When a citizen or green-card holder petitions for a spouse, the government looks past the certificate to the marriage itself: is this a real shared life, or paperwork? Couples with completely genuine marriages still get this wrong by assuming the certificate speaks for itself. It doesn't — the file does.
What shared life looks like on paper
The strongest items are the boring ones: a lease or deed with both names, joint bank statements showing real activity, shared insurance, beneficiary designations, utility bills at the same address, tax returns filed together. Alongside those, the human record: photos across time and places (with family, at holidays, not just the wedding day), travel bookings, message history, and letters from people who know you as a couple.
No single item is required, and missing one is not fatal. The question is the picture the whole file paints. Two years of joint everything tells one story; a file with nothing shared tells another, and invites hard questions at the interview.
Start collecting now
If your accounts and lease are separate, the best time to reflect your real life on paper is before you file. Pro Se's interview asks how you met, your wedding, your daily life — then builds your evidence list from your actual answers, so you gather proof of the marriage you really have. General information, not legal advice; Pro Se by Law Aid Management LLC is not a law firm.