What documents should I gather before an immigration filing?

Identity and status records first: passports, birth and marriage certificates with certified English translations, the I-94 record, and every prior immigration document. Add certified court dispositions for any arrest and tax returns for sponsorship. Federal regulation 8 C.F.R. § 103.2 governs what filings must include, and omissions cause denials.

Immigration filings are document cases, and 8 C.F.R. § 103.2 requires each benefit request to be filed with the evidence the form instructions demand. Build the file before choosing the filing: passports and visas, birth certificates, marriage and divorce records — each foreign-language document with a certified English translation — the I-94 arrival record, and every notice, receipt, or decision from prior immigration contact, because the complete history determines eligibility. Anyone ever arrested needs certified court dispositions for every incident, even dismissals, since applications ask and adjudicators check fingerprints. Family-based cases add the sponsor's tax returns and proof of income for the affidavit of support under 8 U.S.C. § 1183a. If the history is unclear — old border encounters, a lost order — a records request to USCIS or the immigration court can retrieve the government's own file first. Never guess or omit: a material misrepresentation to gain a benefit creates its own ground of inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(C).

Authority: 8 C.F.R. § 103.2