on our adjustment of status, and need to prove our marital union.

To explain, the INS Officer that we met with had all of our documentation including filed papers, marriage license, etc., but said that she didn't have anything that proved that we were actively living together, just that we were married. She had suggested that we show her something like a bank statement from a joint account or both of our names on a utility bill. However, because my wife doesn't work, and therefore has no income, we've never had a need for a joint account and so we don't have one. Since I pay all the bills, my name alone has always been on them.

She also suggested that we could get people that know us (friends, neighbors, etc) to sign a document stating that they observe us living together and being married (i.e. friends that we socialize with, neighbors that see us at our house on a daily basis). So I've gotten that started.

But I'd like to take as much with me as possible, as I'd rather have too much proof than not enough. Are there any other things that anyone can suggest that could be used as proof of marital union?

 

[dr_lha]

I'm not sure why your wife needs a job for you to have a joint bank account. I mean, what does your wife do if she needs money? Its easy for you to add her to your bank account, my advice is to just go ahead and do that.

 

[ArizonaRocks]

I'm not sure why your wife needs a job for you to have a joint bank account.

It's not that she needs a job to have a bank account, but without a source of income there has never been a need for a bank account.

I mean, what does your wife do if she needs money?

She says, "Husband" (yes, she calls me "husband"), "I need money."

Its easy for you to add her to your bank account, my advice is to just go ahead and do that.

I'm sure it would be.. but anyone can have a joint bank account. If I just added her to my account in response to the INS Officer asking if we had a joint bank account (and they now know that we don't already have one), that's hardly proof of a marital union. If we had one that had existed for several years, that'd probably be different.

So in the absense of a DeLorean capable of traveling at 88mph that would allow me to go back and open a joint account, or add her to my account, does anyone have any OTHER ideas?

 

[dr_lha]

Get friends to write the affidavits like the INS officier told you to. That will probably be good enough given the lack of other evidence.

Other than that, do you have documents proving you live together like joint lease agreements?

She says, "Husband" (yes, she calls me "husband"), "I need money."

I guess you have the perfect marriage where you control the purse strings, my wife (who isn't a wage earner) doesn't need permission to take money out of our account.

 

[ArizonaRocks]

Get friends to write the affidavits like the INS officier told you to. That will probably be good enough given the lack of other evidence.

Thanks.. will definitely do that.

Other than that, do you have documents proving you live together like joint lease agreements?

I own my home, so no lease agreements. Mortgage is in my name. Our accountant's bill to us has both our names on it. We have evidence of vacations we've taken, photos of us together at various locations away from home, and all sorts of other things that fall into this category of "not official documentation".. but I'm wondering whether or not that is important.

Our house is filled with things that wouldn't be here if we didn't both live here (i.e. her collection of handbags and shoes, or all of my "geek" stuff) . I'm wondering if photos of the interior of our house would be helpful, like a picture of a closet full of our clothes.

I guess you have the perfect marriage where you control the purse strings, my wife (who isn't a wage earner) doesn't need permission to take money out of our account.

My wife and I both have a very Libertarian viewpoint on life. We both believe that the person doing the work has the right to yield the fruit of that work. In other words, what I earn is mine and what she earns is hers. Once she has an income, she'll begin contributing her share to the bills. Whatever each of us has left over after that is ours individually to do with as we see fit.

I know that if I weren't earning an income, and then on top of that my spouse was supporting me, I couldn't bare to take something more from my spouse that I didn't earn (and saying "I do" doesn't constitute earning).

In a situation where you have kids, this can be different.. if one parent is the wage earner and the other takes care of the kids and the house, that could easily be seen as both contributing equally and both entitled equally to the money. However, we have no kids.

But I'm straying off-topic ...

 

[dr_lha]

My wife and I both have a very Libertarian viewpoint on life. We both believe that the person doing the work has the right to yield the fruit of that work. In other words, what I earn is mine and what she earns is hers.

Its an interesting viewpoint (not sure I get it, but whatever works for you), but you can probably understand that most married couples share their assets, and in not doing this you're going to look somewhat suspicious to USCIS! Unfortunately for you joint bank account is after all the most common thing USCIS asks for to prove marriage.

However the accountant documents should be good. Also how about car insurance, do you have any documents with her name on it?

 

[ArizonaRocks]

...but you can probably understand that most married couples share their assets, and in not doing this you're going to look somewhat suspicious to USCIS! Unfortunately for you joint bank account is after all the most common thing USCIS asks for to prove marriage.

Yeah, I understand that now.. had I known that over five years ago I would have been able to prepare for it. My wife and I married young, so at the time, "doing the responsible thing" as a young couple wasn't at the front of our thoughts .

But even though most married people pool their assets, it's certainly easy enough for someone trying to game the system (which is what I assume they're trying to avoid) to get a joint account, joint credit card, or put both names on the water bill. Surely things such as your neighbors seeing you together at your house on a daily basis, the fact that you have friends in common that you socialize with regularly, or that you know every intricate detail about the other (which we are happy to prove if given the opportunity) would carry far more weight because those types of things are much more difficult to falsify.

However the accountant documents should be good. Also how about car insurance, do you have any documents with her name on it?

Not car insurance (she doesn't drive, the public transportation system in Montreal got her everywhere she wanted to go, so she never learned), but I'll see if there's anything else I can think of.

 

[someitguy]

Dude, you want some cheese with that whine ?

You've been given the best advice your registration fee can buy !

1. Buck up and spend 300 bucks and put her on your house title.
2. Get her on your health/life insurance policy at work.
3. Get the letters mentioned from minimum two friends.. be sure to have them put a
phone number where they can be reached just to make it more authentic.
4. Apply for and get her Social Security card.
5. then YOU will have to drive her butt to the motor vehicle office to get her driver's licence.
6. Ignore my advice like everyone elses.
7. Have a nice day.

 

[ArizonaRocks]

Dude, you want some cheese with that whine ?

It's more of a rant than a whine .

You've been given the best advice your registration fee can buy !

Yes, even though it's free, I would say that that's not the case (given your suggestions below).

1. Buck up and spend 300 bucks and put her on your house title.
2. Get her on your health/life insurance policy at work.
3. Get the letters mentioned from minimum two friends.. be sure to have them put a phone number where they can be reached just to make it more authentic.

#1 and #2 are good (she's already on my health insurance).. #3 is basically a repeat of what I already said I was going to do.

4. Apply for and get her Social Security card.
5. then YOU will have to drive her butt to the motor vehicle office to get her driver's licence.

No time for either of these before the scheduled interview, but good ideas otherwise.

6. Ignore my advice like everyone elses.

I haven't ignored it.. I've replied to each message, even though much of it has been reiterating what I said I was already going to do. You're the only one that's given me a list of ideas, which is what I had originally asked for, so thank you.

 

[dr_lha]

Well you did ignore the best advice which is to put your wife on your bank account. As you haven't actually had your interview yet, it would be a good idea, and from other people's experience I doubt that you would be asked to prove that she had been on your account for any period of time, just that she is.

 

[ArizonaRocks]

Well you did ignore the best advice which is to put your wife on your bank account.

No I didn't, I acknowledged it every time it was offered, I simply replied with why I thought it wasn't a good idea.. that's not ignoring.

As you haven't actually had your interview yet, it would be a good idea, and from other people's experience I doubt that you would be asked to prove that she had been on your account for any period of time, just that she is.

We have had an interview, we were asked if we had a joint account, and the answer was no. Since we'll be meeting with the same INS Officer (who video and audio recorded the session, took notes, and will probably be reviewing those notes prior to the next meeting), it will be fairly obvious to her that the joint account was setup only for the purpose of showing that we have a joint account.

I realize that I haven't written out pages and pages of details explaining the entire situation, but I'm not asking for some vague "what do I do"-type advice where that would be required. I have a very specific question, which was asking what things can we do to prove marital union other than the things I already know about. And even though I may decline certain suggestions because I know how they do or do not fit into our circumstances, I appreciate all of the effort being made in this thread.

 

[dr_lha]

We have had an interview, we were asked if we had a joint account, and the answer was no.

Ah OK, my apologies, I obviously misread the fact that you had already had an AOS interview.

 

[ArizonaRocks]

Ah OK, my apologies, I obviously misread the fact that you had already had an AOS interview.

That's okay. Like I said, I'm just interested in getting a specific question answered.

 

[dr_lha]

Personally I think you'll be good with the medical insurance, the accountancy thing you mentioned earlier and the affidavits from your friends. Good luck with your interview.

Also did you present photos of you and your wife at your interview? Those would be important (especially ones with your or her family in the pictures).

 

[ArizonaRocks]

Personally I think you'll be good with the medical insurance, the accountancy thing you mentioned earlier and the affidavits from your friends. Good luck with your interview.

Thank you.. I'm also coming up with more ideas. For instance, I can print bank statements showing that I pay for her various "female things" each month.

Also did you present photos of you and your wife at your interview? Those would be important (especially ones with your or her family in the pictures).

We presented our wedding album that has photos of us at our wedding with family. But we have lots more photos throughout the years that I'll be bringing as well.

Thanks again! And if you have any other ideas, I'd be happy to hear them.