Joint checking account
One of the proofs of bona fide marriage we are required to show to the consular during immigrant visa interview is the co-mingling of our finances. It can be joint ownership of property or lease, life insurance with the other party as beneficiary, name on spouse’s health insurance, joint saving or checking account.
The only document we have right now is a letter from insurance company that shows my name on his health insurance plan. Though we have been married for three years but we do not have a joint bank account. You will be surprised, opening a bank account can be a rather complex attempt without proper paper. We have been separated in two countries for the past one and half years, we couldn’t add each other to our bank accounts because the bank required us to be present physically to produce the relevant identity!
The big boy has a checking account that comes with a debit card, he gives me the debit card to withdraw money in Malaysia. His bank statements showed all the withdrawals on ATM machines in Malaysia and with the ATM withdrawal slips, may be they can be used as proof.
The debit card works out quite well, the only setback is: it charges a fee for every ATM withdrawal. It actually added up to be quite a bit over the past one year. We could have save some money if we know WaMu has a Free checking account that allows free ATM cash withdrawals worldwide.
