Tip of the Week #19
Hi everyone, my name is Andres Mejer. I’m an immigrant and a New Jersery immigration attorney. Every Friday night on YouTube I have a Tip of the Week that covers one topic in immigration law that knowing about should help make your immigration journey a little easier.
In today’s Tip of the Week, I want to help you understand what communication between you and your partner USCIS is looking for to show you have a bona fide relationship.
How Andres Mejer Law Can Help
Like most people watching my videos, I’m an immigrant myself. I came to the US when I was a child and wasn’t able to speak English. Because an attorney took the money my parents paid and didn’t help us, I had a much longer journey to becoming a US citizen than others often do.
It took me over a decade. During that time my family experienced the fear and worry that many of my clients feel when they don’t have a legal status.
My goal is to help you have a faster (and less stressful) journey than I did so that your life is better because you hired us.
If you need help with your immigration journey, call us. If we can’t help you, we won’t take your money.
Providing Relationships to USCIS
I know I’ve shared in the past that when we send in proof to USCIS about our client’s case, we sometimes include more than 900 pages of documents. Our goal is to remove all doubt from the officer’s mind at USCIS about approving their application.
Remember, USCIS starts with the idea that all relationships are ONLY entered into to get a legal status. You (or my office if you hire us) must prove that isn’t true and that you have an honest, bona fide relationship. We do that by creating a story of your life, and your relationship. We use the documents to help support that story.
Often, part of this proof includes communication between you and your partner, to strengthen that story. However, we don’t want to send them just any communication.
Proof of Communication
I vaguely recall what it is like to be dating someone since I have been happily married for many years now. I remember that when you first start dating, you are learning about each other and you enjoy spending time together sometimes that means staying on the phone until you fall asleep, which means you probably aren’t even talking that much. USCIS doesn’t want proof of silent calls together.
They do want proof that you talk, but, more importantly, they want to know that you talk about having a life together.
They want to know that you talked about finances, where you might live, who will be responsible for paying bills, what jobs you will have, how you would raise children together, how religion will play a part in your joint life, and other important steps to planning a life together.
Video Calls
Sometimes people have video calls together. That’s great. Take screenshots of your video calls – if you can have a time or date stamp on them, even better.
Letters & Emails
Write to each other – send each other cards, and keep those to share with your application. If you exchange emails, those can be important to share as well.
Get Help From Our New Jersey Immigration Attorney!
Once you compile your proof, in addition to communication, you are going to have things like photos, affidavits from family or friends, bills together, etc. Proof of conversations is only one part of what USCIS wants to see but it is an important part.
If you are worried about your immigration process, call Andres Mejer Law today.
We are happy to walk you through it so it’s not as stressful or overwhelming as it seems. We have helped almost 4,000 people with their immigration issues and we would love to help you.
Call our New Jersey immigration attorney today to see if we can be part of your immigration journey.
