I-485 interview - concern about evidence

[dboulton]

[I am a British citizen married to a US citizen; I entered on an F-1 Visa, got married in April 2007, have had my I-130 petition approved, and we have our first I-485 interview this week]

A simple question on which I would be grateful for advice -- we do not have wedding pictures: is this a problem?

We are nine months pregnant with our son and have shared bank accounts, a shared lease, shared vehicle ownership, shared bills, etc., but we don't have wedding pictures. It was literally an hour after my wife got off work and it was not a pretty ceremony at all. When we married we were not worried about evidence for USCIS, just about being able to live together without being frowned upon by her parents. We are planning on a nicer ceremony (the wedding was at the court house) when we are in a better financial position and when my parents can fly from England.

Will the lack of wedding photos be a problem? We obviously have other photos from before and since and a whole range of other things - quite aside from our unborn son - to prove our genuine relationship.

Please advise.

[PraetorianXI]

Do you have other pictures together? Even if you do not I doubt it would be a problem.

Some IOs do not even ask for pictures. If you have plenty of hard evidence you should be fine.

[dboulton]

Do you have other pictures together? Even if you do not I doubt it would be a problem.

Some IOs do not even ask for pictures. If you have plenty of hard evidence you should be fine.

Yes, we have plenty of pre- and post-marriage pics of us together in various places and with my and her family. I was planning on taking just a few along just in case. Thank you for your help.

[dboulton]

Our interview was today, at which a very friendly lady asked me to confirm my name and address and whether I wanted them to appear in the same way on my permanent resident card. I said yes. She started chatting with my wife about how great babies are, before asking us how we met as an after thought. She told us that her husband and she had their first date at the same bar, said "congratulations" and that my green card would be in the mail in 10 days, smiled, said congratulations again.

There wasn't a single investigative question of any kind. Not a single confrontational or detective-like question of any kind. Nothing. She didn't look at a single piece of evidence of any kind. No forms, no photos, no bank statements, leases, car titles, insurance documents, past immigration documents...nothing.

I didn't open our file once. The whole thing from being beckoned in to leaving as a permanent resident took less than 3 minutes. Of course, it should have been inevitable anyway given our bona fide situation, but it was still a surprisingly brief and pleasant experience.

AND I AM NOW A PERMANENT RESIDENT! WE ARE SO HAPPY.

[mrsdarty]

Congratulations! Hope it goes the same way for the rest of us