Have you ever wondered what is bona fide marriage? And what is the evidence required to establish
bona fide marriage? Watch this video and I'll tell you more. In this video, we'll talk about
the concept of bona fide marriage and what it takes to establish it. My name is Jacob
Sapochnick and I'm an immigration attorney based in San Diego, California. And I get
so many emails and questions about what is the legal standard of bona fide marriage to
prove to the immigration when you file the case or when you actually attend a marriage
interview? First of all, the whole concept is designed to weed out those people that
are actually getting married to gain immigration benefits. And so the government, they have
to establish certain standards for them to determine what marriage actually meets the
requirements so they can actually approve it at the interview. Or even before with the
evidence that they receive from the applicant. And I've attended thousands of interviews
over the years, and I can see a certain trend or some documents that are always required
to be present for the couple to establish the concept of bona fide marriage, which again,
the marriage has to be real, and not for immigration purposes when it was accepted. So, the first
type of evidence that is required to prove to the government is a residence. So, you
have to have a joint lease with both names of the applicants signed at the time of typically
after marriage or shortly thereafter, where they would expect to see some sort of a residential
lease where the couple resides, and that is actually number one that we always always
stress to have in the package. Aside from the lease, they want to see certain bills
that are associated with the address. So typically, it'll be an electricity bill, or a water bill,
or some sort of a cable or internet, at least one bill attached to that address is required,
because that will show the government that the couple reside at that address, and they
also have some utility bills that are attached to it. Another type of evidence that is really
key is a bank account. If you go to an interview or submit documents without a joint bank account,
it’s going to look very suspicious to the immigration as to the fact that the couple
is not trying to commingle their assets together and therefore, they will be investigating
further. So definitely, a joint bank account, but it's not enough just to have a bank account.
You have to show them that you are actually using their account. So, come groceries or
buying [inaudible] things for the house, maybe you’re paying the rent from it. Really important
to have a bank account. In addition to that, there should be another some sort of bill
that is not a utility connected with the address. I've seen many couples that have a life insurance
or health insurance bill or something like that, or membership in a particular gym. Something
to show that, in addition to the basic utility bills, you also have other things that you
do together. In addition to that, they also want to see pictures, they want to see real
pictures of the couple with family members with friends. I see many couples that just
have pictures of themselves. And while they have attended events, they didn't bother to
take those pictures and include them in the case because they just didn’t think about
it, where it is important to show activities with other people, family members, events,
major holidays, all these things are important to include in the package. Because once you
have that, the bills the rent, the bank, and the pictures, it gives a picture to the officers
what the life of the couple looks like and will make it easier to approve it. And finally,
in some cases, it is required to include as well additional activities that the couple
is doing. Maybe trips, maybe you bought something important together like a car, or furniture,
those are additional things that we can show that you actually have a life together. Again,
there's no particular standard of evidence, but we've seen those particular things that
I mentioned right now, the rent, the bank, the pictures, and the bills as common evidence
that is required to establish bona fide marriage. In addition to that when you go to the interview,
of course, if, in the questioning, you're not able to answer simple questions about
your life together, that could be another issue that will result in a denial of the
application. But this is what a bona fide evidence will consist of. And this is usually
what I recommend my clients and if you're watching this video, hopefully, you found
this beneficial. If you liked the video, make sure you subscribe to our channel. We'll do
more videos on the topic. If you have any questions, post them in the comment below
and we'll see you on our next video. Thanks for watching.