AoS interview - APPROVED!!

[pegbert64 0]

First, I'd like to thank everyone for the wealth of information that is posted on this forum - there is so much to learn from each other, and knowledge is power!

My husband and I had our interview in Durham, NC yesterday, and I thought I'd share the experience.

(background: met my husband while visiting friends in NC; fell in love and discussed marriage 4-5 months later; officially engaged 4 months later; married 4.5 months after that Applied for AoS in July 2007; approved for conditional greencard June 2008 )

Pre-interview prep:

It is better to be over-prepared than not prepared enough. Yes, it is can be a grueling process, going over every little detail of your courtship and life together... but it is likely the *interview of your life*, so worth the sleepless nights and days of gathering info! My advice would be to put yourself in the shoes of the officer who will be interviewing you..... what questions would YOU ask you? What questions do you hope they WON'T ask? And think about how you would answer. Also, go over every piece of evidence you plan to show, and take out things that may create a line of questioning that you can't answer. For example, we had pictures of our dog, who is 4.5 years old. How can we have a 4.5 year old dog when we've only been together 2.5 years? In our case, the answer is simple: he is a rescue and was older when we got adopted him! (The officer never asked, but she *could* have!!) Thinking about these things ahead of time will, hopefully, save you from stumbling and getting nervous. Even if you have evidence that is perfectly legal and acceptable, if you think that you might get flustered answering questions, then it's probably best to leave it out. Even if you are the most honest person in the world, it's still easy to get flustered - especially when being "interrogated", and your future depends on the outcome!! We also went over all those questions such as "what color is your spouses toothbrush?" and "how many ceiling fans in your house?" These are typically questions that they ask at a fraud interview, but it certainly doesn't hurt to jump the gun and study ahead of time! The more you can answer, the better!

Here are the things we took to the interview:

1) in an accordian file case (originals and copies):

- interview notice

- passports and DLs

- all previous USCIS notices

- birth certificates

- marriage certificate

- divorce certificates

- copies of other IDs (my EAC, our SSN cards, etc)

- complete copy of our attorney's file on our case (all applications and documents submitted on our behalf)

- copy of my my medical exam (original sumitted with application)

- insurance policies (mediacl, life, auto)

- bank statements and investment portfolios, showing joint ownership and each other as beneficiary; cancelled checks with both our signatures, drawn on the same account

- our 2007 tax return with W-2s, husband's current letter of employment, 3 months of paystubs

- 5 notarized affidavits from friends (pastor, neighbor, co-workers, apartment complex manager.... all attesting to our relationship as a true, married couple

- 2 notarized affidavits regarding my entry into the US.... one from me, and one from my sister who entered with me and was the driver of the vechicle, stating the day and place where we entered, and that we were inspected by the officer. We also included the make, model, year, and license tag of the vehicle in which we entered (this is EXCELLENT information for those who entered from Canada and did not get a stamp or I-94, since they can physically go through the tapes from that day, if they wanted, and see us on camera, as we stated!)

- various other proofs, containing both our names, that show us as living together at the same address - vet bill, gym membership, Sam's Club cards, reciept from tax accountant, etc.

2) in a 3-ring binder:

- photos of us when my husband visited me for the very first time

- the "Christmas 2006" photo of our dogs that we sent out with cards..... it shows the date (when we were engaged), and has stockings for each of us in the background (showing that we already considered ourselves a "family")

- pictures of my husband and I in our Packer's gear, next to a picture of my brother and nephew in their Seahawk's gear.... we were taunting each other over the internet!!! (shows family connection)

- our actual, printed wedding announcements

- honeymoon pictures

- airline receipts and boarding passes from our trip to visit hubby's family

- photos from our trip to visit his family

- tickets, hotel reservation, and photos from our weekend at a NASCAR race

- photos of our visit with my brother and his family when they came to the NC coast for a vacation

- ticket stubs from varoius concerts and events we attended together

- photos from a few weekend trips we took together, along with hotel reservations, receipts from purchases, etc

- a couple of "scrapbook" type pages of some sweet emails my hubby had sent me during our courtship and I saved (yes, I'm such a girl!!)

- a stack of greeting cards that we had given to each other over the years

- wedding cards from family and friends

- Christmas cards from family and friends, written to both of us

- postcards, thank-you cards, birthday cards, etc from family to each of us

- a stack of envelopes for said cards, addressed to "Mr and Mrs" at our current address

- a printout of our travel itinary for our upcoming trip to Canada

And, of course, our wedding album. I know, that is a TON of stuff!! It was a major effort to put it all together, but I'm sure happy that I did..... the officer was VERY impressed!!

OK, now onto the interview itself:

We attended the interview at the new offices in Durham, NC. The building is not well marked from the street..... in fact, the business park sign at the road lists "US Immigration Offices", but they are NOT in the building to which the sign appears to belong! We drove around a bit until we saw a red brick building up on a hill by itself..... it has a tall flagpole infront, and that was the obvious sign! So ignore the nice office buildings with the groomed lawns, and head over to the funky red brick building up on the hill behind the pub and hotels!

We arrived 45 minutes early, as requested. The building was almost deserted, and the guards at security seemed happy to have people to check!! They were very polite, asked to see our notice and picture IDs. We had to remove watches, bracelets, belt buckles, empty pockets, put bags through the xray, walk through the detector, etc. (think airport security!) Then headed up to the 2nd floor.

There were maybe three other couples in the waiting area when we arrived. Couldn't find anywhere to "check in", but another couple told us that we would be called. So we sat and waited. A man came out and called another applicant, then looked to us and said "Do we have your appointment letter?" I said "Not yet, because I couldn't find a slot in which to put it." He said "I am the slot!", and everyone laughed! He took my letter and disappeard. We waiting approx 45 minutes..... nice cushy chairs, tv showing CNN. No food, drink, water, cellphones allowed! At our assigned time, a young lady came to the door and called my name.

Officer was a very nice young lady - professional and serious, but not at all intimidating. She first asked us if our attorney would be attending. We said no. She said we'd have to sign an waiver if we wanted to continue without an attorney. I thought "Uh oh.... what is wrong???", but my husband confidently said that we were prepared to continue without an attorney. We stood and raised our right hands to be sworn in. She first went over all stuff that we had already submitted with our applications (full name, address, birthdate, etc) She checked it off on the application as we answered. She ask me when and how I entered the US (I told her). She added "So you did not get an I-94, correct?" I said "Correct, I did not get one." She added "But your passport WAS examined by the border officer?" I said "Yes, he looked at our passports, but did not stamp them. He gave them back, and waved us through." She was fine with that, and inquired (more out of interest) "Are they still doing that?" to which I replied "As far as I know, yes." That was all she asked about my entry..... so never needed to bring out the affidavits!

Then she asked my husband his info (name, birthdate, citizenship, etc). Asked him for his latest tax return, and current letter of employment. She didn't ask for the paystubs. Once she was finished going over all the application info, she moved onto our relationship. She asked the usual questions : how did you meet? Where and when did you meet in person? How long did you date until you got married? Where did you get married? She said "And you are obviously still happily married!" She did ask me if I had come to the US to see him, and I answered "Actually, no... I came to get baptized!" to which she replied "Awwww.... that is great! Do you have family here, then? Or friends?" to which I replied "Friends".

Then she asked us for proof of our lives together. I said "I have everything..... what would you like??!" She laughed, and said "How about some bank statements, and an apartment lease?" I gave her the folder with our banking and investment info, as well as our lease (my husband was in this apartment before we were married, so the lease is in his name. The complex office just added me as an "authorized resident"). She then asked if we had any correspondence from our dating...... to which I gladly produced my binder! I showed her my "email scrapbook pages" first, which she glanced over and remarked that it was "cute" that I had saved them. Then I pointed out all the cards we had sent each other, along with cards from friends and family; she remarked "WOW! Look at all these cards!!" The she flipped through the scrapbook, asked about a couple of the pictures and commented on the pictures of us with each other's family. She asked my husband something about how his family accepted me, and he said "They absolutely adore her!" (they do ) She commented on some of the events we had been to (NASCAR race). Closed the book and said to us "Very nice!"

She started to move on, and I said "But don't you want to see our wedding book???!!" So she said "Yes yes yes!, I would love to see it." She asked us all about getting married in Las Vegas, and ended up saying "Hmmmmm.... I will have to remember this!" At this point we were all pretty relaxed, but I still didn't have the official word. She asked if we had any questions for her; I said no to the questions, but told her that my husband's birth certificate that we initially submitted was actually from the health department...... it was the only one he has ever had, but when he applied for his passport, he was told he had to get a STATE birth certificate, which we now had. She said "Oh ya! I meant to ask you for that! Thanks for reminding me!"

She then said "Well, everything looks great. You have already cleared all the background checks, so I am approving you today. You will get your greencard in the mail in 3-4 weeks." WOOHOOOOO!!!!! I asked her if I would get a passport stamp, and she said that they don't do that anymore, unless for an emergency or if travel is planned for the near future. Luckily, I had the foresight to bring a printout of our upcoming travel itinerary, so she gave me a stamp that is good for 30 days, with the warning "But you MUST be back in the US before midnight on July 16th!" I said "Don't worry, we will be!!" We stood up, gathered our truck-load of evidence, shook her hand and thanked her very much for her time. The whole interview took maybe 20 minutes.

Overall, I would say the weeks/days before the interview were FAR more stressful thank the interview itself. I am not saying to brush it off - not at all! Be prepared, be professional (we wore casual business attire), and go over everything a gazillion times if you have to. Make sure you both know the answers and stories behind everything. Then when the interview comes, you can just relax and be yourself. I honestly don't think they are trying to deny people - but they have to do their jobs, which is to verify information and look for discrepancies. The officers are also human, and if you treat them and the process with respect, it goes a long way in demonstrating your integrity and intentions.

I realize this is a very long litany, but I hope it will be helpful to others who are going through the process. I 'd be happy to answer any questions - in the unlikely event that I've missed anything, hahaha!!!!!

Good luck to everyone!!!!!

[emerce 0]

Hey, I want to thank you SO much for posting this.

I can only hope that our officer is as nice as yours, as my husband entered as a visitor from Canada the same way and did not get an I-94 or passport stamp.

If you dont mind me asking, what kind of information did you include in your affidavits about entering in case you needed to use them? That information would be very helpful to me.

Thank you and congrats!!!!

[I luv my chappara 0]

wow congratulations

ours will probably in durham too

[ellla 0]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us!

Congratulation!

[eau_xplain 2]

Congratulations!!

Thank you very much for the detailed narrative. Since Durham is new a lot of people will be wondering what it would be like to go there for interview.

[Lili 3]

Thank you for the detailed posting.

Now, it is time to celebrate!!!

[KC♥MP 0]

Congratulations!!! . Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Leafgal 3]

Congrats time to celebrate.

[o0pink0o 3]

Congrats!!!

[Mina76 0]

Congratulations on your AOS approval!!!

[korat2michigan 0]

Thanks for ur experience.It's very useful for anyone who is waiting for the interviewing day too...including me!!

[journeyman 0]

Very detailed post and informative.

:dance: Congratulations !!! :dance:

[Joe & Yumi 0]

Yumi and I had our interview at 8:15 this morning in Spokane, WA.

We didn't have a "ton" of stuff like Pegbert, but I know my valise had at least 20 pounds papers ! We had everything but the sworn affadivits( 'cause we never thought of it) plus one file with every paper ever submitted or received from the beginning of our K-1 application. We had an original of everything and an additional file of photocopies (185 of them) to give to the Officer, should they want one.

We had 38 original photos, just in case. They ranged from the day we met, our first date, when I met her family, when she met my family, and about every other social event with her family and my family, just in case.

We arrived at exactly 8:00 a.m., entered the office, placed our appointment notice in the box and waited every bit of 15 minutes when they called Yumi's name. Our Officer was a really nice, rather formal, straightforward, but also totally non-intimidating lady. She had us swear in, sit down and then promptly asked if we had any government issued id. I gave her my driver's license and Yumi gave her her passport and also her driver's license (same address). The lady asked if we could wait just a moment and she went and photocopied them. She came back, read a short list of "required" questions: are you a prostitute, drug dealer, terriorist or Communist, and have you ever been arrested? Yumi answered no to all and the lady apologized for having to ask.

She then explained that Yumi was approved, turned around and entered it into her computer, explained that Yumi would receive her card in a couple of weeks and that was it ! We had been in her office for everybit of about 10 minutes.

We showed her all our "stuff" and asked " Aren't you going to ask us questions and look over any of our documents ?" She smiled and said, " There's no need, I've already read your file."

Yumi asked her if she liked living in Spokane. The lady then seemed to relax, responded quite warmly to the question and we began to chat. She, Yumi and I spent the next 10~20 minutes talking. Afterwards she told us she enjoyed our "visit" and she hoped she would be the Officer when we came back to the Immigration Office to renew Yumi's card. We said goodbye and left. It was over !

Yumi learned a new phrase in English : " Piece of cake " !

[ellla 0]

Wow, congrats!

[aos630 0]

I went for my AOS interview today at the Durham office, and I was approved too!!!!...yeyyyyy!!!

My wife and I met in April 2006 and got married in May 2007. We filed for Adjustment of status in July 06 2007, but we didn't get called for the interview till May 2008.

I came in on F1(As a student), finished school then started working...but my wife is a full time house wife.

Before I go any further, I want to thank "Pegbert" for her narrative description of her experience...that really helped. We got interviewed by the same lady that interviewed her (as she described - i didn't see anyone matching that description there)

We had all the required documents listed on the notice/interview was scheduled for 10:15am (6/30/08) *

Like everybody else, i was a nervous wreck. (I am the beneficiary)

Anyway, we drove to the building at about 8:20am (anxiously nervous), we sat in the car to cool off and relax before we went in...we also took the time to check our papers - made sure everything was in perfect order (Every folder was labeled according to its content). We sat in the car while parked in the parking lot in front of the building. We were watching people going in and out of the building, some were smiling, while some were frowning their faces - - ( don't know why)

We decided to go go in (What the heck) at 8:30am. The security guard was nice, and took his time to expalin things that were not permitted in the building...things like camera, thumb drive (flash drive), any object that can be used as a weapon (you got the point)....but i had key holder that has a mini camera, i had a flash drive and a RSA token with me (sorry, am kind of a computer dude)..so i had to run back to drop all these things in the car and ran back to the checkpoint.

We went through the security check point and we were directed to the second floor. Arriving on the floor was a young lady, about 5''2 collecting the notice from people in the waiting area..we quickly handed her our notice.

We sat down around 8:55am...she came back about three minute later and called my name...she asked us to follow her to her office. It's like a regular working environment! her office was neat and simple..no bulky folders around or nothing like that.

She swore us in and asked about our lawyer, i said we can continue that the lawyer is not coming (I had to resume the position of my own lawyer...lol).

She went on reviewing my file..the folder contained all the applications i have ever submitted!!...i could see some of the documents i had sent from yester years wow!....after a while, she stopped looking at the files and looked me directly in the eye and ask me where we met, how long we dated before we got married, how long have we known each other???...then she resumed reviewing the applications. She then asked me how i entered the US, when i finished school, what i did after that, where did i enter, when (date) i entered??? then turned to my wife and asked her when she divorced, why did they divorce, were they still together when we met, what her maiden name is, what her father's name is?? My wife was married to her EX for 6years and they both went for his green card interview (complicated isn't it?)..she scrutinized her on why they spit...etc...a lot of "WHYs"

She then asked me who the joint sponsor is(my friend), where he lives (NC), marital status (single)...most of which the answer were in the tax return she was looking at. While she was looking at that, i quickly pulled out my own tax returns and W2s..gave it to her, she said "OK" and continued looking at my file...

She then asked for her annulment papers, birth certificate and both of our DLs...she meticulously looked at them all and started filling the copies away...(every document i took, i had the copies). She looked at my tax return and raise her eye brow (i stack some few change...lol) she filed it away, she looked at the W2s and compare them with the tax returns...she filed the copies away too...(she had a checklist she worked off of, and she checked them off as she verifies each of them)

She then asked for our house keys...she took a very close look at the keys trying to find a discrepancy...then i said they are the same, they both work great! ( the keys had different colors because we had to make extra keys - one is gold and one is silver)...she put the keys on a white piece of paper and traced them out with her pen...she wrote "house keys - husband/wife" near each drawing.

She took her time with the case....then she asked if our auto insurance is still the same, i said no, then i gave her the current...she looked at it and said she can't find my wife's name on it...then i explained -------- This is because we only have one car now ( we had three cars before, but we sold them)...so we only have one car - on my name, but we are both insured drivers...then i pointed out her name, right under the "insured driver" section...she said "OK".....she took a straight look at me and she got up and went to the next office with the file....that moment, i was a certified nervous wreck.

I could hear her talk to someone about my case, about all the documents i have and about my income...then there was a total silence...then she came back, sat down, and said ..."am going to approve your I-130, but give me one moment, i will explain more"..then she started typing....Folks, at that moment my heart was pounding as if it was about to jump out of my chest and i was really excited to hear her say that....my brain was resounding that statement in my skull....

She took her time and inputed my info. in the system and printed out the approval letter, handed it to me and explained the CR6 situations (i've already read about it a bizillion times and my lawyer had also told me about it, and the implications of not filling the removal) - - --She did not stamp my passport, she said they don't do that anymore - funny isn't it?

So that's how June 30th became the best day of 2008 for me so far...lol

The lady was professional, thorough and she will look into your eyes when she needs to psycho analyze you.

So, friends, please get all your documents in order, and be ready to give it to her (if she's going to be your interviewer) and answer all questions as they are in your applications lest you ruin your own chances of getting approved.

Do not try to be funny ( you might look stupid...lol)

Above all, PREPARED!!!!

Good luck to everyone....hit me up for any questions.

Thanks to everyone, especially "Pegbert" for sharing.

Need to go and see my parent i haven't seen for 6 years

Holla!!!!