Keep the executed trade confirmation, the settlement statement, account statements covering the whole period, and the record of the outgoing transfer. Together they show the chain from holding to proceeds to gift. Where a document is in French, arrange a full certified English translation for USCIS; check separately what the consular post requires.
Assembling the record before the money moves
Record how the securities were acquired as well as how they were sold: the final settlement statement alone may leave earlier ownership or source questions unanswered. Reconcile any margin balance, account restriction and net payment with the actual broker records. Keep corrected statements alongside the earlier versions so a reviewer can follow the change rather than encounter conflicting totals.
Where the account that held the securities was jointly owned or recently retitled, document how the proceeds were actually distributed to the person making the gift, since a sale completed inside an account bearing more than one name does not by itself show whose funds moved forward. Keep the instrument that changed title, if one exists, alongside the statements, and identify the date of that change relative to the date of the sale. A distribution paid to a joint account still needs a record connecting the specific share attributable to the person whose funds are being documented, rather than the account balance as a whole.