Necessity of affidavits in green card application (USCIS form I-751)

Question

I'm using USCIS form I-751 to apply for removal of conditions on my green card after two years of marriage. The instructions in the Evidence of Relationship section state

The documents should include, but not be limited to, the following examples ....

One of these examples is

Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by at least two people ...

How important is it for me to gather these affidavits? In particular,

1. Is "should include" supposed to mean "must include" generally?
2. Is an affidavit without notarization better than nothing?
3. Do the facts that (a) I'm Japanese and (b) I have two infants with my husband and (c) I have a generally strong packet of evidence in all of the other categories mean that it's a waste of time for me to bother with the affidavits?

Answer 1

No, "should" doesn't mean "must".

However, it still means "should", so unless it's very inconvenient to you, I would suggest you just get them and send them. Remember, they say

Submit copies of as many documents as you can ...

So if I didn't have a good reason to not be able to get 2 affidavits, I'd make sure to send them.

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Notarization

The instructions don't specify that the affidavits must be notarized. In USCIS's definition of "affidavit", they state that

The affiant should sign the affidavit under oath and the signature should be witnessed by an official, such as a notary public.

Another "should".

Searching various forums, you can find many people who have sent affidavits without having them notarized. (I've done that, myself, but not for the I-751.) What's much more important than notarizing them is that the writers

[swear] that the facts are true and accurate

and

must include their full printed name and address, date and place of birth, relationship to the parties, if any, and complete details concerning how the affiant acquired knowledge of the events.

Answer 2

Affidavits are more important if your other evidence of bona fide marriage is not very strong. But if you already have plenty of other strong evidence, then whether or not you have affidavits doesn't matter much. Objective evidence is generally going to carry more weight than statements by people you hand-picked to support your case. Lots of people do Removal of Conditions without affidavits with no problems.