Removing Conditions
Only two weeks to go before the girls come home. It is actually 17 days but I need that extra weekend to make sure the house is clean before they get here. Ping left her things right where she uses them, as though she would be gone just for the day. That made our home feel more comfortable in her absence. Cici took many things with her and left her room looking very neat as usual. I brought too many clothes, she admitted to me last week. I had laughed when I saw how many clothes she was packing. Now she understands why.
My job the next two weekends is to watch the cherry supply in Houston. The girls are dreaming of eating cherries and want to know if they will still be available when they return home. This weekend they were still available everywhere. If they are available next weekend I will buy some and hope they keep until the girls arrive. Then the following weekend if they are available, for sure they will still be good when the girls get here, so I will buy some more. We just want to be home and enjoy eating cherries with you in our beautiful home, Ping's note yesterday said. Wait for us!
Ping had to venture out to get her driver's license renewed, and would go to her father's final resting place to visit him, she told me. It will be a very long day, she said. It must have been, as I didn't hear from the girls last night.
Yesterday I made a list of the documents that we will present to the USCIS when we file on October 10 to remove the conditions on Ping's green card. One of the ways the government tries to limit fraudulent green cards being issued based on scam marriages is to issue a conditional green card unless a couple has been married for two years when the card is issued. Then a couple must file and request that the conditions be removed in the 90 day period before the green card expires.
In the request for removal of conditions, the couple must present evidence to prove that their marriage is bona fide. If they are successful, a 10 year green card is issued to replace the 2 year green card. So how can you prove that your marriage is bona fide?
Well, you can offer photos, but all photos really show is that you were together at the same place when the photo was taken. With astute users of PhotoShop, I suppose that photos may not even prove that the couple was together for the photo, but they are still part of the evidence to be offered. This is a situation, though, where a photo isn't worth a thousand words. What works best are words that prove actions; actions that show the bona fide nature of the marriage.
An adoption is good evidence that a marriage is bona fide. Deed records showing joint ownership of a home, a car title that shows joint ownership of the car, joint insurance, joint tax records, joint utility bills, joint bank accounts, joint credit cards, joint assumption of obligations for private school tuition, are also good evidence of a bona fide marriage. We can provide all of these things, along with a link to this blog and a link to our book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. We can even throw in a handful of bookmarks that have excerpts from reviews and from the book itself, plus a link to our law firm website with the video of the three of us.
But that still isn't enough. We must also submit affidavits or sworn declarations from two people who know us and know that our marriage is bona fide.
Once all of this information is submitted, the USCIS has the option of interviewing us if they wish, or they have the discretion to issue the 10 year green card based on the evidence that we submitted. We won't be interviewed, Ping says, just as we weren't interviewed before the 2 year green card was issued. I think she is right, but strange things can happen with USCIS. Ah well, if we must go to an interview we can take a copy of our book.
My job the next two weekends is to watch the cherry supply in Houston. The girls are dreaming of eating cherries and want to know if they will still be available when they return home. This weekend they were still available everywhere. If they are available next weekend I will buy some and hope they keep until the girls arrive. Then the following weekend if they are available, for sure they will still be good when the girls get here, so I will buy some more. We just want to be home and enjoy eating cherries with you in our beautiful home, Ping's note yesterday said. Wait for us!
Ping had to venture out to get her driver's license renewed, and would go to her father's final resting place to visit him, she told me. It will be a very long day, she said. It must have been, as I didn't hear from the girls last night.
Yesterday I made a list of the documents that we will present to the USCIS when we file on October 10 to remove the conditions on Ping's green card. One of the ways the government tries to limit fraudulent green cards being issued based on scam marriages is to issue a conditional green card unless a couple has been married for two years when the card is issued. Then a couple must file and request that the conditions be removed in the 90 day period before the green card expires.
In the request for removal of conditions, the couple must present evidence to prove that their marriage is bona fide. If they are successful, a 10 year green card is issued to replace the 2 year green card. So how can you prove that your marriage is bona fide?
Well, you can offer photos, but all photos really show is that you were together at the same place when the photo was taken. With astute users of PhotoShop, I suppose that photos may not even prove that the couple was together for the photo, but they are still part of the evidence to be offered. This is a situation, though, where a photo isn't worth a thousand words. What works best are words that prove actions; actions that show the bona fide nature of the marriage.
An adoption is good evidence that a marriage is bona fide. Deed records showing joint ownership of a home, a car title that shows joint ownership of the car, joint insurance, joint tax records, joint utility bills, joint bank accounts, joint credit cards, joint assumption of obligations for private school tuition, are also good evidence of a bona fide marriage. We can provide all of these things, along with a link to this blog and a link to our book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. We can even throw in a handful of bookmarks that have excerpts from reviews and from the book itself, plus a link to our law firm website with the video of the three of us.
But that still isn't enough. We must also submit affidavits or sworn declarations from two people who know us and know that our marriage is bona fide.
Once all of this information is submitted, the USCIS has the option of interviewing us if they wish, or they have the discretion to issue the 10 year green card based on the evidence that we submitted. We won't be interviewed, Ping says, just as we weren't interviewed before the 2 year green card was issued. I think she is right, but strange things can happen with USCIS. Ah well, if we must go to an interview we can take a copy of our book.
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