To get a green card from USCIS based on marriage, you must prove you have a genuine relationship. The supporting evidence must clearly show that you have built a life together. In addition, you must persuade the USCIS officer at your interview that your marriage is bona fide and free from any kind of fraud. Choose evidence that helps rather than hurts your case!
FULL TRANSCRIPT
[The following is the full transcript of the blog video: How Do I Prove My Genuine Marriage to USCIS to Get a Green Card?]
Hello, this is Eric Whitman from passage immigration law. I’m an immigration attorney. And in this video we’re going to be talking about how to prove your genuine marriage to USC is, from the outset, let me note that we’re not going to be talking about how to prove your genuine marriage to your spouse. That’s a different video that requires flowers and gifts and chocolate, that kind of thing. But we’re gonna be talking here about how do we get through the adjustment of status process and get your green card application approved, because one of the requirements is showing that you do have a genuine or bona fide relationship. So what does bona fide mean is just a fancy Latin legal term for genuine. So USC is wants to know if you’re getting your green card through marriage, that you have a real relationship. You didn’t ask your friend to marry you for a few hundred dollars. That is fraud and obviously the worst thing The main thing they’re looking out for is marriage fraud. Bad idea. But you and your spouse do have a genuine relationship. You’re just trying to prove it to us cis. What do you need to do, you need to come up with the documents that will put us cis at ease. So in the very beginning of let’s say, an adjustment of status filing, we’re applying for a green card for the first time. You have to provide a variety of documents, not too many, but definitely not too little. That will put the US cis officer at ease who’s reviewing your case, because in roughly six to nine months from now, we’re in Portland, so we’re kind of lucky compared to the rest of the country. six to nine months or average processing time right now, the officer who’s going to be interviewing the two of you, and if you have an attorney, the three of you will be in the room with him or her. But that officer is going to be looking at the packet of documentation that you initially mailed in. And you want to have a good first impression made, you want to provide a lot of documents that put the officer at ease make him comfortable that, of course these these guys won’t say that the outset. But the officers thinking that I’m already predisposed, I’m already inclined to approve this couple on the genuine marriage issue. So just like turning a paper in to your professor in college or in high school, you want to impress the greater you want to do a good job. You want to show that you care. So what types of evidence are helpful? official documents are great. The official documents are things like joint tax returns, documents with legal significance, Elise with both your names on it. If your human resources department allows you to list your spouse as a beneficiary of your 401k or your pension Then it’s pretty clear you have a genuine relationship, all your money, all your savings is going to go to your your spouse. Similarly, a will those kinds of documents carry a lot of weight. You also want to bring in photographs. So even if you don’t feel like your picture people, it should be something you make a point of doing, and document your relationship not just in a weekend selfie session, but over a period of months and years. They like to see a broad panorama of the time you spent together and not just the two of you, but also with friends and family ideally, and different places you’ve gone to holidays and weddings and trips. And of course, include those wedding photos of the two of you, with everyone else. Even if you had a small wedding or you eloped include some of those wedding photos with the judge and your witness. So in addition to those photos, we are always recommend letters of support from friends and family who know you. And the letter shouldn’t be one of those templates you download from the internet that all say the same thing. It has to be a genuine paragraph doesn’t have to be too long but genuine, unique, non plagiarized words that explain from the person writing the letter, how I know this couple why they have a genuine loving, real relationship and the things that you’ve done together. So just use your own unique voice to do that. We recommend maybe three or four letters of support, in addition to maybe 20 to 30 pictures. And, by the way, don’t bring in a photo album, don’t mail in a photo album and don’t bring them to your interview. Print out those pictures. print them out on regular eight and a half by 11 inch paper here in the US and if possible print color. Color photos will humanize you and 20 to 30 pictures spread out over the duration of your relationship is a great way to go. Do that for your adjustment of status or for your Removal of Conditions, and you’re off to a very strong start. Also with the interview, final thought is that when they want you to bring in new updated information, you should bring in three main items at least, we always recommend more photos, we recommend another serious legal document like a renewed lease or some insurance documents. And one other helpful item that has both your names on it. It could be a membership with both your names on it to the Art Museum. It could be a donation that you both made, it can be joint checking account statements. There’s a variety of things to do here, but you want to bring in newly updated supplemental information to the actual interview after that. scheduled. Thank you hope this was helpful.
