Hello,
 
What documents would a wife applying for dependent visa need when her husband is a student in a US university?

Thanks for your suggestions !!

Does her husband have assistantship (teaching or research)?

 Yes he does..he has a decent RA.

So she needs  I-20, your transcripts (to show you are maintaining good grades), a letter from your department (or your research advisor) and proof of your marriage. In my case they didn't care about marriage certificate (probably they know that people make fake marriage certificates); they looked through entire album (with wedding pictures) and had questions in every other photo such as where did the ceremony take place, who is this in the pic, who in this picture are your parents, or parents-in-law, which one is your and your husband's sibling etc etc. Just to let you know they don't allow DVD inside the interview room, so photo album is the best you have. Since you have assistantship, you don't need to show any property or bank balance (I'm telling this based on my own experience). One more thing I included my TOEFL and GRE score reports with the documents. Hope that helps. No need to worry, be cool, your wife is gonna get visa.

Sparty

so does that mean that if you get married legally, chances of your spouse getting a dependent visa is really low? 

 Jantare, I think if you receive a decent amount of stipend, your chances are high.  

 

Jantare,

LOL. I'm trying to say is that if you do "bhagi bihe" then the chances are low. One of my friend has faced this problem. He said that the embassy asked the wife "Jagge ko foto khoi" and rejected her visa application several times.

Sparty

 Sparty bro,

it's not exactly 'bhagi bihe', but a traditional engagement followed by legal marriage. engagementko pics ta no problem, but jagge nabhai nahune ho bhane ta tenson hola jasto po chha ta 

jantare, I'm telling exactly what happened with one of  my friends. In my case also he was concerned  whether the  marriage was genuine. I guess other guys can share their experience. :)

 Thanks Sparty..that was helpful.