Legal Question in Immigration Law in Ohio

I really need some clarification based on my particular situation regarding which documents I send in referring to me and my spouse. I have been a permanent resident forn 3.5 years and I am Appling for Citizenship ( form N-400) on the basis of Marriage to a U.S. Citizen.

It reads as the following:

4. Documents referring to you and your spouse:

a)Tax returns, bank accounts, leases, mortgages, or birth certificates of children, or

b)Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-certified copies of the income tax forms that you both filed for the past three years, or

c)An IRS tax return transcript for the last three years.

I would much rather send in a) documents. However do they specifically want Tax returns, bank accounts, leases, mortgages as they are putting commas, and not specifying "or". What if you do not have a mortgage or lease? Also how many tax returns?

In my particular situation,

1. We did not file "Joint Tax returns", we filed married filing separately

2. I am not on the mortgage

3. I am not on the car lease

I would like to just submit:

1. Our joint bank account

2. House Deed showing both of us listed

3. Separate Tax returns for 1 year, or do I not need to include this as we didn't file jointly?

Would sending in 1. and 2 be sufficient enough? The last thing I would want is my application rejected.

Please help!

thanks so much


Asked on 9/27/10, 11:11 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Latangie Williams Law Office of Latangie Williams, P.A.

You do not have to send in every document that is listed. Just send in as many of them as possible and include an addendum that explains your lack of the others. That way, they won't send you a request for evidence (RFE) for something you dont have. It has been my experience that the more you send, the better. Their request for these documents is for the sake of proving that your marriage is legitimate as can be readily seen from you and your spouse commingling assets, funds, buying property, and having children, etc.

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Answered on 10/03/10, 4:50 am


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