Our I-751 Interview

[Sherlock 0]

OK so we get called back by an older lady (maybe in her mid 40's) whom was very professional. I cant honestly say she was nice, but considering what she does everyday her professionalism outweighed any monotony she may have been feeling.

My only complaint with this story is your above comment. Dude, mid 40's is not "older". Never has been. "Older" doesn't start until the 50's or 60's. Next you're going to be calling someone in their 50's "elderly."

Edited May 6, 2008 by Sherlock

[russian_armenian 4]

Congratulations on your approval!! Thank you for taking time to write the experience.

So instead of getting transfered like everyone else to the VSC on 1/31/08 My wife's notice came in the mail and said her file was being shipped back to the local Atlanta sub-office. The NOA (notice of action) went on to say we would be hearing from them soon.

Four months later we received a letter telling us to appear in Atlanta at the sub-office for "A matter Concerning our I-751 Application". Not knowing what this meant or what to bring with us as proof, I decided to error on the side of caution and bring it all once again. So, I made another packet like the one I sent with the original 751 only with more recent information and some minor changes. On the second packet (more like binder) I left out the picture part only to be asked by the interviewer if we had any pictures to show her, but I'm skipping ahead here.

We arrived at the sub-office almost an hour before our appointment time with my wife's parents in tow. It just so happens they were here visiting when the NOA arrived at the beginning of April and would be here when the appointment came rolling around. We sat in the car for a few minutes talking and looking around before I notice that everyone was getting a little nervous as the time ticked away. After about five minutes of talking and smoking we decided it would be best to go inside and get signed in.

After waiting 10 minutes to get through the security measures put in place by the USCIS (had to remove all metal, belts, charms, rings, glasses, etc) we made out way up to the third floor and got signed in after presenting out appointment notice to the receptionist.

After waiting 45 minutes we were finally called back to be interviewed/interrogiated....

To Be Continued!

Sorry it has taken me so long to finish this post but as I said my wife's parents are visiting at the moment so I haven't had much time to do anything other than entertain. They are leaving tomorrow....

OK so we get called back by an older lady (maybe in her mid 40's) whom was very professional. I cant honestly say she was nice, but considering what she does everyday her professionalism outweighed any monotony she may have been feeling.

Once we made our way down a very long hallway we came upon her office. Inside her office we found yet another person whom was going to sit in on our interview. I was later told that the second person (another lady) was training. Before we were able to sit down we were made to swear in by raising our right hands and repeated after the interviewer (anyone who has been to an interview will understand this).

Once seated the interviewer (lets call her Sarah) retrieved my wife's file from one of her drawers in her desk. I would like to say the thought of my file being in that drawer for the past 15 months didn't cross my mind, but I think even JAMES would agree that was not the case. Once our file was opened I immediately noticed that the application (751) was on top of the file followed by the contents of the evidence binder I sent in with the 751 15 months ago.

Sarah started off by examining all of the information in the 751 application and then she had us verify if all of the information was correct. Sarah went over every line and every box and every field of the 751, even asking us to verify that our signatures were in fact our signatures.

After Sarah was finished reviewing our 751 application with us she asked if we had any other evidence to submit to the file. I turned over copies of our past tax returns from 03 through 07. At that time she looked surprised by the pile of paper and commented "you've been married quite a while". You can only guess what I was thinking at that moment...

I also turned over copies of bank statements from the prior two years up to the most current. After, I turned over two more affidavits (from the same people as in our first binder but updated). Sarah asked for other things like rental agreement and joint account statements. As my wife and I have no rental agreements or mortgages, I supplied copies of past car insurance policies and SSA statements as well as equifax credit reports showing shared accounts.

After Sarah was satisfied with our evidence she asked for my wife's drivers license, passport, and two year green card. While we were gathering these things Sarah made some small conversation with my wife and I. Her first question was "so hows the marriage going"? My wife and I both stated good (being too nervous to really speak freely). Sarah then stated "so no fights then"? I immediately opened my mouth and said "now I wouldn't say that"! (Can you see trick questions as well as I can?) After we answered Sarah even came out and said that was a trick question. Anyone who is in a real marriage fights at least some.

At that point we had the documents Sarah asked for and she took them to get copies made. I had extra copies of those identifications with us but she said no thanks and went to make her own copies. So there we were, in Sarah's office with the trainee, alone. The awkwardness quickly set in. My wife began rambling on about her dogs (something she does when she gets nervous). I began offering more evidence to the trainee as a way of showing we were not nervous and were LEGIT!

Once Sarah came back into the office she gave us our Id's back. She then calmly sat down and began hole punching all of the evidence we had given her to add to our file. Once finished she calmly said "I don't think we'll have any more problems approving this application". She then stamped my wife's passport with a 6 month stamp and told us we would receive my wife's green card within that time frame. After all of that was over I asked Sarah if I could now ask a couple of questions of my own.

My first question was "why was our file picked out of all of the others for a second interview"? Sarah answered by saying "all 751 applications are given interviews prior to being approved/denied". Even thought I knew this to be not true I went along not wanting to jeopardize my wife's green card. I then asked her to verify the length of the new green card and she said 10 years.

After my questions were answered we were kindly escorted back out to the waiting room by the trainee. Maybe 10 feet down the hallway my wife turns around and jogs back to Sarah's office. At that point I was panicking thinking "you cant do that in a federal building without someone thinking the worst". As it turns out my wife just wanted to put the icing on the cake. She asked Sarah if she would like to meet her parents whom were waiting in the waiting area.

So, my wife, myself, Sarah, and the trainee all walk out into the now packed waiting room to talk to her parents who do not speak any English. At that point I was really shocked by what I heard next.......Sarah spoke German! Sarah and my in-laws had a nice little 3 minute conversation while standing out in the waiting area. At that point I noticed that 99% of the people in the waiting area were staring at us!

So that's our story. There are a couple of things I noticed that may be of use.

1) All forms and paper work are top hole punched. Something you may want to consider doing when sending in large stacks of paperwork.

2) If you do submit a binder with your evidence like we did don't go all out on the binder. They throw away the binders and put your files in a vanilla folder.

Thanks for reading. If you think I left anything out or would like to know more about a particular thing then please let me know.

The Doc

[itzmi 1]

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Dr. ZoSo 0]

OK so we get called back by an older lady (maybe in her mid 40's) whom was very professional. I cant honestly say she was nice, but considering what she does everyday her professionalism outweighed any monotony she may have been feeling.

My only complaint with this story is your above comment. Dude, mid 40's is not "older". Never has been. "Older" doesn't start until the 50's or 60's. Next you're going to be calling someone in their 50's "elderly."

Talk about nit-picking! I cant beleive that's the only thing you came up with out of that entire post to complain about.