- Your marriage must be valid where the marriage took place. In order to document this you should provide a copy of the marriage certificate.
- Unless you have a valid excuse for living apart, it is expected that a married couple live together. In order to provide proof of this you should provide a lease agreement that has both of your names on it. If you own the home, the mortgage should include both names. Copies of joint utility bills such as water and electricity should also be included. If you do not have these or you would like to provide more proof, an affidavit of a friend or relative could also state that they know that the two of you live together.
- If the marriage is genuine it is likely that you have a romantic relationship. You can document this by including copies of love letters, Valentines day cards, photos of the two of you together and affidavits from friends or family. It is more helpful if these items show several different instances throughout the relationship and not just shortly before you filed the application
- Married couples are generally expected to commingle their finances. You should include copies of joint bank accounts, joint credit card accounts, and tax returns that have shown that you filed as a married couple.
- You should include letters from each of you and from two friends or family members that can attest to your relationship. They should explain how they know you, what they know about your relationship and that they believe your relationship to be genuine. It is helpful if they mention specific things they know to support their assertion, such as the fact that they have gone on double dates or that you have met each other’s families. Letters from U.S. Citizens and L.P.R.s are preferable to Foreign Nationals.
- You should include copies of photos. Do not just include wedding photos. Include photos from different events and time periods throughout the relationship. Include photos of the two of you alone and with each other’s friends and family.
- If either one of you have been previously married, you will need to include the divorce decree.
Bart Romeijn
July 27, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Dear mister Olivie,
First of all, thank you incredibly much for providing insight into the obscure, confusing world of immigration into the USA. Thank you also for your internationalist approach and your efforts to help the people who most attorneys, it seems, would rather neglect.
I am a Dutch citizen, my fiancee is American living in West Seattle. I am currently living in my home country the Netherlands, but come September I will be on a three-month visit through the Visa Waiver program.
My question regarding this article, Proving a Bona Fide Marriage, is the following.
Nowhere in your entry do you speak of a fiancee visa or a visa for a spouse. Could you tell us whether it is possible for us to marry during my stay and then try to prove it to be bona fide (which should not be a problem) in order for me to obtain permanent resident status or a green card, WITHOUT first coming in on a fiancee visa? Is it even legal for us to marry in the USA if I did not come in on such a visa?
Subsequently, if I come in on no special visa, and we decide to marry and manage to prove our love, relationship and marriage to be bona fide, would I still have to return to the Netherlands and come back on a Spouse/Relative of an American citizen visa, or could I perhaps stay?
All of my gratitude in advance for your response.
With highest regards,
Bart Romeijn
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