DCF I-130 Questions

Hi all... Just wanted to get some advice from all the DCF pro's out there...

I'm about to send off the I-130 and supporting documents, but have a couple of questions:

The Marriage Certificate- It says "Please provide a marriage certificate issued by a public authority to show that a public record exists of the marriage between you and your spouse. A copy of your marriage license or marriage certificate signed only by a minister or justice of the peace is not acceptable.
      Does this mean they want you to send a certified copy of the marriage certificate? Or a photocopy of a Certified copy, if that makes sense? Or my original marriage certificate- but this just has the minister's signature. I thought they don't want any originals- that photocopies are acceptable. Found it confusing.

Also, I've just applied for naturalisation as a BC and attended my ceremony and received my naturalisation certificate, but am waiting on my British passport. It says if a dual national, send a photocopy of your EU passport photo page. I don't have that yet, but could send a copy of my ILR stamp and naturalisation certificate. I suppose I could write a letter explaining this? Not sure if this would be accepted or if they would think I'm trying to mess them around and hide something. Any suggestions???

Also...

Do I need to include a cover letter? I see other people have done this, but no where in the official forms does it say you should or need to include this. In fact, on the "order of Documents Submitted" form it says "On Top- Checklist", so they obviously want the documents listed in a specific order and don't want extra stuff. What have other people done who received approval and no problems with the way they submitted their forms?

I filed the I-130 petition for DH last week. I didn't get any responses out there, but saw on other forums that some people didn't send a cover letter, some did.

This is what I ended up doing:

I sent the certified copy of our marriage certificate with our forms just to be safe. I actually ordered another one in the states by post just in case we don't get the other one back. We'll need it for the interview.

I sent a copy of my naturalisation certificate and ILR stamp in my passport along with a covering letter and explanation as to why I don't have my british passport yet, since I am now a dual citizen.

Hope it's ok. I haven't received any confirmation yet from them that they've received my application. No email, no letter. Do you usually get something from them or is it not until after the petition gets approved? They did take the money already, so hopefully it's all ok. Now we just have to wait!

I didn't see your original post or I would have replied.     We are in the middle of our immigration journey and just had our I-130 approved.

I will start with your original posts, just so others have the info.  For the marriage certificate, the just needed a copy of the true certificate.  Some places will give you a memorative copy but this isn't the real thing.  Only a copy is needed, nothing needs to be certified.

For your passport, you are overthinking it and there is no requirement to show your other passport if you dont have.  A copy of your ILR alone is fine.

You shouldn't do a cover letter.  They want the specified documents only.  If  you provide something extra, they will pull those documents and bin or return to you. Particularly when they are backlogged, as they have been until the last 2 weeks, they were definitely returning extraneous docs with a big red naughty stamp.

The money is the most important thing. You will get an email (if you signed up for email alerts) but they come 2-3 weeks after submission.

I didn't see your original post or I would have replied.     We are in the middle of our immigration journey and just had our I-130 approved.

I will start with your original posts, just so others have the info.  For the marriage certificate, the just needed a copy of the true certificate.  Some places will give you a memorative copy but this isn't the real thing.  Only a copy is needed, nothing needs to be certified.

For your passport, you are overthinking it and there is no requirement to show your other passport if you dont have.  A copy of your ILR alone is fine.

You shouldn't do a cover letter.  They want the specified documents only.  If  you provide something extra, they will pull those documents and bin or return to you. Particularly when they are backlogged, as they have been until the last 2 weeks, they were definitely returning extraneous docs with a big red naughty stamp.

The money is the most important thing. You will get an email (if you signed up for email alerts) but they come 2-3 weeks after submission.

Thanks Sara! Will keep an eye out for our email then. Haven't received anything yet, but it's only been a week so far!

I'm (American citizen) just starting the process for my UKC husband.  I am about to file the I-130.  My only question is do I need to file the I-864 at the same time or is that something that you do later or at the interview? 

Perhaps it's somewhere here, but I can't seem to find an answer to this question.

The I-864 comes later.  You bring that to your interview appointment.
diveintoamerica.com is really good for US visa questions.  :-)

The money is the most important thing. You will get an email (if you signed up for email alerts) but they come 2-3 weeks after submission.

About the money, is their a credit card form available online for the payment?  I thought I'd read they took credit card but don't know if there is a form or not.

Thanks

About the money, is their a credit card form available online for the payment?  I thought I'd read they took credit card but don't know if there is a form or not.

Thanks

There is a form you download to submit with payment. We just got an International Bankers Draft in US Dollars from Barclay's as my husbands card tends to get a bit punchy and activate the Fraud alert on strange purchases especially anything done in something other than £'s.

thanks