Atlanta interview experience

[greenslippers 0]

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS VERY LONG!!!!

Our interview was scheduled for today at 2pm so my husband and I arrived at 1:45. We ran into some of the officers we had seen during my previous info pass vists and they were very cordial to us. Anyway we sat in the waiting room/lobby for about 25 mins before my name was called (my husband is the US citizen). I was an overstay. Our lawyer was also there. As soon as we walked in, the officer introduced himself as officer nelson (he's so nice) and we took the oath. We sat down and he just confirmed information (he pretty much was reading the 1-485 and was like is that correct) so we pretty much confirmed that the information he had was accurate. here are some of the questions he confirmed

-"is your address still _____ ," (we just moved so we told him our updated address and confirmed that we had done a change of address0

- your name is (my name)? (yes)

- confirmed my husband's name

- confirmed my parent's name

- asked for a copy of my birth cert., driver's license, passport, marriage certificate and SS card (i asked him if he wanted the original copy of the marriage cert he said yes)

- asked for my husband's birth cert and passport (he asked my husband if this was his original passport, he said no, he had done a renewal since the one from his childhood)

- then he asked whether i had ever been deported or lied/fraud on any INS document (no)

- ever been convicted of a crime... (no and i made a joke about me being a goody two shoe and he said there's nothing wrong with that)

- then he confirmed whether i'm still in school

- we were interuppted by a co-worker who asked if he was ready yet and he stated that we were his last two.

- commented on the fact that we've been married for over 2yrs

- he then started talking about how he moved to ATL 19 mos ago, weather, my lawyer chimed in that he also was from the midwest (like officer nelson), we talked about his 4 children (IT WAS VERY LIGHTHEARTED...i Had been expecting the interview from hell)...

- then he asked for documents showing our life together (unlike many people, i did not drag my entire household--mostly because we just moved and could not access most of our stuff- so we simply took our current lease and previous lease, 6/7 pictures, cards from friends (holiday/anniversary, thank you cards), car insurance, voided check of our current checking account, life insurance, auto insurance) so i gave him the car insurance, cards, pictures and check. I asked if he wanted to see more and he said no, he was already convinced. He asked if he could take one of the cards and i said he can take anything except our 8x11 picture- which we hang on the wall) so he took a copy of the check, a christmas card and the account statement from one of our banks and stapled it together and put it in the file

- he told me my name had cleared from fbi and there were no secret files on me

- we had some more chit chat about his life

- asked if we had kids (we responded not yet in unison, it was very cute)

- asked again if i had been deported, but more in the form of "i already asked you if you've been deported right?"

- asked if we went on a honeymoon, we explained that we're broke students so we haven't done an elaborate one yet but we went to a hotel for the weekend after our wedding

- then he said the marriage is good and pretty much the only thing missing is my tb skin test which was not documented in the medical exam packet, i explained that i had done it previously and it was positive and i had a copy of a chest xray done to show that i'm not contagious; he said the civil surgeon had to sign off on it so i need to go back to the civil surgeon and have them do it and then deliver the sealed document back to them and as soon as the RFE arrives, i can expect my 485 to be approved and i 'll receive it a month from then.

So pretty much, for us, it was an extremely painless experience. I thought it was going to be very intense and they were going to grill me like crazy cuz i had overstayed my visa (for over a decade) but it was really well.

i attribute my painless and pleasant experience

1) to the really nice officer nelson

2) to the fact that my husband and I are so comfortable with each other (after 2 yrs, you have no other choice)

3) my hubby was a bit nervous but i didn't feel that anxious (i expected to be a nervous wreck but i wasn't, i was actually concerned at a point because my anxiety was minimal) so i'm assuming it came across that we were minimally anxious

4) the nice attitude and pleasant disposition of the officer

To everyone who still has to go through the experience, my suggestion is prepare for the worst, go through all the questions posted on this site and any other ones you can find so that you know that you and your hubby are exactly on the same page and remember everything that you need to because that's really what I attributed my calm disposition/attitude to. I knew that me and my boo were PREPARED. Also, if you think you generally have bad luck in life (i sometimes think that and ofcourse it's a cognitive distortion) the reality is that it can go either way, prepare for the worst and you'll be surprised when things go well like it did for me. If this is not a detailed enough interview, then i don't know what is. Good luck to everyone. I'll let you know when GC is in hand.

Edited August 21, 2007 by greenslippers

[silviake 0]

Congrats !!

And thanks for sharing with us !

[Sand 5]

Congratulations !!

[JamalNTam 1]

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS VERY LONG!!!!

Our interview was scheduled for today at 2pm so my husband and I arrived at 1:45. We ran into some of the officers we had seen during my previous info pass vists and they were very cordial to us. Anyway we sat in the waiting room/lobby for about 25 mins before my name was called (my husband is the US citizen). I was an overstay. Our lawyer was also there. As soon as we walked in, the officer introduced himself as officer nelson (he's so nice) and we took the oath. We sat down and he just confirmed information (he pretty much was reading the 1-485 and was like is that correct) so we pretty much confirmed that the information he had was accurate. here are some of the questions he confirmed

-"is your address still _____ ," (we just moved so we told him our updated address and confirmed that we had done a change of address0

- your name is (my name)? (yes)

- confirmed my husband's name

- confirmed my parent's name

- asked for a copy of my birth cert., driver's license, passport, marriage certificate and SS card (i asked him if he wanted the original copy of the marriage cert he said yes)

- asked for my husband's birth cert and passport (he asked my husband if this was his original passport, he said no, he had done a renewal since the one from his childhood)

- then he asked whether i had ever been deported or lied/fraud on any INS document (no)

- ever been convicted of a crime... (no and i made a joke about me being a goody two shoe and he said there's nothing wrong with that)

- then he confirmed whether i'm still in school

- we were interuppted by a co-worker who asked if he was ready yet and he stated that we were his last two.

- commented on the fact that we've been married for over 2yrs

- he then started talking about how he moved to ATL 19 mos ago, weather, my lawyer chimed in that he also was from the midwest (like officer nelson), we talked about his 4 children (IT WAS VERY LIGHTHEARTED...i Had been expecting the interview from hell)...

- then he asked for documents showing our life together (unlike many people, i did not drag my entire household--mostly because we just moved and could not access most of our stuff- so we simply took our current lease and previous lease, 6/7 pictures, cards from friends (holiday/anniversary, thank you cards), car insurance, voided check of our current checking account, life insurance, auto insurance) so i gave him the car insurance, cards, pictures and check. I asked if he wanted to see more and he said no, he was already convinced. He asked if he could take one of the cards and i said he can take anything except our 8x11 picture- which we hang on the wall) so he took a copy of the check, a christmas card and the account statement from one of our banks and stapled it together and put it in the file

- he told me my name had cleared from fbi and there were no secret files on me

- we had some more chit chat about his life

- asked if we had kids (we responded not yet in unison, it was very cute)

- asked again if i had been deported, but more in the form of "i already asked you if you've been deported right?"

- asked if we went on a honeymoon, we explained that we're broke students so we haven't done an elaborate one yet but we went to a hotel for the weekend after our wedding

- then he said the marriage is good and pretty much the only thing missing is my tb skin test which was not documented in the medical exam packet, i explained that i had done it previously and it was positive and i had a copy of a chest xray done to show that i'm not contagious; he said the civil surgeon had to sign off on it so i need to go back to the civil surgeon and have them do it and then deliver the sealed document back to them and as soon as the RFE arrives, i can expect my 485 to be approved and i 'll receive it a month from then.

So pretty much, for us, it was an extremely painless experience. I thought it was going to be very intense and they were going to grill me like crazy cuz i had overstayed my visa (for over a decade) but it was really well.

i attribute my painless and pleasant experience

1) to the really nice officer nelson

2) to the fact that my husband and I are so comfortable with each other (after 2 yrs, you have no other choice)

3) my hubby was a bit nervous but i didn't feel that anxious (i expected to be a nervous wreck but i wasn't, i was actually concerned at a point because my anxiety was minimal) so i'm assuming it came across that we were minimally anxious

4) the nice attitude and pleasant disposition of the officer

To everyone who still has to go through the experience, my suggestion is prepare for the worst, go through all the questions posted on this site and any other ones you can find so that you know that you and your hubby are exactly on the same page and remember everything that you need to because that's really what I attributed my calm disposition/attitude to. I knew that me and my boo were PREPARED. Also, if you think you generally have bad luck in life (i sometimes think that and ofcourse it's a cognitive distortion) the reality is that it can go either way, prepare for the worst and you'll be surprised when things go well like it did for me. If this is not a detailed enough interview, then i don't know what is. Good luck to everyone. I'll let you know when GC is in hand.

They need the USC passport AND birth certificate??

[~*Maria*~ 1]

Congratulations

[ELW 5]

THANKS so much for the detailed report! You reminded me again about the TB skin test, I'll have my hubby get one!

[lirachadsbaby 0]

congrats. thanks for sharing

[ajames79 0]

Hey Congrats! It didn't seem that bad at all!

[~*Maria*~ 1]

THANKS so much for the detailed report! You reminded me again about the TB skin test, I'll have my hubby get one!

I got mine done mid July just incase i get asked for a TB skin test.......all sealed!!!!!..... now i just need an interview date.

Edited August 21, 2007 by MariaDane

[CB82 0]

Congratulations

[jezz85 0]

Thank you for sharing your experience

[bobby_DE 0]

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS VERY LONG!!!!

Our interview was scheduled for today at 2pm so my husband and I arrived at 1:45. We ran into some of the officers we had seen during my previous info pass vists and they were very cordial to us. Anyway we sat in the waiting room/lobby for about 25 mins before my name was called (my husband is the US citizen). I was an overstay. Our lawyer was also there. As soon as we walked in, the officer introduced himself as officer nelson (he's so nice) and we took the oath. We sat down and he just confirmed information (he pretty much was reading the 1-485 and was like is that correct) so we pretty much confirmed that the information he had was accurate. here are some of the questions he confirmed

-"is your address still _____ ," (we just moved so we told him our updated address and confirmed that we had done a change of address0

- your name is (my name)? (yes)

- confirmed my husband's name

- confirmed my parent's name

- asked for a copy of my birth cert., driver's license, passport, marriage certificate and SS card (i asked him if he wanted the original copy of the marriage cert he said yes)

- asked for my husband's birth cert and passport (he asked my husband if this was his original passport, he said no, he had done a renewal since the one from his childhood)

- then he asked whether i had ever been deported or lied/fraud on any INS document (no)

- ever been convicted of a crime... (no and i made a joke about me being a goody two shoe and he said there's nothing wrong with that)

- then he confirmed whether i'm still in school

- we were interuppted by a co-worker who asked if he was ready yet and he stated that we were his last two.

- commented on the fact that we've been married for over 2yrs

- he then started talking about how he moved to ATL 19 mos ago, weather, my lawyer chimed in that he also was from the midwest (like officer nelson), we talked about his 4 children (IT WAS VERY LIGHTHEARTED...i Had been expecting the interview from hell)...

- then he asked for documents showing our life together (unlike many people, i did not drag my entire household--mostly because we just moved and could not access most of our stuff- so we simply took our current lease and previous lease, 6/7 pictures, cards from friends (holiday/anniversary, thank you cards), car insurance, voided check of our current checking account, life insurance, auto insurance) so i gave him the car insurance, cards, pictures and check. I asked if he wanted to see more and he said no, he was already convinced. He asked if he could take one of the cards and i said he can take anything except our 8x11 picture- which we hang on the wall) so he took a copy of the check, a christmas card and the account statement from one of our banks and stapled it together and put it in the file

- he told me my name had cleared from fbi and there were no secret files on me

- we had some more chit chat about his life

- asked if we had kids (we responded not yet in unison, it was very cute)

- asked again if i had been deported, but more in the form of "i already asked you if you've been deported right?"

- asked if we went on a honeymoon, we explained that we're broke students so we haven't done an elaborate one yet but we went to a hotel for the weekend after our wedding

- then he said the marriage is good and pretty much the only thing missing is my tb skin test which was not documented in the medical exam packet, i explained that i had done it previously and it was positive and i had a copy of a chest xray done to show that i'm not contagious; he said the civil surgeon had to sign off on it so i need to go back to the civil surgeon and have them do it and then deliver the sealed document back to them and as soon as the RFE arrives, i can expect my 485 to be approved and i 'll receive it a month from then.

So pretty much, for us, it was an extremely painless experience. I thought it was going to be very intense and they were going to grill me like crazy cuz i had overstayed my visa (for over a decade) but it was really well.

i attribute my painless and pleasant experience

1) to the really nice officer nelson

2) to the fact that my husband and I are so comfortable with each other (after 2 yrs, you have no other choice)

3) my hubby was a bit nervous but i didn't feel that anxious (i expected to be a nervous wreck but i wasn't, i was actually concerned at a point because my anxiety was minimal) so i'm assuming it came across that we were minimally anxious

4) the nice attitude and pleasant disposition of the officer

To everyone who still has to go through the experience, my suggestion is prepare for the worst, go through all the questions posted on this site and any other ones you can find so that you know that you and your hubby are exactly on the same page and remember everything that you need to because that's really what I attributed my calm disposition/attitude to. I knew that me and my boo were PREPARED. Also, if you think you generally have bad luck in life (i sometimes think that and ofcourse it's a cognitive distortion) the reality is that it can go either way, prepare for the worst and you'll be surprised when things go well like it did for me. If this is not a detailed enough interview, then i don't know what is. Good luck to everyone. I'll let you know when GC is in hand.

They need the USC passport AND birth certificate??

Congratulations! Same question here; the IO asked for both USC passport AND BC?

[greenslippers 0]

yea he asked for bc and passport- i'm not sure why but the interview letter has said stated that usc's bring bc and passport

[khushi 0]

Hello GreenSlippers,

Good Day and Good Evening,

First off I want to congrulate you and your husband on your sucessful interview and hope the remainder of the process goes smooth for you guys. I was so glad to see your post as it just a coninceindal me and my husband have our Atlanta Interview this upcomming monday 08/26/07and want to prepare for the worst and thats why Im sending you a note for your guidance here on tips so we both can "ace" it like you guys. Well Im sure we get Officer Nelson it will be a breeze. :-) but just in case we dont we want to be ready for the best.

I wanted to pass you my email id khushi711@gmail.com and see if could do me the biggest favor ever and to send me some common Greencard Interview questions you and your husband must have prepared for that can help us and all any other supporting information for that matter. that you may have to help us be prepared like you guys for the WORST. Also if you have a checklist for "must" items to take with us that will really us so much and would be so appreciated. I wouldnt know how to thank you much for this in advance but to say have god be with you throughout your life and may god wish you a sucessful message. If I can even call you since my interview is this monday I would really appreicate it, or if you could call me at (732) 501-8318. that would be so much helpful to me to give me the confidnece. I have been searching for a good post like this for Atlanta expereince for a long time and so much happy to have found one. Looking forward to your reply.

Best Regards,

Khushy

[essjay 0]

Congratulations and Good Luck for the future.

Thanks for sharing your detailed review...