A marriage that is real, ongoing, and that did not take place solely for the purposes of obtaining U.S. residency for one of the spouses.
When you do not have a lot of evidence to present that a marriage is based on love and affection and therefore a ‘good faith’ marriage, you need to think creatively.
- What works well: children together, joint property (own or rent something together, or at least share the financial responsibilities of the mortgage or the rent), shared finances (joint bank account that has been opened a while back, or even a debit card proving access to the shared funds), shared insurance (health, car, life, …).
- Other ideas: school records where the name of the other parent (step-parent) is mentioned, travel together (documented by travel tickets), cell phone family plan, joint membership at the movies / gym / …
- Don’t Forget: social media can be ‘timestamped’ history of your life. It is not to be underestimated.
- Affidavit: start with family members of the sponsor and the applicant. They have known you well for a long time, and parents not knowing their children’s spouses is suspicious.
Note that for couples where the applicant is going through consular processing, the challenge to prove the relationship is inherently greater.
Also note that there is a significant amount of time between the time the I-130 is filed, and the time of the consular or adjustment interview. Remember to use that time to document the marriage. Common misconceptions:
- Many applicants going through consular processing think that the scrutiny of their marriage with the sponsor will end once the I-130 is approved. That is not the case. In fact, the case could be made that, at the I-130 stage, the marriage is evaluated mostly through ‘technical’ lenses (whether the marriage is legally valid in the place it was celebrated, whether the marriage certificate provided meets the reciprocity rules, whether both applicants and sponsors were ‘free to marry’, …). Whereas, the consular officer at the time of the interview primarily focuses on whether the marriage is real and ongoing
- Many applicants going through adjustment think that, because the I-130 && I-485 filing is done, their job documenting the marriage is done because nothing can be added to the application. But in fact, applicants and sponsors can bring new evidence, or updated evidence, at the time of the interview. In fact, when dealing with a ‘young’ marriage (celebrated within the last two years or so), USCIS adjudicating officer tend to expect new and updated documentation to be submitted at the time of the interview.