Saturday, July 12, 2014

The Little Alien's AOS Packet

I think a very good way to see the Adjustment of Status (AOS) application is to see it as a job application, except you get a Green Card instead of a job offer at the end, if your application is successful.  I mean, come on, you even have to include a cover letter with your application, and there is an interview for them to determine if you deserve the Green Card or not.

Fortunately, the cover letter for the AOS packet is literally just a laundry list of items that you've included for the AOS packet, so there is no need to fluff out a story about how you'd make a good Permanent Resident.  Somehow, I don't think USCIS would have cared if I had included this in my cover letter: "I would make a good Permanent Resident because I am very hardworking, I mean like, I got a Bachelor's Degree and wash my bathroom every Sunday morning."

Here is my AOS packet Cover Letter a.k.a. Laundry List.  I'm including it for 2 main reasons:

1. To show very explicitly what forms should be included in the I-485/I-130 packet: USCIS can't seem to just tell us right off the bat what forms they need if you want to do your AOS through marriage.  First they're like, "Oh you need an I-485."  Then you get the I-485 and fill it out like a good Alien, and they're like," Teehee, just kidding, you need an I-864 too."  USCIS just doesn't seem to get that people who are filing for AOS just want to file for an AOS, and not participate in a stupid game of treasure hunt:



2. To give Fellow Aliens ideas for evidence that can be included to establish a bona fide marriage: I always see Fellow Aliens asking, "Here's my list of evidence I want to include with my AOS application, do you think it's enough??"  Unfortunately there is no fixed answer to that question, and as I've said before, whether or not your evidence is enough is partially dependent on luck.  All I can say is, whatever evidence we had included was sufficient to not warrant a Request for Evidence (RFE) for the particular officer reviewing our file that day, so I hope it helps some sad lost Aliens who are trying to put together their packet.

Our evidence fell into 2 main categories: evidence establishing financial co-mingling and evidence establishing an ongoing relationship.  I suggest including some evidence from each category if possible.  Of course, there was more evidence we wished we could have included, like:

- Joint bank account statements
- Having credit card statements from our banks listing each other as authorized users
- Wills listing each other as sole/primary beneficiaries
- Medical Powers of Attorney
- Wedding pictures (we didn't have a ceremony)

Fortunately, a lot of Aliens don't have a perfect list of evidence either, so we were still OK.

That's all for today, my Fellow Aliens!

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