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Family Based Green Cards - Through Marriage or a Relative
 
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21) Comments:
Hello All

We had our interview today in Los Angeles at 10:35 am. Up to now, I'm still a bit confused and worried whether or not my Green Card has been approved. The officer simply told us that he has to wait for a background check (without looking into his computer) before he can make his final decision. He says it usually takes 30 days. He also didn't discuss anything about conditional status. However, there was no sign of doubt on his side when we presented our evidences. In fact, my husband and I felt that the interview went well.

Here is a list of questions thrown to us after swearing in to say the truth.

Question to my husband: How did you meet?
Question to my husband: When did you get married?
Question to me: State your full name. State your birthday, your mother's and father's names. When did you first enter the US. Then he asked for my passport and inquired about my previous visas (f1 then H1).
Question to us: He asked us how old we were.
Question to me: Then he asked me when I first entered the US. Where I first entered.
Then he asked for both our birth certificates and scrutinized it thoroughly. He then asked for our marriage certificate.
Question to us: He asked if we both work, where and how long. Then he requested for employment certificates. Then he went on to request for joint documents and he checked them rather quickly. I also handed him our photos and he kept pointing on people and asking my husband who they were.

He left us for about 5 minutes in the room to copy my passport.

The interview questions were very straightforward and I think we were ready for more challenging ones. But the bad part of it all though is that I expected to get a stamp on my passport and also a paper where we need to sign for conditional status....none of that happened. So please email me if you've got any similar experiences. I'm worried and kind of frustrated of not knowing where I stand at this time.

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Name: eugene176
Location: United States
Posted on: Jul 20, 2006  Email this link to friend(s)
22) Comments: Successful interview - Los Angeles DO


We just had a very nice and quick interview at the Los Angeles DO!

Now, my case is pretty complicated and i was anticipating a very difficult interview. I have overstayed my B2 visa for a few years. On top of that, in my B2 visa application, I declared myself as married even if i had been separated from my husband for many years. A couple of years ago, i found out that the marriage was not even valid.

After I married my USC husband, we consulted a lawyer who said i should have filed for a divorce anyways to keep my case simple. Well, a little too late for that!

We decided to go through this process without a lawyer. Everyday, we visit this forum to get invaluable information and advices. It has been a tremendous help for us!

We arrived half an hour early for the interview but could not find a parking space. We ended up parking our car 5 blocks away and were running all the way to the building! We were breathless and sweating and had only 2 minutes to spare. (LA interviewees - you've been warned )

We turned in our interview notice and waited for around 15 minutes until my name was called. The officer was very friendly. He said he will not bring us inside the office and he will conduct the interview right at the counter (I took this as a good sign )

He only asked us to confirm the information we have provided in the applications. So most of the words that came out of our mouths were "yes, that's correct". The only question we elaborated on was on how we met. He didn't even seem to pay much attention to our answer, more like small talk. Lastly, he picked 3 questions from the forms - have you been arrested...etc. He said he can look at the 2-inch file that we brought since we obviously spent a lot of effort to put it together. He browsed through the whole thing very quickly, commenting on pictures taken in places familiar to him and those that looked interesting. Everything took probably 10 minutes!

Then he said we can take a seat while he prepares a letter and he will have to bring our passports with him. He came out with this letter, took my I-94 and said I will be receiving the green card within 90 days but most likely in a week or two. I offered to turn in my EAD but he said I can keep it in case the card gets delayed in the mail. I asked to have my passport stamped but he said he doesn't have access to the stamp anymore but i can schedule an infopass to get it. (I'll wait for the card, no more walking 5 blocks through LA for me!)

I still can't believe it was that easy! I've been stressing over this interview for weeks, it's so wonderfully anticlimactic!

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Name: wifey246
Location: United States
Posted on: Jul 20, 2006  Email this link to friend(s)
23) Comments: Approved but pending name check


First of all I want to thank God for His favour upon us during the entire interview. I will also like to say a big "Thank you" to everyone on this forum. After I found this forum we did not need any lawyer again.

We got to the interview about 45mins earlier. About an hour later a young lady came out to call our names. We got up and met her at the door. She said she will like to talk to me first and I followed her to her office. She was very pleasant & laugh went I told her how we met.

She ask me the follow:
My ID, My name, Date of Birth
Address,
Telephone
My Husband name, His date of Birth, His job & the hours he work
How we met, Date of marrige & where we were married
She asked me all the question on 1-485 which I answer NO no...
Have I met my mother-in-law & when was the last time I saw her- Sunday after church. she then ask for name of my church: I gave her & her she oh! I have heard about that church
She then took my I-94 and said I am ok with you and will approve your case but your name check is not yet in your file (she explained that since my application is very fast it take time for the name check to come back, she mentioned that they are having more pending name checks now bcos the interview is coming up earlier). She said " I will send you your appproval letter once I have the name check).

She followed me back outside & asked my husband to follow her:
(He was with the file of documents, we had a big file containing all our evidences & Album)

She asked him:
His ID & His name
Address
How we met
What does he have for her?

After giving her the AEP & Tel bill she said that is Ok and only look at a couple of the pixs and said she is ok with us and also told him that she is satisfied with us. She told him also that I will get the approval letter once the name check comes through. He came out & we left smiling

Regarding my EAD- I went for an infopass on thursday & was told that since my interview is in a couple of days time I will not need is again if I am approved. My husband asked her about my EAD and she said that is already approved and I should get it in the mail soon before the GC letter.

Though the name checking is pending But I am very happy the interview went well. The total time was about 15min. I spend 10min while my hubby spent 5min. Add me to the name check table


Good luck to everyone who interview is coming up soon

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Name: justnew
Location: United States
Posted on: Jul 20, 2006  Email this link to friend(s)
24) Comments: Approved At Atlanta

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I Had my interview today, in the DO of Atlanta, GA at 10:00. I was really stressed. The officer who called us was a nice young lady in her mid 30's. We took the Oath to tell the truth, she asked for IDS, marriage ceriticate, previous divorce certificate, she asked where my husban worked, she verified our address and phone number. And finally she asked for most recent taxes for my husband and jpint sponsor. We had a bit of a problem with the taxes because we didnt have the most resent tax return/w2 for my joint sponsor or my husband for 2005.
She insisted we needed those documents but thank God the officer was really nice. She gave us a fax number and asked us to have someone fax that information to her directly. We went outside for like 40 minutes, and as soon as she had the fax in her hand she let us back in her office.

After going back in her office we imagined we would continue with the interview and the officer would ask us for more supporting docs. Its weird because she didnt ask for anything else. We had prepared for the interview countless utility bills, lease, contracts, bank statemets, full album, and letter from friends, copys of I-94, my husband birth certificate or mine....etc.. But she didnt seem interested in that. She stamped my passport and told me that i would receive my green card in the mail in less than a month. When she said that i finally started breathing. It was so releaving and to say that we spend more time in the waiting room than the actual interview.
The only thing im not sure is if i got conditional residence or permanente. I ve been married for less than a year. I forgot to ask and the stamp on my passport only says: Processed for I-551 temporrary evidence of lawful admission as a permanent residence.

Oh they also took away from me my work permit, she said that i wouldnt be needing it to work anymore and that with the stamp on my passport i can already travel!! yeah. No more worrying for know. My ND was 02/13/06....and my residence approval was 06/15/06!!

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Name: gaby_flaks
Location: United States
Posted on: Jun 30, 2006  Email this link to friend(s)
25) Comments: I GOT IT!!!

By the end it turned out that we were waaaaay overprepared. We did our final preparations last night, the only thing we were worried about were those 3 months that we didn't live together after we got married so my husband even printed out a calendar and made references to receipts for every single weekend that he went to visit me while I was up in school.

Our interview was at 9 but we got there at 8. They didn't take us in till 9:30 but that wasn't bad I don't think. We got this really nice officer. He first asked us to swear in before we even sat down. Then he said he was gonna go over the forms to make sure all the info that they have was correct. He noticed we had a change of address so he crossed out our old address from every form and wrote the current one. He said that that was very important so I would get any future documents they might send. He asked the typical questions "have you ever..." but he skipped a bunch. He went over the biographic info and I told him that everything was correct, then he said that I'm a student and I told him that I graduated last May so he crossed that out and put Engineer instead. He made a joke saying that now the flow of money is coming in instead of out. He asked for my passport, I-94 and the EAD, I gave him my new passport and my expired one since my student visa was there. I don't even think he checked my visa, or asked for my I-20 or anything. Oh the only think that was missing (even though we sent it TWICE) was my husband's letter of employment, so we gave it to him...again. Then he said he's required to ask for any proof of the relationship so we gave him the lease and our joing bank account statements. Then my husband told me to show him some pictures too so we gave him some pictures from our trip to the Dominican Republic last year, he said that he needs to put that in his list of countries to visit because it looks very beautiful. He didn't even keep the pictures. Then my husband asked him how long it should take for us to receive the GC or if we should apply for an AP since we want to fly home to have our Catholic wedding. He asked when we needed to leave and we told him that on December so he asked if late July sounded OK. At that point I realized we were approved!!! He stamped my passport and wished us good luck. Oh and he told us about the 2-year conditional residency law. That stamp looks so pretty. Hopefully in 3 weeks or so I'll receive they actual card.

Overall I would say the process wasn't bad for us. We seriously expected to have to wait for at least a year, it turned out to be half that much. A laywer we talked to said even 18 months. Oh and about lawyers.... we saw a bunch of lawyers when we were waiting and they were running from client to client. One of them was even asking the couple if they had made photocopies of everything (they hadn't) ...AT THE INTERVIEW!!! Just not worth it!

Goodluck everyone!!!

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Name: payala
Location: United States
Posted on: Jun 29, 2006  Email this link to friend(s)
26) Comments: Interview Experience--Detroit

Dear ones,

I just had the most happiest International Women's Day yesterday

The interview started 10 minutes late. It seemed I waited for 10 years.... The officer called my name. He is nice and quiet, a cool guy Swore us in, asked for state IDs. Checked my student status, went on for other questions: what is the first time you come to the States, did you go out of the States, is it your signature on I485, where are you from, where were you born, all the questions at the back of 485, joint evidence: employment letter, joint bank accounts, insurance, beneficiary, paystub, ...

Very smooth and peaceful, all soft talkings. He asked what does my husband do, and he told us his son is an engineer too.

30 minutes later, he tore the I94 out of my passport, asked our marriage date, more than two years. And stamp a temporary stamp at back of the passport, saying the green card will be on the mail. I silly asked him is it a permanent card, he stared at me and said, I can give you a temporary one if you want , I said thanks, I want this one. While my husband talked to him, he said he could give my husband (USC) a stamp on the passport too

See, the services of USCIS are not bad at all. They are doing a wonderful job I will remember and appreciate that officer for his trust forever.

Thank you all for your support, writing to me, thank you for your time and information. Good luck to you all!

ClearClear

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Name: clearcloud
Location: United States
Posted on: May 10, 2006  Email this link to friend(s)
27) Comments: Interview Experience in Miami, approved!!

First of all, I want to thank all of you guys. This forum has been really helpful in understanding and providing information on the interview procedures and papers to take and everything. Thanks ari4u, especially. You are a keystone in this forum!!

the interview went smooth and fast, it lasted only about 20 minutes. The interviewer was a very kind gentleman. He first asked for our DLs in the corridor before getting to the interview room and took copies of them right there (i had copies, though). He led as to the room, he swore us in as soon as we were in there. Immediately, he proceeded to verify our names and address. He asked me all the questions on form I-485 about being involved in communist party, terrorism, and so on. I answered them (no, no, no...)
After that, by checking my files, he asked me if this was my first marriage (yes), if I had any children (no) and if my phone number on records was ok. Then she asked my wife (USC) the same questions.
He asked us for the originals of our birth certificates and marriage license. We showed them to him and he checked these originals with the copies he had in our files on record (we had submitted copies last year). He gave the originals back to us. He looked again at the files... I could see all the paperwork we submitted last year was there.
Then he asked for the 2005 taxes (we had filed jointly). As my wife had signed my affidavit of support, the officer asked us for her employer letter and her tax returns of 2004 and 2003.
He asked us if we were living in our own house or were in a lease. We had a lease, and gave him a copy.
He asked if we had any joint account. We gave him our checking and savings statements (we had several from all the year round).
He asked us also if we had health insurance. We gave him the copies of our health insurance cards (which we've got through my wife's job).
He asked us if we had a car or car insurance in both of our names. We don't have such things. my wife explained why. The officer said it was ok.
And that was it. there was no other questions about our relationship. Nothing... We were waiting for him to ask things. But nothing. He didn't even ask for bills or photos (we had taken our wedding album, and a bunch of other pictures)
Then, he stamped the approval on the files and told us I would receive a letter of approval in a week or two, and my green card in 4-6 weeks.
He was very polite. He also told us he was very happy to see we had all the documents and copies he asked for. He told us most people go to the interview with less than half of what they are required to bring. We had prepared two folders: 1 for originals and the other for copies. The folders were indexed and the documents well organized.
So, a piece of advice: take all your papers/documents properly organized. The officers will thank you for that.
They want to go fast. They want to approve. I heard they get mad when they are busy, and people don't seem to help with the paperwork they are supposed to bring already properly prepared from home.
Again: do your homework and your interview will be a pleasant meeting, just as ours was.
Finally we said bye, he went with us to the corridor and showed us the way out to the elevator.
We are soo happy...
Thank you all guys. This forum is so supportive!!
Time to celebrate now!

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Name: beiwen
Location: United States
Posted on: May 10, 2006  Email this link to friend(s)
28) Comments: Interview experience

Hello,

I had my Interview yesterday in Northern Virginia. The appointment was at 1:00 PM, we arrived at abt 12:30. We were called in at our scheduled time. The officer was cordial. He asked the usual questions, like if I have ever been arrested etc..., He went through the affidavit of support, had questions for my husband regarding his employment letter, checked our passports, asked us both questions about each other, i.e our In-Laws Names, How we met, when we got married, how many guests, What cars we own, date of births, my employer details etc...
He took copies of our 2005 tax returns... we filed seperate returns, and he asked us why we would do that.
He asked for the Joint documents proof, took the entire set of copies that I had made for joint accounts which include utility bills, home title, insurance cards etc.
He went through the photos that I had brought with me. I just took about 15 pics with me, He joked abt how people bombard him with photo slideshows etc etc... then he went out for a few mins...and came back and handed me my passport with the I-551 stamp!!!! and congratulated me...
The whole thing lasted about 40 minutes.

So, finally...its done. I was told that I would get the actual green card in the mail in a few weeks.

I'd like to thank everyone in this forum...its been so helpful to me... and
Ari4u, special thanks to you! Good Luck everyone....

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Name: Glacier05
Location: United States
Posted on: May 10, 2006  Email this link to friend(s)
29) Comments: Seattle DO AOS Interview Experience

I went for my interview, which went well. No surprises with a nice officer.
The common, have you ever questions...no no no no!
We were asked about the spouse's siblings,our honeymoon, when and how we met, how long we'd been dating before marriage, but nothing tricky.
Quite easy I would say.

The officer checked Id's, last taxreturn with W-2s, updated address (because we moved), marriage cert.
Also checked some of the documention, but only kept (and seemed to care about) health insurance card, car insurance, joint taxreturn, lease agreements. Didn't even look at any of the photos, but I think the fact that we brought alot of stuff helped.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten to bring my Bcertificate in my native language, I thougth they only wanted the English version, so I will have to submit that, but would then be approved I was promised. I already faxed it today and mailed it, and they said it would be looked at next week and I should expect to receive my card in the mail within 3 weeks.
They did not say anything about name check...

Surprisingly, they did not take my AP or I-94, which is good because I might be travelling within the next 3 weeks.

Thanks for all the help!

Timeline:
Application I-485 package 9/15/05
RD 9/22/05
EAD Approved 11/22/05
AP Efiled 12/01/05
AP Approved 2/15/06
Interview Scheduled for LA 1/31/06
Changed Interview due to move out of state.
Case transferred to Seattle DO.
Interview Seattle DO 3/31/06
Pending Document.

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Name: froddan
Location: United States
Posted on: May 10, 2006  Email this link to friend(s)
30) Comments: Interview at Portland Oregon. Passed I guess.

I am a USC applying green card for my wife who has been a full-time student for 5 years. We had our AOS interview at Portland, Oregon today (April 20, 2006.)

Our interview was scheduled at 2:00pm and we arrived at the waiting room around 1:20pm. We got called by a very nice officer around 2:05pm and was out of the building around 2:32pm.

The officer introduced herself and took us to her office. She swore us in and checked our photo IDs. The officer is new on her job so there was another officer sitting at the desk kind of coaching her. When she told us that she is new on the job, I was thinking that our case must be simple or they would not let a newbie handle a complicated case.

She asked us some basic information like the current address and phone number. All of a sudden, she turned to my wife and asked her about my birthday. My wife was nervous and could not remember the exact year. The officer joked about that and said that it's more important to remember the date so "your husband would get the present." My wife was not able to answer the date of last entry to the U.S. It was quiet for a few seconds (but it felt like ages when you are on the hot seat.) I said "Can I answer?" The officer let me answer the question. She then asked my wife the No-No-No questions on the I-485 application. She asked me for the evidence of citizenship (she made a photocopy of my US passport) and the most recent pay-stub (I gave her the past 9 months.) She asked me for evidence of us filing the 2005 taxes. Since we just filed the taxes last week, I gave her a photocopy of all the forms we filed.

Finally, she said that this is a very clean case but since our I-130 package has not been transferred to her office, she cannot stamp my wife's passport. She knew that our I-130 has been approved and she will send in another request to get our file. She said that we should expect the green card in less than 2 months. We asked about what my wife's legal status after the interview and what document we should be using if we plan to travel overseas. There were some confusion about whether my wife should still maintain her full-time student status but we were told to use our Advance Parole to travel before getting the green card. Just to be sure, I asked the officer if we can have some celebration tonight and she said YES.

So I guess we passed the interview and should be getting the card shortly. Our feelings are mixed though since there is no stamp on the passport and anything can happen before actually getting the card.

We prepared a lot of document including two photo albums. But we only turned in the filed 2005 taxes and my pay stub. Other than the photo IDs and my US passport, the officer did not check anything else.

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Name: bigcake
Location: United States
Posted on: May 10, 2006  Email this link to friend(s)
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